.H A TABLE OF CONTENTS 5 Letter from the Transition Co-Chairs 6 Introduction 8 Values 18 Good Governance 20 Make City Elected Officials More Accountable and Representative 21 Transparency Through Open Data 22 Patronage Hiring and Aldermanic Privilege 23 More Accessible Government 24 Transparency and Community Engagement in Tax Increment Financing 25 Youth Perspective: TIF Transparency 26 Arts and Culture 28 Supportive Working Environment for Members of Creative Industries 29 Artists and Cultural Workers in Decision-Making 30 31 32 Youth Voices in Arts Decision-Making Arts and Culture in 77+ Neighborhoods Cultural Bill of Rights 33 Funding 34 Youth Perspective: Arts Enrichment Programming for Everyone 36 Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development 38 Inclusive Regional Economic Growth 39 Planning with Neighborhoods 40 Access to Capital 41 On-Ramps to Career Pathways 42 Business Community Engagement 43 Youth Perspective: Neighborhood Investment Plan 44 Education 46 Inclusive Voice for Equity and Impact 47 Diverse Talent 48 Equitable Funding 49 Early Childhood 50 K-12 Schools 51 Postsecondary Access and Success 53 Youth Perspective: Universal Pre-K 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 2 54 Environment 56 Water Quality and Stormwater Management 57 Equitable Environmental Enforcement 58 Land Use as a Conduit to Healthy, Prosperous Communities 59 Green Jobs 60 New City Agency 61 Youth Perspective: Climate Action Plan for Chicago 62 Health and Human Services 64 Mental Health and Safety Strategy for the Public Workforce 65 Upstream Solutions to Health and Social Equity 66 Insurance Enrollment and New Options for Those Currently Ineligible 67 Integration and Expansion of Care 68 Comprehensive Response to Trauma 69 Youth Perspective: Citywide, Trauma-Informed Care 70 Housing 72 Access to Homeownership 73 Revenue to Reduce Homelessness 74 Building, Permitting, and Zoning Processes 75 Incentives for Preserving Affordable Housing 76 Affordable Requirements Ordinance and Qualified Allocation Plan 77 Youth Perspective: Community-Oriented Planning 78 Public Safety and Accountability 80 Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention 81 Illegal Guns Initiative 82 Community Policing 83 Community Rapid Response 84 Officer Safety and Professionalism 85 Youth Perspective: Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention 86 Transportation and Infrastructure 88 Mobility that Supports All Chicagoans 89 Public Selection Criteria and Community Engagement 90 Implementation of Major Modernization Programs 91 Funding to Support Sustained Investment 92 Coordination Between Entities 93 Youth Perspective: Public Transit Accessibility 94 Cross-Cutting Initiatives 96 Meaningful Community Engagement 98 Mayor’s Office of Reintegration Services 99 Tourism 100 Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (eTOD) 101 Racial Equity Impact Assessments 102 Mayor’s Office of Equity and Social Justice 103 Community Schools and Coordinated Learning Citywide 104 Youth Perspective: Connected Learning Spaces 106 Committee Members and Co-Chairs 109 Acknowledgments 110 Appendix: Community Outreach Survey 3 Letter from the Transition Co-Chairs As Co-chairs of Mayor-elect Lightfoot’s transition, we present this report on behalf of the hundreds of Chicagoans that gave their time and best thinking over the past six weeks to chart a new course for the incoming administration. With less than seven weeks between the runoff election on April 2 to inauguration on May 20, the easiest approach would have been to take the existing policy papers and begin setting up posts. This was not what the incoming Mayor had in mind. Instead, she asked that we begin this transition in lockstep with communities across Chicago. And so, 10 committees were created with committee Co-chairs and members from across neighborhoods and sectors. The task was enormous and enclosed you will find the result. As Transition Co-chairs, we attended many of the meetings, met independently with individuals throughout the teams and sought input from those outside of this entire process. We pushed to lift each value the Mayor-elect gave us to center the transition: Transparency, Diversity and Inclusion, Equity, Accountability and Transformation. From across the city, people put in a yeoman’s effort to achieve these. We acknowledge that this is an imperfect process, that there are voices that still need to be heard, that the value of equity in particular cannot be achieved with expediency—it can only be achieved over time. Our official roles end on May 20th and then we join each of you in our next collective role— as active co-designers and co-investors in Chicago’s success. We need every idea and voice to rethink how government functions, how Chicago prospers for everyone. During the campaign and transition the Mayor-elect has regularly crisscrossed the city, meeting with residents from all walks of life, listening, learning, shifting, then listening more. We ask you, for the sake of all of our values and for our city itself, to keep adding your voice and pushing on the city to stay accountable, transparent, to feel inclusive, to respect Chicago’s diversity, and to rewire its systems into ones that are equitable for all races, ethnicities, religions, abilities, and income levels. It has been an honor to serve as Co-chairs of Mayor-elect Lightfoot’s transition and will be a continuing honor to stay engaged with other Chicagoans in the journey ahead. Gloria Castillo Angelique Power Bob Reiter Dr. Willie Wilson Samir Mayekar Penny Pritzker Sam Skinner Maria Wynne 5 INTRODUCTION On April 2, Lori Lightfoot was elected as the 56th Mayor of Chicago. To prepare for her May 20 inauguration, the Mayor-elect charged us to co-chair 10 committees, consisting of more than 400 volunteers reflecting the true diversity of our city, to collectively create a transition report for the new administration. Recognizing that a commitment to real and lasting change propelled her into office, Mayorelect Lightfoot wanted to ensure that all Chicagoans, and especially those who had not been included before, had the opportunity to help shape the future of our city. Through forums and surveys, across dinner tables and in backyards, the 10 committees, whose work is represented in this report, engaged thousands of Chicagoans young and old, from diverse neighborhoods, perspectives, identities, and economic strata. We met, shared ideas, debated, and made the recommendations that led to this report, which aims to capture our feedback in a way that inspires action. To engage this broadly in a short time, we started with a finite number of initiatives and built from there. While our focus was on transition, we recognized from the beginning that the task of transforming government— of truly shifting the balance of power—would take more than implementing a series of new ideas. For that reason, we were asked to describe not only how the new administration might start, but also how the work that is outlined in this report can lead to real change for the people of Chicago. Throughout the process, our co-chairs and members aimed to infuse the Mayor-elect’s five core values: transparency, diversity and inclusion, equity, accountability, and transformation. Living these values included: ✶ Collecting 315 policy memos representing the views of our individual committee members and making them public on the Better Together Chicago website. 6 ✶ Accepting and considering more than 90 policy memos from non-committee members whose work was also posted publicly. ✶ Holding more than two dozen committee meetings in locations across the city, with the aim of highlighting the incredible assets of Chicago’s neighborhoods. ✶ Participating, with the transition team, in meetings with community organizations across the city. In addition, the Mayor-elect and her staff listened to and engaged with Chicagoans. ✶ Intentionally engaging groups not at the table. For example, the Arts and Culture Committee hosted a meeting with leaders of 35 major cultural institutions to include their perspectives. The Education Committee conducted a survey, which was translated into five languages, to gather information from those who could not attend in-person conversations or access Englishonly materials. More than 1,700 Chicagoans responded. National Louis University hosted a forum with undergraduate students to hear from voices directly impacted by the work but who weren’t on the committees. And more. ✶ Surveying Chicagoans broadly and inclusively, including a portal for ideas on the Better Together Chicago website. ✶ Inviting members to attend or host Chicago Community Trust On the Table discussions. More than 60 committee members attended, and more than a dozen hosted events, themed “Memos to the Mayor,” to communicate to the new administration the recommendations, desires, and dreams of Chicagoans from across our city. Throughout the campaign and the transition process, the Mayor-elect stressed the need to infuse into the new administration her five core values. Our report therefore begins with a summary of each committee’s discussion of how the values could come to life in the new administration. The remainder of our report is organized by committee. Each committee receives a chapter devoted to its vision for transforming Chicago through a different way of working in its assigned area. Five or six initiatives follow, which the new administration might consider, including what is already occurring that should continue or expand, and potential new actions for the administration to create a city that better reflects the needs and desires of its residents. Each chapter also contains a perspective that came directly from those who have the most at stake in the city’s future: Chicago’s youth. Twenty-seven young people, ages 14 to 21, from seven youth-serving organizations (After School Matters, Chicago Scholars, Mikva Challenge, Logan Square Neighborhood Association, My Block My Hood My City, NextGen: Chicago Votes, and Youth Guidance), were organized by Mikva Challenge. These youth members met three times over the course of the transition to discuss views on specific proposals and develop their own ideas. In addition, we held a focus group of eight youth from Chicago Learning Exchange (CLX) to identify a “crosscutting” initiative that was of interest to them. We were inspired by the thoughtfulness and passion our young people brought to their charge. The report intentionally begins with Good Governance because only a government that is open and transparent, and puts community voices first, will succeed in driving real and lasting change. The report concludes by recognizing that no issue central to the lives of Chicagoans exists on its own; rather, they are tightly interwoven. The eight example initiatives (including one from the youth) called out in this last chapter demonstrate the need to be truly integrative, to reach out beyond traditional networks when attempting to implement bold new solutions to long-standing problems. Importantly, this report by no means comprises all that we discussed, debated, and agreed on. Committees chose what they thought was critical to present, but even a report of more than 100 pages can only serve as a starting point. As Mayor-elect Lightfoot has pledged, these conversations are only the beginning of ongoing dialogue with all of Chicago’s vibrant communities, whose voices must be part of making a better Chicago for everyone. The Transition Committee Co-Chairs Khadine Bennett Eddie Bocanegra Niketa Brar Nick Cave Aarti Dhupelia Evelyn Diaz Joe Dominguez Ric Estrada Ami Gandhi Denise Gardner Meghan Harte Angela Hurlock Alexa James Andrew Kang Rohit Khanal Maria Kim Lisa Yun Lee Juan Carlos Linares Duana Love Lisa Madigan Dr. Sybil Madison Suzanne Malec-McKenna David Munar Najae Oshibanjo Sylvia Puente Charles Ramsey Roberto Requejo Paul Roldan Anton Seals Darnell Shields Dick Simpson Ivan Solis Carlos Tortolero Nina Vinik Jennifer Walling Jennifer Welch Rocky Wirtz 7 VALUES Mayor-elect Lightfoot charged each committee with recommending how to infuse into the new administration five values: transparency, diversity and inclusion, equity, accountability, and transformation. In the pages that follow, we provide a summary of what each of these values means to our committee, and how we believe the city can infuse these values in the way Chicago works. Good Governance Real transformation will occur only when Chicagoans believe that their government works for them and their communities, responding to their needs and concerns. To achieve this, the city must rebuild trust and reshape the perception of local government based on values of transparency, equity, diversity and inclusion, and accountability at all levels of city government. The new administration can live out its value of transparency by promptly making information readily available to the public in easily digestible formats, even in situations where that information might raise uncomfortable issues. The administration can encourage participation in public meetings and provide information back to affected stakeholders who are consulted in decision-making processes. Transparency will allow the public to hold city officials accountable for their actions and policies. The new administration can demonstrate its commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion by consistently consulting with diverse stakeholders throughout the city and meaningfully engaging with constituents in all 77+ neighborhoods. To build trust and engagement, the administration must listen to the voices of all constituents and integrate these voices to influence and shape more equitable 8 policies. Real inclusion will require that the new administration takes responsibility for educating the public and empowering people. Commitments to equity and inclusion also require the city to reform practices that disproportionately benefit the few, and the politically connected, through traditions such as aldermanic privileges and current Tax Increment Financing processes. Structures must be built to allow Chicagoans to hold the city accountable where it fails to live up to these values and where it is also making progress. Clear standards, public reporting, and election reform will help give Chicagoans the tools to ensure that their city government is properly representing them. When reform initiatives are built off of these values, trust will be rebuilt, and local government will create a better Chicago for everyone. ✶ ✶ ✶ ✶ Arts and Culture The right to creative expression is a basic one, and all Chicagoans should be able to equally exercise this right. As dreamers, we imagine that equity, accessibility, diversity and inclusion, accountability, and transparency will inform every decision the new administration makes when it comes to arts and cultural issues. As residents of this city, we demand nothing less. An inventive spirit to create new forms of beauty, sing new songs, and tell new stories, while valuing our history, ensures that Chicago is the most diverse, inclusive, and creative capital in the 21st century. True equity requires the acknowledgment and redress of long histories of racism and oppression, starting with the arts, culture, and creative industries. Artistic power is fundamental to reimagining the creative, innovative, and cultural roots of good governance. The new administration can demonstrate transparency and accountability by dedicating funding up front to arts and culture that is competitive with other global cities, in a clear and open manner, while addressing regulations that unfairly impact certain artists and particular neighborhoods. Our youth should be empowered and emboldened to light the way forward. They should be able to participate in decisions that impact their lives as expressive human beings and be mentored by creative professionals from their neighborhoods. Artists from each of the 77+ neighborhoods deserve to be recognized for their vast contributions to Chicago’s robust cultural ecosystems. The city should honor vernacular art in all forms of creative expression and elevate Chicago’s local arts communities to the world stage. Increased funding for art education, a youth-led advisory board, workforce development, dedicated government liaisons, artists in leadership positions, neighborhood art spaces recognized as anchor institutions, art residencies with community involvement, support for all sizes of local art-related businesses, and more art-directed investment are just a few examples of ways the new administration can demonstrate its commitment to the health and wellbeing of all 77+ Chicago neighborhoods. Arts and culture are as essential as clean air and water. They sustain us, create joy, unleash our radical imaginations, and challenge us to see the world in new and better ways. They unite us while recognizing differences and defining our common humanity. 9 Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development We stand firmly in a moment of pride and possibility. We are proud of our city—this global leader and convener, replete with a strong central business district and innovative emerging businesses, a lattice of incomparable neighborhoods rich with cultural histories and herstories, and a cadre of individuals who work and play here by day and build homes and communities here by night—all committed to taking this city of proven results and promise to its most vibrant potential. We are mobilized by possibility—understanding that even with our vitality, not all Chicagoans share the same horizon view. And even with our incredible innovation, significant pockets of our city feel the weight of our inequity. Therefore, we remain steadfast in our commitment to not relent in our policies and our practices until the promise of our big shoulders is felt by all. So we hold two truths at once—that we live and we lead in one of the most powerful cities in the world, and that we aspire to have all residents feel that same sense of power in the neighborhood corridors they call home. To do this, we must reinvest in a platform that amplifies innovation in our commerce, from the budding entrepreneur to the formidable global companies headquartered in our region. We must incentivize strategic partnership to pivot supply chains into true value chains so businesses of all sizes and in all corners of our city can rise up. 10 We must make transparent how capital is invested, share decision-making power in that process, and be accountable to our progress—creating more equitable investments for all. And to support this growth, we must build more diverse, more inclusive work cultures, by celebrating the leaders we cultivate in our preeminent educational institutions and compelling businesses to draw from this well in the global war for talent. At the same time, we must open and accelerate more meaningful on-ramps for residents who have been sidelined from mainstream employment. If we do this, we balance both the pride and the honesty about who we are and the power we bring, with the aspiration of who we can become—inviting people to remain in or rejoin our city and elevate possibility for all. Education Chicagoans are diverse; many are bilingual and bicultural; each is passionate about something; all are full of potential. Approximately 500,000 youth are learning in Chicago’s publicly-funded centers, programs, district and charter schools. Over 400,000 of these learners are Latinx or Black. They are growing up as the majority in a city that has historically and intentionally neglected and excluded their communities from decision-making, funding, and resources. First and foremost, our education system must work for them. Of the values shared by the Mayor-elect, we focused most on equity. To us, equity means repairing the negative impacts of historic racism and exclusion, especially for Black and Latinx youth, low-income youth, LGBTQ youth, and youth with learning, physical, and language differences. Repair requires a commitment to eradicating disparities, wherever they exist, and especially where they intersect. It demands equitable distribution of intellectual, technological, physical, financial, and creative resources. To achieve equity in process and outcome, our learning environments must reflect greater diversity among adults and prioritize the inclusion of young people and their families in continuous dialogue. Dialogue demands good governance, from translating documents to ensuring meetings are fully accessible. These practices matter because policy decisions must be made in genuine partnership. Those most impacted, including youth, their families, and educators, must shape the path forward. We encourage the Mayor-elect and her team to prioritize transparency over speed, taking the time to build trust. This requires clear communication and predictable collaboration. Ultimately, the decisions made must deliver on the potential of our young people. We heard from Chicagoans who want strong public schools within walking distance from home and who want learning experiences that help all young people thrive. The Mayor-elect must create opportunities for the public to hold her team, public agencies, and educators accountable for meeting needs and eliminating disparities. Regular, public reporting on progress is an important expectation. We believe living the value of transformation requires both a firm grasp on what is already working and an urgency around tackling the inequities that persist. The new administration can build real relationships with the youth, families, and educators who are living and learning in our city. If we start by listening to their voices, Chicago can be a “city that works” for each of us. 11 Environmental True environmental justice takes an equity approach to ensure that “public policy be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples,” and that healthy environmental conditions are viewed as a human right. To practice equity, the city can prioritize the voices of communities hurt most by environmental degradation and will focus on strategies that eradicate environmental harm, structural racism, and community instability. In addition, the city can prioritize new investments (remediation, infrastructure, open space improvements, renewable technologies, electric mobility solutions, green jobs programs) in partnership with and located in communities with the biggest need due to a legacy of disinvestment. The city can embody diversity and inclusion by consulting an array of stakeholders in environmental decision-making and through diverse and inclusive hiring practices, including at the leadership level. This includes diversity of race, ethnicity, income, and other social identities, as well as geographic diversity and diversity of sectors and fields. The city should conduct outreach and operations in multiple locations, languages, and formats and prioritize diverse stakeholder participation using an equity lens to ensure greater input from those most affected by environmental inequities. To ensure transparency and equal participation in decision-making, the city should establish consistent community engagement standards and create a system that supports bi-directional communication and allows adequate time for 12 engagement to inform all decisions, especially those with environmental justice implications. Details for decision-making processes will be publicly posted in accessible and culturally appropriate languages and relevant data will be shared between city departments and publicly, when appropriate. The city should support neighborhood coalitions/networks and commit to open, ongoing dialogue with these communities. It should engage our youth and seniors by committing to environmental and climate conversations that are multigenerational and accessible, using processes and languages to meet people where they are. It should commit to lead community discussions on energy and water insecurity, combined with access to resources on utility bill assistance, health and safety, green job training programs, and incentives for energy efficiency and solar projects. Accountability requires transparency and enforcement, and environmental justice requires commitment from all facets of city government. The city can clarify the environmental goals, objectives, and roles of departments and agencies in enforcing environmental, building, zoning, and planning policies, as well as reviewing plans submitted to sister agencies for environmental alignment. The city can show accountability by funding current resiliency plans; fulfilling commitments, including the Paris Climate Agreement, through innovative policy, procurement, and local energy generation; and funding current environmental justice networks and other environmentally beneficial initiatives. Health and Human Services Our residents’ health and quality of life should not be dictated by where they live. Yet today in Chicago, zip codes define much more than physical boundaries. Access to health services is no exception. The Chicago Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) Chicago Health Atlas, and other data sources, leaves little left to question in terms of which communities face the greatest barriers. We can map, down to the scale of city blocks, the neighborhoods that experience the greatest disinvestment, segregation, and discrimination. To begin the long and arduous journey toward equity, the city must address critical funding and service gaps by prioritizing resources to and investment in communities most in need. The city must also examine, both overtly and via externalities, all current and proposed policy implications for racial and health equity. The city can promote transparency by continuing to publicly share data via the Open Data Portal and CDPH’s Chicago Health Atlas, which also provides a tool that addresses the value of accountability as it tracks progress in meeting a variety of critical health objectives across the city. Investing in other outreach strategies to share digestible and accessible health, human services, and quality-of-life data with communities should be a priority of the Mayor-elect. The Mayor’s Office can also hold itself accountable by investing in training around trauma-informed care and mental health services for the city workforce. This will show community-based organizations, sister agencies, and other employers that Chicago is invested in creating a trauma-informed city and is playing its part to aid in this transformation. Diversity and inclusion efforts must not only encompass soliciting input from racially and economically diverse residents, they also require comprehensive and continuous engagement with persons with lived experiences in every step of the policy- and program-making process. In addition to diversity and inclusion of community members, the city must remember the diversity of our communitybased organizations. There are countless smaller organizations that have tremendous impact on their communities. Ensuring these organizations have a seat at the table, and are provided equitable attention in city decisions, will be paramount to facilitating innovative ideas and a broad perspective. 13 Housing Our vision is for Chicago to be a place where everyone has access to a basic human need: housing that is affordable, decent, stable, and accessible. To achieve this vision, a bold housing agenda will need: Accountability: The new administration should set clear goals and metrics it hopes to meet. It should invest in data to understand the impact of displacement and to build an effective housing planning process. Transparency: Many believe that resource allocation for affordable housing development has been politically driven and hidden from public view. The new administration can establish more transparent processes by specifying objective criteria for housing development decisions and subsidies. The administration should use public dashboards to track progress on housing goals, such as the reduction of homelessness. Equity: To tackle the long history of segregation and discriminatory policies, the new administration should consider using a racial equity framework as it makes its housing plans. The administration should recognize that disinvestment has hurt minority communities disproportionately, and that housing reform could help mitigate the racial wealth gap and other disparities. 14 Diversity and inclusion: Many residents do not trust proposed neighborhood investment projects. The new administration needs to make intentional efforts to bridge the gap in trust. Housing involves many stakeholders, from advocates to mortgage providers. The city should seek to build open relationships by convening forums and building programs that foster collaboration at all levels of government. Public Safety and Accountability It is true that the city has a fundamental obligation to ensure its residents are safe and have equitable access to public safety services, regardless of where they live. It is also true that sustainable gains in public safety will only be achieved by giving community members a meaningful voice in the creation of public policies and services. To address the disproportionate impact of gun violence, aggressive policing tactics, and harsh justice policies on our most vulnerable communities, the new administration should demonstrate a commitment to the co-production of public safety by working with diverse groups of community stakeholders and law enforcement. The new administration should support and expand multifaceted and comprehensive public health approaches to reducing and preventing violence. The goal is to help ensure an equitable response throughout the city to all forms of violence, including gender-based violence. To promote accountability, the new administration should communicate clear public safety strategies and metrics for success and be explicit about what is working and what is not. The administration’s expressed commitment to community policing, authentic community engagement, and stakeholder partnerships will help ensure all are accountable to building a safe and just Chicago. Transformation will occur when all neighborhoods feel valued by the city, and most importantly, when residents in every neighborhood in the city can live without fear of violence. The new administration should demonstrate its commitment to transparency through credible messengers and through the regular collection, analysis, and distribution of relevant data with the public. 15 Transportation and Infrastructure There are several equity challenges in transportation and infrastructure, especially spatial, socioeconomic, racial, generational, and disabilityrelated. The administration can advance the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion by ensuring all Chicagoans can get to the places they need to be safely, efficiently, and affordably, and by involving diverse voices in the work that supports this. Specifically, it can: ✶ Develop an equitable Transit-Oriented Development (eTOD) Policy Plan and support eTOD pilots. ✶ Renew Chicago’s Vision Zero commitment to eliminating death and injury from traffic crashes; build safe streets in communities of color and lowincome communities, which face higher rates of traffic fatalities. ✶ Address disproportionate ticketing in Black and Latinx communities. ✶ Enhance current services and develop new services that provide first-mile and last-mile connections, especially in communities of color, economically disadvantaged areas, and employment hubs outside the Loop. Additionally, the administration can advance transparency and accountability by better engaging Chicagoans in decision-making; setting clear goals and decision criteria; and sharing clear, public progress updates. Specifically, it can: ✶ Use performance-based measures to prioritize efforts supporting those with the biggest transportation need, incorporating racial equity impact assessments and disability access principles. ✶ Develop genuine community engagement mechanisms to apply input from residents, including those who depend on public transit: youth, seniors, and people with disabilities. ✶ Improve mobility by making local public transportation more accessible (e.g., Pace, Metra connectivity) and enhancing customer service, education, and outreach. ✶ Commit to multimodal programs that include active transit, recognizing its positive impacts on public health. Continue to test and expand modes such as car, bike, and scooter sharing and autonomous shuttles. ✶ Further diversify leadership and staff; promote inclusive cultures in city entities. 16 ✶ Encourage and incentivize Chicago-based companies to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion and advance and scale Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (MWDBE) firms. ✶ Engage communities to set clear and public selection criteria for priorities and projects— criteria that advance diversity and inclusion, equity, disabled accessibility, sustainability, and design excellence. ✶ Identify a targeted set of transportation and infrastructure priorities and a plan to achieve them; publish regular progress dashboards. ✶ Develop and enact meaningful motivations to incentivize collaboration across city entities, other governmental entities, and the private sector. Youth Perspective The Youth Committee applied these interpretations of the new administration’s core values to initiative proposals across all policy areas: Transformation: Evolving into something greater through experience, inclusivity, and allowing space for growth. Transformation should be authentic, not surface level. Accountability: Taking responsibility for your actions and accepting the consequences that come with it. You should be able to accomplish your goals in a timely manner and take ownership of your words. Transparency: When passing policy or initiatives, you have to make sure that they are accessible and consistent. There has to be truth behind what you say and there should be no room for loopholes. Diversity and Inclusion: Making sure that the cultures that exist are acknowledged and their input is incorporated in any changes that are made. Culture should be preserved, not erased. Equity: Acknowledging that every community has different needs. Not everyone needs the same amount of resources to be successful. 17 GOOD GOVERNANCE We are the City of Broad Shoulders and of vibrant neighborhoods and communities, but for too long we also have been a city of fiefdoms, back-room deals, and corruption. The voices of many, particularly our most vulnerable neighbors, have been excluded from decisions that have consequences for their communities. The 2019 election demonstrated that Chicagoans are ready for a new approach to governing, an approach where local government is more transparent, accessible, and accountable. This will involve not only providing greater information to residents, but also engaging all stakeholders in meaningful decisionmaking processes. This approach will involve the city taking into account all its residents when considering potential actions. An approach where no one is deprived of their voice. 18 Chicago can become a model for good governance. Leaving behind a system clouded in secrecy, Chicagoans would readily access, in their own languages, decision processes, proposals, and resources that impact their lives. Moving from a structure that encourages corruption while discouraging public engagement, elected officials would avoid situations that can lead to conflicts—real or perceived—and be held accountable through fair and equitable elections if they do not. Abandoning a system of self-referential debates, city business would be undertaken in local communities, with elected officials working in partnership with the people they represent to find solutions that will benefit all. None of the initiatives described in this report will be truly transformative unless we first transform the way city government carries out the people’s business. Anything will be possible when we create a responsive, transparent city government that engages and empowers all Chicagoans. Make City Elected Officials More Accountable and Representative After years of political scandals and the exclusion of many Chicagoans’ voices, Chicago has a crisis of trust. The city must act to make officials more accountable to their constituents and to engage all of the city’s neighborhoods, including by better aligning government jurisdictions with well-established communities. How might this initiative transform Chicago? A more accountable and representative city government will transform Chicago from a city of fiefdoms to a more cohesive community. The government has an opportunity to rebuild trust, which has been missing for far too long, with residents, businesses, and community organizations. Trust will ultimately result not only in a more ethical City Hall, but also in greater community and civic participation. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Public support for ethics reform and a new culture of good government. ✶ Expand the Council Office of Financial Analysis’ role in fiscal analysis and accountability for ordinances. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Introduce rule changes for adoption in the City Council’s Rules of Order at its first meeting that: (1) reduce the number of committees; (2) require monthly meetings; (3) prevent outside employment, particularly representing private clients before 20 GOOD GOVERNANCE other government agencies; (4) allow public testimony by electronic witness slipping; (5) require live-streaming of all meetings of the council and its major committees; (6) include term limits for committee chairs; (7) require agendas, minutes, and reports from committees; and (8) require reporting of roll call votes for each council year on the council website. ✶ Appoint a team to begin analysis and implementation of a public funding program for city candidates. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Expand lobbying disclosures to require greater frequency and assess covering nonprofits. ✶ Introduce an election reform ordinance package, including: redistricting reform; public funding of candidates; changing the election date; allowing instant runoff or ranked-choice voting; improving ballot access; and uniting city and county election boards. ✶ Implement initiatives for greater civic engagement, including: early voting sites at City Colleges; additional city agencies for automatic voter registration; and voter pre-registration for young Chicagoans. Transparency Through Open Data A veil of secrecy, which hides many city decisions, exacerbates Chicagoans’ mistrust of city government. To fix this problem, City Hall must readjust its culture to one of radical transparency. How might this initiative transform Chicago? A radically transparent Chicago would see all Chicagoans having meaningful access to city records— not just the ability to access them, but the ability to find them in a user-friendly database with sufficient context to help identify and understand the information. This, at times, will be uncomfortable for city officials when difficult or controversial information is published. However, while transparency can be painful, increased disclosure will ultimately benefit the city as well as its residents: It will decrease the number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuits against the government and, more importantly, begin to rebuild the public’s trust in its government. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Department of Information Technology should expand their process for opening data from a technical standpoint. ✶ The law department should carry out its responsibilities to minimize liability for clearing FOIA violations. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Assemble a plan to index and digitize data from the City Council, the Mayor’s Office, city departments, and sister agencies. ✶ Audit department FOIA responses and automated systems and publish the results. ✶ Direct the city to make public transparency the default position, limiting use of exemptions only to rare, narrow circumstances, even if a legal basis for withholding might exist. ✶ Require city documents, including budgets and data, to be provided with context and documentation in an easily understood format (including searchable data and infographics). Also require that the city notify affected persons when information is released, including through social media. ✶ Introduce an ordinance to codify Open Data Executive Order 2012-02. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Implement digitization plan. ✶ Develop a best-in-the-world practice of affirmative and automated release of data and records. ✶ Retrain FOIA officers and hold them accountable for implementing the policies described above. ✶ Create a mechanism to allow Chicagoans to request that the city track certain data. 21 Patronage Hiring and Aldermanic Privilege Mistrust is also fueled by the perception of the Chicago Way, where city officials preside over an impenetrable network of patronage hires, and aldermen abuse aldermanic privilege for personal and political gain. The new administration needs to take bold action to eliminate conflicts and corruption and build a truly good government. How might this initiative transform Chicago? City Hall would become a place where all government employees are hired because of their qualifications, not connections. Aldermen would have a voice to protect their communities, but not a veto to advance special interests. This will lead to fairer government and better constituent service. It will also create a far more efficient government by eliminating millions of dollars of waste. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ A high-quality Department of Human Resources to continue hiring improvements. ✶ Expand the city Inspector General (IG) role to increase authority over aldermen, allow sharing information with other IGs, and require more regular reporting of investigations. Also increase the office’s visibility to help Chicagoans know where to report abuses. ✶ Direct city employees to take an alderman’s advice but not consider opposition as a veto, and discourage use of City Council as an end-run around zoning processes. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Introduce an ethics reform ordinance package, including: anti-nepotism; ending City Council control of administrative functions; and expanding the use of participatory budgeting. ✶ Adopt a city Hatch Act ordinance restricting city employees’ participation in certain political activities, especially restricting supervisors from pressuring their employees to participate in campaign work. ✶ Recent rule changes to limit aldermanic privilege. ✶ Coordinate the seven IGs for metropolitan-wide oversight, with the goal of a universal IG system. ✶ Aldermen should continue to find productive ways to give voice to their communities. ✶ Implement job qualifications for exempt employees. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Issue a proclamation committing to non-political hiring, valuing quality over politics for exempt positions, and ending political pressures on city employees. 22 GOOD GOVERNANCE ✶ Implement a citywide plan to require broader council input on decision-making. More Accessible Government Many city services are Loop-centric and geared toward fluent English speakers. Through best practices; creative public-private, nonprofit partnerships; and innovative tech solutions, all Chicagoans, regardless of income, address, language ability, disability, digital access differences, or length of residency, should be able to access the city services they need. How might this initiative transform Chicago? If successful, Chicago would become the most equitable, inclusive, and welcoming city in the world. The city would set a standard for investments in human capital, corporate philanthropy and technology, and design expertise to create an open, inclusive, and welcoming society that does not condition quality government services based on wealth, geography, ability, or language. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Conduct an independent analysis of available data and community input to identify gaps in Chicagoans’ ability to access core government functions. ✶ Hire top-notch talent for the Office of New Americans and reconvene its Language Access Advisory Council to improve the LAO. ✶ Eliminate, merge, or modify Chicago commissions to remove barriers for authentic engagement between elected officials and their constituents, and provide remaining commissions specific requirements and protocols for engagement, with corresponding budget resources. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Create a central Digital Service Delivery Team within the Department of Information Technology to lead technology innovations for increasing access to city services. ✶ The work of agencies that provide language access, including the Chicago Board of Elections. What should the administration do over time? ✶ The Inspector General’s audits on compliance with the Language Access Ordinance (LAO). ✶ After community consultation, amend the LAO for greater accessibility and enforcement mechanisms. ✶ Programs that provide greater access to all Chicagoans, including the Park District’s mobile board meetings and the City Clerk’s mobile CityKey program. ✶ Engage Chicago’s tech community to explore web and mobile solutions to accessibility. ✶ Formulate Chicago’s public marketing strategy to inform current residents and attract new residents. ✶ Pilot municipal broadband service in underserved areas. 23 Transparency and Community Engagement in Tax Increment Financing Tax Increment Financing (TIF) districts were devised to bring redevelopment and economic growth to blighted areas. Over the years, the process has been warped, causing division and trauma to the people and communities TIFs were designed to protect. The TIF process needs to be reframed as a two-way conversation between the government and affected communities, exchanging information throughout the process, collaboratively making decisions, and providing ongoing community oversight of established districts. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? How might this initiative transform Chicago? ✶ Increase awareness of the process through a public education campaign. The Resident Association of Greater Englewood’s #TIFThursday model is one example. If successful, this initiative would finally realign Chicago’s TIF approval process with the spirit that initially created the tool. If done in true collaboration between elected officials and affected communities, the initiative would provide resources to help our most vulnerable communities achieve economic growth, creating greater job opportunities, stronger community businesses, higher graduation rates, and lower violence rates. A reformed TIF process would provide a better Chicago for all Chicagoans. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ The use of TIFs, although the system must be changed. ✶ Data accessibility, particularly models used by the Cook County Clerk’s office. 24 GOOD GOVERNANCE ✶ Convene an advisory council of community-based stakeholders and experts for analyzing the state of TIFs and how TIF money is spent. This analysis should review current TIF districts, as well as refocus priorities for future districts around areas with the highest employment disparities and greatest needs. The council should recognize connections between high-violence areas and areas harmed by TIF abuses. ✶ Use a racial equity lens, as each of these actions is undertaken, to begin building bridges to communities that have been left behind. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Create a formalized process through which relevant community-based organizations can lead reforms. ✶ Undertake amendments of the rules and ordinances for TIF creation and administration, including revisiting the scope of definitions such as “blight” and “obsolescence.” ✶ Mandate neighborhood-led TIF Oversight Councils. YOUTH PERSPECTIVE TIF Transparency The City of Chicago operates a budget that annually serves over 2.7 million residents, 7 community colleges, over 50 million tourists, and a robust private sector economy. In the past, there have been limited conversations with city stakeholders—residents of all ages, investors, and surrounding communities— around the financial health of the city. There is a lack of clarity behind city and corporate partnerships. There is also a lack of understanding behind the structure and ways in which Tax Increment Financing (TIF) is administered and allocated. This has fostered a sense of distrust among community members of all ages concerning the intentions of private corporations and organizations. The city needs to bring transparency to how TIF funding is evaluated and distributed to its neighborhoods and explore ways that TIF funding can benefit the city’s youth. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Transparency provides an opportunity to evaluate and assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the TIF process. Through this, we—the city and its constituents—will ensure TIF distributions are targeted in areas to create an equitable Chicago in terms of resources, investments, and opportunities. The possibility of using TIF funding to create youth centers for out-of-school activities and programs for young people is transformational. We want to cultivate an environment in which this kind of thinking is the norm and not the exception. To address the needs of all neighborhoods, instill an equitable culture, and produce a better Chicago, collaboration and transparency are necessary. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ In theory, TIF is a great policy and we want to see it continue. ✶ Opportunities for Chicagoans to participate in TIF funding allocation process. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ An accessible annual report of TIF funding and distribution. ✶ Assessment of current policies and practices that may impact this effort. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Evaluate the TIF revenue stream for equity and create an affirmative policy that would distribute TIFs in a more equitable way. ✶ Institutionalize practices into policy to ensure sustainable accountability for the city through continuous community engagement. 25 ARTS AND CULTURE What would Chicago look like if we activated the creative potential of every community? We dream of a world where artists are seen as creative problem solvers who tackle issues, move mountains, and create a better, more socially-just city for all. We dream a world with a capacious definition of art and an inclusive understanding of who an artist is. In a new Chicago, artists and their communities would trust that their city valued them and their contributions. The city would create avenues for artist-led initiatives in health care, affordable housing, and sustainable jobs. As change agents, artists of all ages, from each of our vibrant neighborhoods, would have an equal opportunity to display their talents to the city and the world. Chicago’s arts and culture landscape is brilliantly diverse, provocative, and challenging. Gwendolyn Brooks famously said, “Art hurts. Art urges voyages— and it is easier to stay at home.” No initiative can be successful without adequate financial resources. The city would recognize the intrinsic value of the arts and culture—not as an afterthought, but as an essential strategy for a leading cosmopolitan city, and fund accordingly. Chicago’s cultural economy includes nonprofit organizations that generate more than $3 billion in economic activity. They require other stakeholders—such as financial institutions, corporations, and real estate developers— to invest in our creative industries, while sharing power with those working in the creative economy, to determine how investments are shared. Chicago’s cultural forms of expression have made our city a uniquely creative capital of the world. To nurture its creative global economy, we must invest in the growing creative workforce (over 130,000 people) structuring pathways into the creative sector. Doing so would keep artists in the city and spur development in disinvested communities. A new Chicago would shatter government silos by understanding the interconnectedness of arts, public safety, health, education, transportation, housing, and economic development. Artists and cultural workers would have a voice in all aspects of government and everyone would understand that the arts include fashion designers, filmmakers, theatre professionals, administrative assistants, and others who too often go unrecognized. 26 The new Chicago we envision requires actively addressing our divisions. In this sanctuary city of migrants and immigrants, we must move past our differences to build trust and unity by dismantling systemic racism and deeply engage those whose voices have been ignored. The Beach Chicago, Snarkitecture, January 2019, photo courtesy of Navy Pier Photo by Kane One Deer, Tony Tasset, Chicago Riverwalk, June, 2017, photo courtesy of Tony Tasset 27 Supportive Working Environment for Members of Creative Industries With today’s gig economy, digital industrial revolution, rising taxes, and gentrification, many Chicagoans, especially those working in the creative industries, struggle to meet their basic needs. Affordable housing, health care, working spaces, and workforce development are significant concerns. Creatives need city resources that account for the nuanced issues they face, such as inconsistent or seasonal employment, to have community-specific protections for the right to basic living necessities. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Ideally, the arts would not be siloed. Artists would be empowered in their communities and beyond to give expression to the housing and social service needs of all contract and gig workers. Each ward would have an artist advocate liaising between it and the city, engaging with the community to elevate pressing issues, such as lack of affordable housing and programmatic funding, to the appropriate city department and the Mayor’s Office. This would help the city create specific neighborhood-based solutions that serve basic needs, empower artists’ voices, and raise awareness of broader inequities. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Affordable housing provided to city residents under an income threshold. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Embed social workers and health workers in each community (e.g., the federal Healthcare Navigators program). ✶ Educate communities about Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events services and training available. ✶ Create annual position for an artist liaison within each ward, potentially through an artist database. ✶ Include members of the creative industry as a protected class in NeighborhoodLIFT programs. ✶ Fund the renovation of abandoned buildings, prioritizing artistic use based on needs expressed by the community. ✶ Negotiate Sale of Redevelopment Project Area Properties. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Foster public-private partnerships. ✶ Provide property tax incentives for developers to keep affordable housing available. ✶ Make city programs, such as the Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) and the Chicago Low-Income Housing Trust Fund (CLIHTF), more transparent. ✶ Consider seniors, families, and other constituents within each community. ✶ Establish an interdepartmental advisory group in all city departments. 28 ARTS AND CULTURE Stories from the Inside/Outside, 96 Acres Project, Maria Gaspar, site intervention, 2015 Artists and Cultural Workers in Decision-Making Successful corporations, organizations, and municipalities are recognizing that artists bring invaluable abilities to problem-solve, innovate, reimagine, and plan. Currently, when artists are asked to create public art, it is often with a siloed approach, frustrating the creative process with layers of bureaucratic hurdles. Rather, the city should use a synergistic approach and invite artists early in the planning phase to work with procurement and other city departments. Artists from Chicago are invited around the globe to develop programs, spaces, and solutions that better society. They should be at the forefront of doing that here, in Chicago’s 77+ neighborhoods. How might this initiative transform Chicago? This initiative will elevate the artistic and cultural footprint of Chicago, integrating artists and cultural workers into the fabric of the city’s leadership, decision-making, and success. Not only will this initiative make the city more vibrant by attracting an international workforce of artists, it will also bolster Chicago’s regional, national, and international appeal to people from all walks of life and occupations. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Integrating art into the RFPs of large-scale city public development projects. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Reduce the bureaucracy and number of permits artists need for public projects. ✶ Create a position in the Mayor’s Office to act as a central ombudsman for artists, working with artists to design the role. ✶ Enhance the scope of the Cultural Advisory Council as an advocate for arts public policy. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Create artist residencies in various city departments, recruiting artists for permanent positions. ✶ Employ artists as co-planners at the discussion/ conceptualization phase for public projects. ✶ Conduct artist-informed audits of the currently over 200 festivals and programs. ✶ Increase the planning horizon for the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) projects, allowing more time and execution. ✶ Integrate an artist’s voice in budget and policy planning and evaluation. ✶ Give DCASE the resources to broaden their work beyond Millennium Park and expand the definition of art. ✶ Successful and well-regarded citywide arts initiatives. 29 Youth Voices in Arts Decision-Making Art, as a universal language, requires intergenerational discussion. The arts are one of the most powerful ways to open young minds and empower them to dream. As the definition of arts grows and progresses, the city must keep pace with the ever-evolving role of the creative industries. At the same time, the definition of youth should expand and include infants to millennials residing in each of Chicago’s 77+ neighborhoods. As a cultural engine, Chicago must prepare its youth for leadership. Youth-led dialogue with the city about arts and culture needs will change outdated and oppressive views about the arts. Integrating arts into all communities, beyond schools, will help the youth rethink their, and ultimately Chicago’s, future. How might this initiative transform Chicago? The city would heavily prioritize arts funding within all aspects of the city’s budget, including Chicago Public Schools. Students at different education levels would be inspired by working artists in their schools and educated early about the diversity of creative professions. Young artists would have affordable quality spaces to hone their skills and engage with other youth from across the city. Young leaders would trust that their voices matter, irrespective of their race or zip code. Young people and their families would be able to easily access arts events all over Chicago. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Arts workforce development programs at all education levels (e.g., Marwen). ✶ City arts events (e.g., Lollapalooza) can be expanded to dedicate funding to the arts, expanding the Percent for Art Ordinance to greater than 1.3%. ✶ Modern gathering spaces (e.g., YOUmedia in the Chicago Public Library). What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Establish a Youth Advisory Board that advises the city on all youth matters. ✶ Work with Chicago Transit Authority to extend student discounts through summer and expand current curfew hours. ✶ Create artist residency programs that include mentorship and community services. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Integrate arts across the city’s entire education and workforce development strategy. ✶ Empower young artists to make decisions on distributing resources. ✶ Use art to address social injustices. 30 ARTS AND CULTURE Stories from the Inside/Outside, 96 Acres Project, Maria Gaspar, site intervention, 2015 Arts and Culture in 77+ Neighborhoods Art is the ultimate cross-cutting initiative, cutting through various aspects of life while connecting us through the universal need for community. Members of the creative industries from all neighborhoods, not just popular tourist destinations, must have an equal opportunity to contribute to and benefit from Chicago’s global cultural economy. Each Chicago neighborhood, to which local, migrant, and immigrant artists contribute, has creative assets that should be used and supported based on the needs each community has expressed. To do this, the city can use technology to gather data to ensure that resources are equitably redistributed across neighborhoods and inefficiencies can be addressed with a tailored approach. Better collaboration with the Department of Culture and Special Events (DCASE) is also important to elevate pressing issues. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Spaces would have a local community-based approach to ensure that Chicagoans are not forced to travel far for creative experiences. The city would remain digitally engaged with all communities and share important data, such as grant disbursements for community centers or film projects on a local level. Local artist communities would be able to find specific schools, churches, libraries, and other underused places in their neighborhoods to establish art incubator communities. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Funding for DCASE, which should increase. ✶ Neighborhood festivals, but include more local artists. ✶ Neighborhood cultural tourism programs. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Collect data from each community, auditing for investment and educational gaps. ✶ Create a city-led smart application (an artist database that connects artists in each community). ✶ Host arts-focused town hall meetings to discuss needs of each community. ✶ Support cultural centers in each neighborhood with funding. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Mandate that all new public development projects include a creative industry. ✶ Create a city cultural ambassador role to liaise with DCASE. ✶ Lift the ban on spray painting. ✶ Serve as an ally by funding new cultural endeavors. 31 Cultural Bill of Rights All Chicagoans have the right to creative expression and to determine what is beautiful for themselves and their communities. Chicago could be the first city to adopt a Cultural Bill of Rights that recognizes the resplendent forms of creativity in all spaces and demonstrates that cultural equity is foundational to community vitality and social advancement. How might this initiative transform Chicago? By adopting a Cultural Bill of Rights, Chicago could aim to eliminate all “isms” in the arts and culture arena and be intentional about representation—including indigenous and native peoples, women, gay, lesbian, trans, and people with disabilities. By acknowledging past inequities, we can begin to redress the history of white supremacy, prioritizing investments in ALANA (African, Latinx, Asian American, and Native American) communities, building on the legacies of Chicago’s artistic movements, and ensuring truth and justice. We would recognize the inherent value of arts and culture and invest in our shared humanity and collective well-being. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Investing in nontraditional gathering art spaces (e.g., subways, libraries). ✶ Erasing socioeconomic/geographic barriers to art experiences. 32 ARTS AND CULTURE ✶ Expanding Chicago’s Cultural Plan but insist on a more inclusive definition of what art is, where arts take place, and who is an artist. ✶ Establishing more landmarks honoring diverse cultural influencers (e.g., Gwendolyn Brooks statues, Ida B. Wells Drive). What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Draw on existing work on a Cultural Bill of Rights. ✶ Structure a commission to review statuary, monuments, memorials, and markers. ✶ Fund the Chicago Torture Justice Memorials (Burge torture reparations legislation). ✶ Hold monthly cultural commissioner meetings. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Find new ways to increase funding with an equity lens. ✶ Invest in more vernacular forms of creative expression and informal, nontraditional spaces. ✶ Invest in neighborhood community organizations as anchor institutions that drive well-being, safety, and educational and economic health. ✶ Continue seeking ways to invest in and celebrate the inherent value of the arts. Stories from the Inside/Outside, 96 Acres Project, Maria Gaspar, site intervention, 2015 Funding When planning, short shrift is often given to the money necessary to support arts and culture initiatives. It is for this reason the Arts and Culture Transition Committee chose to make investment strategies a separate and distinct initiative. Continued growth and the sustainability of Chicago’s arts and cultural ecosystem require deep investment, not just in its arts and cultural institutions but also in its creative economy. Beyond just expanding revenue sources, new sources of funding are critical. How might this initiative transform Chicago? With increased resources and different ways to distribute and invest them, the city would strengthen arts access and participation, arts leadership, workforce development, and cultural production. Chicago would be the city where everyone can make art, experience art, and work in the arts, regardless of economic status. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Existing funding sources (e.g., Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Illinois Arts Council, Percent for Art Ordinance, foundations, hotel tax) should all be expanded. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Assess all current funding for arts and culture to determine how resources are being allocated. ✶ Consider new funding models to increase the amount of money available (e.g., mechanisms for tourism dollars to support artists and cultural workers, rebates, taxes on new construction, funds and endowments to support arts programs). ✶ Engage new partners in the discussion about creative strategies for arts and cultural funding (e.g., Airbnb and other corporations, for-profit arts sector, cultural entrepreneurs). What should the administration do over time? ✶ Work in partnership with local businesses to create sponsorship programs for artists. ✶ Be more transparent about the use of tourism revenue and youth-focused programs. ✶ Create the “Millennials Give Back Fund” and impact investment strategies that engage Chicago artists and influencers. ✶ Design “special-limited” products to raise money for arts and culture projects. 33 YOUTH PERSPECTIVE Arts Enrichment Programming for Everyone Art education is typically confined into one subject in schools, often coined “art class.” However, art can take the form of literature, drawing, painting, architecture, ceramics, photography, and many more pursuits. The expansion of opportunities for Chicago’s youth to engage in arts outside of school is essential. Art provides a canvas for intergenerational relationships among young Chicago artists and older Chicago artists. Expanding art education is not limited to the inclusion of different art disciplines, but requires a citysupported, interdisciplinary network of opportunities to participate in the arts. If this initiative is successful, Chicagoans, regardless of age, will have a greater understanding of, appreciation for, and investment in the arts. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Chicago is a diverse city of ideas, experiences, knowledge, and cultures. This initiative requires an intergenerational culture shift. We have viewed art as something to view and not experience. This initiative aims to encourage everyone to recognize and acknowledge the many ways in which they interact with art daily. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Youth art galleries. ✶ Art as an elective and offering at all public schools. ✶ Reduced (or free) tickets to museums and galleries for students. 34 ARTS AND CULTURE What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Strategic city plan to address the arts (all disciplines). ✶ Additional spaces throughout the city for youth to experience and engage with art. ✶ Expand city budget or allocate money to give students CTA Ventra cards so that students can go to museums, art shows, theatres, etc. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Restoration of abandoned buildings into venues, studios, community centers, etc., for youth. ✶ Art grant for students to help and implement art classes. ✶ Free tickets for older CPS students to attend festivals (Lollapalooza, Pitchfork, Lyrical Lemonade). BUSINESS, ECONOMIC, AND NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT We remain the city of the century. A city whose inspiring skyline and community corridors remind us that industry leads and learns here. A city made stronger by the draw of the business district and the ingenuity of an immigrant community who feeds and who fuels the optimism of today’s Chicago. And a city that embraces the vitality of the region equal to the vibrancy of each neighborhood—recognizing that it is precisely this balance that makes us the inimitable city we are. We are the new coast. Just as our coast connects the extremities of our city with the shoreline of our city center, we believe our path forward must intentionally connect those same dots, and include these key levers: ✶ Recognition of our need to attract and amplify businesses that sustain our position as an economic driver of the region and the state. ✶ Rapid elevation of equitable investment in people and places (and reduction of barriers to entry) as a combined means to inclusive growth. ✶ Deep understanding of the under-leveraged asset base inside our communities that could be critical to new commerce and new opportunity. 36 ✶ Distribution of both public and private resources in a concentrated, coordinated, and sustained manner to stimulate catalytic, jobs-rich, large-scale retail corridor, business, and industrial investments. ✶ Shared leadership and decision-making that relies on inclusive policy setting, leveraging the talents, voice, and experience of local residents. A city of the century sees thriving business as the linchpin of regional vitality and recognizes that it derives innovation from all neighborhoods. It sees talent as ubiquitous, and leaders not defined by their titles, but by their insights. It ignites community investment by engaging radically inclusive decision-making bodies. And it drives possibility through a broad, regional strategy for growth, which benefits all of Chicago, while supporting current business, complementing regional opportunities, and competing in the global economy. This is today’s new coast. Inclusive Regional Economic Growth As a global city, Chicago has one of the most diversified economies in the nation, creating 200,000 jobs since 2010 and ranking in the top 10 of the world’s most competitive cities for business. However, Chicago’s growth has recently stalled, and its population continues to decline. To reverse these trends, the Chicagoland region must undertake a holistic coordination and planning effort to ensure it can compete globally for decades to come. How might this initiative transform Chicago? A comprehensive regional plan for inclusive economic growth will position Chicagoland globally for decades, with Chicago being the unified driver of the regional economy. Chicago’s currently underused resources, including its people and neighborhoods, will be better integrated into the economic mainstream, leading to greater wealth creation for everyone. ✶ Provide more support to programs such as Metro Chicago Exports, giving export assistance to local businesses, and providing local firms access to the global market. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Collaborate and lead on regional planning to identify and implement the largest opportunities for inclusive growth. ✶ Advance Chicago’s position as a global and inclusive technology hub. ✶ Engage and create a positive and productive relationship with the business community, aligning business-led activities to the regional growth strategies. What should the administration do over time? What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Align city and sister agency capital and programmatic investments to growth objectives. ✶ Work in concert with the State of Illinois, including the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). ✶ Publish a long-term regional growth plan with specific community development plans aligned to global opportunities. ✶ Continue and strengthen the city’s commitment to the Chicago Regional Growth Corporation (CRGC), the Metropolitan Mayor’s Caucus, and other regional-coordinating bodies. ✶ Rebrand and market the region more effectively on a global stage. ✶ Build on cluster-based efforts that have shown success, such as the Chicago Metro Metal Consortium or the Chicagoland Food and Beverage Network. 38 BUSINESS, ECONOMIC, AND NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT Planning with Neighborhoods Chicago is benefiting from one of the strongest development cycles in our history. Much of the development has occurred in the central business district and surrounding communities. Chicago is replete with strong neighborhoods and organizations working to attract investments to areas that are growing. As the city recommits to comprehensive planning, engagement of neighborhoods is critical, and the first step should be to leverage the infrastructure of organizations that have created community-led plans. How might this initiative transform Chicago? - Planning should be routine and on a schedule, not one-time or once a decade. - Align city capital and programmatic planning and budgets to support community plans. ✶ Build and support capacity: Invest in capacity of communities and the organizations supporting communities to continue planning and investing. - Empower communities to use current data to make decisions. - Leverage city, private, and purpose sector resources to support plans. Working with neighborhoods will unleash the innovative and resilient leadership that exists across the entire city, creating self-sustained, self-determined communities. It will create thoughtful investment plans in the city and in each neighborhood, which pave the way for economic vitality with shared decision-making power in that process. ✶ Ensure community commitments are in neighborhood deals: As large developments and projects are considered, engage the community and document commitments made in an agreement with the community. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Connect neighborhood plans to leadership support and capital. Multiple plans that are being or have been developed from the community level. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Plan with neighborhoods: Connect community plans to a citywide comprehensive plan and regional growth strategy. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Continue to prioritize alignment of city and other agencies’ capital spending with community plans. ✶ Take a leadership role as a connector to regional growth plans. ✶ Identify one or more metrics of economic vitality to track success. Report on them and hold every city department accountable. - Identify where community-led plans exist, where they are missing, and fill the gaps. 39 Access to Capital Small businesses need capital to grow, yet businesses in Chicago’s communities of color received only 8.2% of the small business loans funded from 2009 to 2014. Businesses in underserved neighborhoods need quality infrastructure to support their commercial corridors, smart investments that attract customers, and an ecosystem of stakeholders to provide momentum. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Better flow of capital to small businesses and smarter infrastructure improvements will spark investment in underinvested communities, reduce the racial wealth gap citywide, and attract capital to Chicago. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Convene neighborhood leaders to identify urgent investments in their communities to help neighborhood entrepreneurs grow. ✶ Align public investments and convene philanthropic and private capital to map out current state and propose how, when, and where they invest in neighborhoods based on neighborhood priorities. ✶ Improve the structure of city and federal investment tools to make capital flow more quickly and efficiently, particularly NOF and the Opportunity Zone (OZ) program. What is happening today that should continue or expand? What should the administration do over time? ✶ City support for businesses but with structural improvements, including through the Neighborhood Opportunity Fund (NOF), Small Business Improvement Fund, Special Service Area grants, and Chicago Development Fund loans and tax credits. ✶ Create an investor prospectus, with a focus for OZ investors, for all investment needs in each community, which cannot be immediately funded and which aligns to neighborhood-based plans and regional growth plans. ✶ County, state, and philanthropic incentives for small businesses and targeted industries, including real estate tax abatements, capital guarantees, and the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund. ✶ Expand the capital supply (e.g., increase the range of projects that allow density bonus payments into the NOF) and demand (e.g., provide more incentives to businesses that hire locally or relocate jobs into underserved neighborhoods). ✶ Support for nonprofit lending and coaching for neighborhood small business. ✶ Better leverage neighborhood assets including vacant land and school buildings. ✶ Leverage city procurement opportunities to support growth in neighborhoods. 40 BUSINESS, ECONOMIC, AND NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT On-Ramps to Career Pathways A third of our neighborhoods have double-digit unemployment. In West Englewood, for example, the unemployment rate is nearly eight times what it is in North Center. The new administration should launch Jobs 77—to build equity in opportunity across all our neighborhoods by implementing policies and amplifying practices that will increase employment (and reduce household poverty) by 10%, while stabilizing neighborhood population. To do this requires a five-tier strategy that eliminates inequitable hiring practices, reduces structural barriers to employment, increases candidate skills and training, opens access to jobs, and drives meaningful career advancement. How might this initiative transform Chicago? It could open previously shut doors to employment, while activating a new talent pipeline by shifting employer perspectives on community-based hiring from one of charity to one of strategic advantage. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Promising workforce models that ready neighborhood talent for hire in their efforts to scale. ✶ Companies that source diverse talent and reduce employment barriers: AT&T, Aon, Accenture, Rush, and Chase. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Advocate for an allocation of revenue—perhaps from the cannabis industry—for a workforce fund. ✶ Evaluate exclusionary hiring practices that step beyond the scope of regulation and keep people in the shadows of the workforce. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Follow San Francisco model of automatic expungement of low-level drug offenses. ✶ Assess feasibility of forgiving city debts for individuals in workforce development programs. ✶ Align with equitable Transit-Oriented Development initiatives to ensure accessibility to emerging employment opportunities. ✶ Work with the private sector to expand models that match the demand for skills with people and training programs that can provide those skills, through realworld experiences and training. ✶ Tap into the workforce fund to serve the 340,000 Chicagoans without a high school diploma. ✶ Consider financial incentives to incentivize pro-inclusive behavior. 41 Business Community Engagement Chicago is home to 34 Fortune 500 companies and is ranked in the top 10 of the world’s most competitive business cities. Yet our growth has been uneven, and slower than the national average. How might this initiative transform Chicago? We can reverse these trends and accelerate economic growth for all Chicagoans with better collaboration between the business community and government, with fiscal transparency and new investment, particularly in our disinvested neighborhoods, and by championing Chicago’s strengths. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Civic engagement of Chicago businesses, major corporations, and civic organizations. ✶ Large companies investing directly in Chicago neighborhoods, using their assets, capabilities, capital, and employee enthusiasm, which can be better coordinated and expanded. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Seek input and dialogue. - Be transparent about the city’s financial situation and plan to achieve stability. - Assess revenue streams that keep Chicago competitive, and connect them to the needs, programs, infrastructure, and geographies that will win support. 42 BUSINESS, ECONOMIC, AND NEIGHBORHOOD DEVELOPMENT ✶ Appoint a Deputy Mayor, with appropriate authority, to lead the Mayor’s vision for Business Development and Inclusive Growth; streamline city bureaucracy for small business; share academic studies; and ease certifications for Minority Business Enterprise (MBE), Women Business Enterprise (WBE), and Business Enterprises Owned by People with Disabilities (BEPD). ✶ Champion economic growth. - Advocate in Springfield for stability in finances. - Work collectively for a better business climate to attract and retain regional employers. ✶ Establish a Mayor’s Business Forum hosted by Chicago businesses, and use the monthly forum to talk about the Mayor’s vision, challenges, priorities, initiatives, and progress. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Establish regional and neighborhood visions and growth plans with appropriate geographic subsets; establish priorities and set measurable goals working with communities. ✶ Expand and coordinate the number of companies investing in Chicago neighborhoods: - Assess current efforts and share best practices and new ideas. - Recruit new companies to participate. - Create a menu of programs for companies to assist and invest in; set goals, measure progress, and build momentum. YOUTH PERSPECTIVE Neighborhood Investment Plan Envision a depiction of Chicago’s skyline. In the frame, the Willis Tower rests on the left, the John Hancock building is on its right, and more often than not, the lake takes center stage. Chicago spans over 230 square miles, but we often conceptualize the city to be solely downtown. To ensure all neighborhoods benefit from and drive economic growth, we need the city to prioritize its communities outside of the business district. A neighborhood investment plan is required to ensure all Chicagoans have opportunities to participate in the city’s economic vitality and development. We are a world-class city, and we are only as strong as our weakest neighborhood. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Today, the neighborhood a child grows up in is a strong predictor of his or her educational and developmental outcomes. We dream for Chicago to become a stronger force as a whole, where a child’s neighborhood does not dictate his or her future opportunities. Community involvement is imperative to the success of neighborhood development. We want to invest in our communities without fear that it will lead to gentrification. A neighborhood investment plan that relies on community engagement and feedback is a means to ensure an investment in a neighborhood is an investment in the people who live there. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Assessment of community resources. ✶ Community and corporate partnership projects. ✶ Neighborhood Opportunity Fund. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Address resource inequities across neighborhoods. ✶ Establish neighborhood development pilot programs. ✶ Re-evaluate the roles that parks play within a community and neighborhood. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Strengthen the relationship between community organizations and corporate sponsors. ✶ Provide guidance to community members on how to take advantage of corporate sponsorship. 43 EDUCATION Education is at once deeply personal and uniquely political. In memos, surveys, and meetings, our committee frequently heard about the vibrant potential of our young people and the talented dedication of our teachers and leaders; for many, they are “what works” about our city’s education system. Conversely, many Chicagoans, including those same young people and educators, shared difficult stories about a resource-strapped system that struggles to provide needed support and about bureaucracies that historically experience too much instability to authentically engage over time. Put simply, our education system doesn’t work for everyone. Research shows outcome gaps for Chicago’s young people persist along gender, race, economic, learning difference, and language lines. Those gaps materialize early and extend through adulthood, undermining the very fabric of our communities. We believe they are evidence of Chicago’s legacy of structural racism and intentional exclusion, which manifests within and beyond schools. It is our vision that a transformed Chicago confronts and repairs that legacy with love and justice. In partnership with our learners and their families, education, business, and political leaders prioritize community needs; a vision for equitable and excellent education unites us all. With adequate resources, our learners thrive in safe, state-of-the-art buildings; they engage with diverse, talented, and supported educators; they receive ample wraparound support. 44 Through a dynamic network of out-of-school and postsecondary experiences, they continue to pursue their passions and learn new skills, from birth through adulthood. This vision shaped the six ideas shared here. We include recommendations to advance inclusive voice, fair funding, and diverse talent, with the belief that long-standing enrollment, discipline, and funding practices perpetuate historic inequities. Rooted unapologetically in a shared commitment to equity, we also include policy, program, and strategy recommendations for those working to meet the learning needs of all Chicagoans. We can start with the good work our educators and young people are already doing. Our educators are leading nationally recognized models for our youngest learners, innovating in the fastest-improving K-12 system in America, and removing barriers around postsecondary success. Our graduates are shaping our shared economic, civic, and cultural future as leaders in a rapidly evolving Chicago and an increasingly global world. Fueled by the power and potential of our people, we can radically reimagine the future of education in Chicago. Inclusive Voice for Equity and Impact Our education system historically operates best for families with the greatest privilege. In contrast, families already marginalized from other government resources are less likely to see their children’s education needs met. Many of the 1,700 Chicagoans who responded to our survey, and many others, felt past change was done “to them” instead of “with them.” How might this initiative transform Chicago? What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Spend the last 21 days of school on a listening tour with our young people and educators. ✶ Partner broadly to learn about the education community and to plan to achieve future goals; communicate regularly, clearly, and in advance; use multiple channels. Actively shifting decision-making power in and beyond schools starts with making data and its narratives accessible to everyone. An inclusive process would engage young people, their families, educators, and the broader community; together, they would define and refine our shared education policies. Investing in community-based and collective-impact organizations to facilitate the dialogue would be a powerful signal of priorities and a way to build relational trust. This would include clear consideration of who benefits from and is burdened by decisions. Public reporting on progress toward representative voice would create shared accountability. ✶ Support and listen to members of elected and advisory parent groups, including Local School Councils (LSCs), Bilingual Parent Advisory Councils, and Community Action Councils. What is happening today that should continue or expand? What should the administration do over time? ✶ Strengthen and publicly report on the impact of departments and programs dedicated to equity and access in public agencies, centers, schools, colleges, and universities. ✶ Expand youth-focused groups, like student advisory councils and voice committees. 46 EDUCATION ✶ Advance representative voice on all boards; include young people, educators, and parents. ✶ Consider inclusive working groups on issues like special education, early care, funding equity, trauma-informed instruction, and disconnected youth. ✶ Publish a progress update this summer; include lessons learned and emerging priorities. ✶ Transform governance to authentically engage the public; build trust through accountability. ✶ Develop and expand infrastructure to engage broader voices citywide and to solidify a feedback loop with young people, families, and educators most impacted by disparities. ✶ Implement Racial Equity Impact Assessments for important policy decisions; introduce new tools for assessing family and community needs and satisfaction. Diverse Talent Over 50,000 adults serve in publicly funded schools and community-based organizations (CBOs). Research indicates that when adult demographics reflect student demographics, outcomes improve. In Chicago, an additional 5,000 Latinx and 3,000 Black educators are needed to transform results. As we diversify, we have a growing demand for talented special education, early childhood, and bilingual educators, as well as for social workers and other support staff. To meet those needs in the future, we must cultivate our most important talent asset now: our youth. We can also better leverage dedicated adults as volunteers and parent mentors citywide. How might this initiative transform Chicago? A comprehensive talent strategy would transform learning at every level by investing in and beyond current employees. It starts with training a more diverse and stronger workforce, includes investing more deeply in volunteer and professional development, and expands the current focus on retention, especially in hard-to-staff roles and programs. The strategy would attract Chicago’s most talented and diverse adults to teach, mentor, and support our young people in the community spaces where they learn. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Source talent for success in 2019-20; consider incentives for diverse candidates with in-demand certifications willing to work in high-turnover situations. ✶ Audit workforce needs; highlight promising practice; plan to advance goals. ✶ Improve the quality and accountability of educator training and support programs. ✶ Invest in expanded supports for parent and community volunteers; consider incentives for employers who offer paid-time-off. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Communicate a definition of representative and adequate staffing; focus new resources on meeting high-demand needs first. ✶ Invest more in diverse candidates and young people who want to teach, and in staff and mentors who want to obtain needed certifications; expand paid teaching residencies. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Provide robust professional and volunteer training; attract and retain diverse, anti-biased, traumainformed, and anti-racist staff and mentors for all young people. ✶ Expand the Seal of Biliteracy program; strengthen dual-language education and certification. ✶ Elevate professional collaboration for all educators; increase charter-district collaboration. ✶ Maintain our commitment to high standards and autonomy for all school-based staff. ✶ Encourage parents and community members to serve as volunteers, mentors, and on Local School Councils (LSCs). 47 Equitable Funding Meeting ambitious goals requires more resources. In fact, nearly one in five survey respondents suggested that the Mayor-elect and her team prioritize education funding. The results are unsurprising; adequate and equitable funding is an annual struggle in Chicago. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is funded at 64 percent adequacy by Illinois’ definition; full funding requires almost $2 billion more annually. Equity remains a challenge. Our current system fails to sufficiently recognize that youth needs at every age and developmental stage differ due to factors like structural racism and trauma exposure. ✶ Expand efforts to increase the adequacy and equity of funding for postsecondary education, and to make two-and four-year degrees more affordable in Chicago. How might this initiative transform Chicago? ✶ Direct funding based on the needs of learners; ensure legal and equitable compliance, especially for English language learners, low-income and special education youth, and those experiencing trauma. In a transformed Chicago, adequate resources would be distributed based on a shared vision of equity; the needs of youth learning in our high-poverty centers, programs, and schools would be met first; and more adequate and equitable funding in postsecondary education would support the success of all Chicagoans. This new system likely builds on the current funding model for early childhood and on the state’s equitybased model for K-12 schools. It requires increasing and aligning revenue streams, differentiating the allocation of additional resources based on need, and adding transparency to budgeting decisions. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Maintain site-based control over budget decisions and trade-offs. ✶ Continue to provide agencies, principals, and other partners with timely budgets. 48 EDUCATION What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Engage community process to develop equity-based funding formula, starting with definition of adequate funding for high-poverty centers and schools. ✶ Execute a plan for obtaining fair and adequate education funding from the state. ✶ Provide training and support to schools’ budget decision-makers, including Local School Councils (LSCs). What should the administration do over time? ✶ Complete and publish an equity analysis and plans for all capital, program, center, and school budgets; consider the creation of a related task force; revise policy as necessary. ✶ Proactively plan for and invest in growing technology needs and aging facilities. ✶ Streamline revenue from diverse funding streams to equitably support youth needs. Early Childhood High-quality learning environments and developmentally appropriate support in the first five years of life can eliminate gaps caused by structural racism and trauma exposure, accelerating outcomes for a lifetime. However, many families are unaware of resources available for young children, either because those resources are not accessible or because the process to enroll can present barriers. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? How might this initiative transform Chicago? ✶ Develop consensus on high-quality standards for all birth-to-age-five providers; expand support to meet them. Providing comprehensive, coordinated early care and education from birth to age five would be transformational; it requires planning and investment. In the near term, the Mayor-elect and her team must implement universal preschool in a way that preserves options in community settings and that lives up to its promise. In the long term, the strategy would also include stronger support for families at every stage of a child’s development, including during the transition from home to school. The Mayor-elect and her team can address this fundamental restructuring with a comprehensive plan; monitor the work to address unintended consequences; and regularly adjust, with continuous input from all who are impacted. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Operationalize the commitment to universal preschool, while maintaining a mixed-delivery system that responds to the needs of families and community-based organizations (CBOs). ✶ Fund recruitment, enrollment, and attendance efforts for the 2019-20 school year, removing barriers in ways that are responsive to families and communities. ✶ Prioritize cultivation of bilingual and bicultural community members into the workforce. ✶ Restructure and simplify CBO funding streams to ensure sustainability, equity, and quality. ✶ Consider models for serving priority populations in the settings in which they enroll. ✶ Expand mental health consultation, trauma training, and social support for families. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Fully implement a birth-to-age-five strategy, including driving investment in prenatal, postpartum, birth-through-age-three, preschool, and kindergarten services. ✶ Add more dual-language programs and educators with early childhood expertise. ✶ Eliminate discrepancies in benefits and salary for early childhood educators. ✶ Continue using high-quality assessments and data, with a focus on addressing disparities. ✶ Maintain and expand City College and university scholarships for early childhood educators. 49 K-12 Schools Strong partnerships between families and educators have transformed many schools, driving the fastestgrowing elementary schools in the country and all-time high graduation rates. Still, too many Chicagoans consider themselves lucky to find a quality school. Investment decisions in the Mayor’s Office have the power to shape those experiences—to deepen connections or dismantle neighborhoods. Equitably supporting the work of our schools and meeting the needs of our youth require integrated planning, transparent resourcing, and inclusive collaboration. How might this initiative transform Chicago? A transformed education system would achieve justice, and serves as a model for equity, transparency, and accountability. We believe a system designed to overcome historical patterns of inequity will serve all students better. Achieving this vision requires centering on young people, amplifying parent leaders and educators, and ensuring that ambitiously rigorous instruction within schools is matched by fearlessly equitable policymaking outside them. Vibrant schools in every neighborhood would bring our communities together. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Maintain goals for success beyond high school; provide resources for learners and families to navigate toward their purpose and passion at every age; focus on transitions. ✶ Expand high-quality opportunities like STEM, International Baccalaureate, dual credit, and Career and Technical Education, in partnership with schools and communities. 50 EDUCATION ✶ Base interventions, by educators, agencies, or partners, in the effective use of data. ✶ Build on Chicago Public Schools’ (CPS) recently released vision to prioritize support for Black and Latinx young men. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? Develop a baseline equity report; benchmark current progress and develop key goals for: ✶ Access, Program, Funding: Report on equity of program and resource allocation, enrollment policies, and student outcomes by school type, geography, and student demographics. ✶ Representation: Identify where our students’ identities can be better reflected in culturally relevant curriculum, educator diversity, bilingual programming, and family engagement. ✶ Culture/Climate: Transform discipline in all school types; replace police presence and zero tolerance with restorative justice, social-emotional learning, and transition support. ✶ Outcomes: Establish additional on-track learning indicators; invest in proven interventions. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Strengthen the CPS Office of Equity to authentically engage communities, develop policy reforms, and report progress to the Chicago Board of Education and the public. ✶ Enforce and strengthen bilingual and special education policy. Postsecondary Access and Success Fewer than 50 percent of our high school graduates are likely to earn a bachelor’s degree by the age of 25, and the City Colleges’ graduation rate is 23 percent for associate’s degrees. What’s more, Chicago has 330,000 residents who have some college but no degree—that’s 18 percent of all Chicagoans over 25. Of those with a degree, too many graduates of color have difficulty securing a first job; they also start out earning less than their white peers. Even with Chicago’s economic strengths, some of our most marginalized neighborhoods have unemployment rates topping 25 percent. How might this initiative transform Chicago? ✶ Continue City Colleges’ STAR Scholarship and expand student access. ✶ Grow programs to re-engage disconnected 16- to 24-year-olds into school and work. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Expand transition support from senior year to postsecondary; reduce summer melt and increase resources for students pursuing progressive postsecondary pathways. ✶ Strengthen access to data to help students and their families make informed choices. Education is our city’s key strategy to put all Chicagoans on a path to career and life success. A comprehensive approach would offer all youth and adults many pathways to higher education and sustainable employment. This would require a unified commitment from schools, colleges, city agencies, nonprofits and businesses; expanded investment in times of transition; and additional mentorship to support student success. ✶ Improve remediation and advising practices across City Colleges. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Expand College and Career Suites to all CPS high schools and reduce counselor caseloads. ✶ Expand CPS counselor training and senior seminars to ensure quality postsecondary advising. ✶ Redefine the senior year of high school to be a stronger ramp-up to future success. ✶ Grow investments in high school and college internships, summer jobs, programs that improve first-generation transition to college and success, and career mentorship. ✶ Subsidize non-tuition expenses for college students, such as transit, housing, and childcare. ✶ Encourage universities to increase affordability for, and degree attainment of, CPS graduates. ✶ Incentivize employers, including city agencies, to offer internships and jobs to diverse high school and first-generation college students. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Re-engage adults to complete college with scholarships for training in high-demand careers. 51 YOUTH PERSPECTIVE Universal Pre-K Chicago Public Schools serves over 360,000 students in 513 schools across the district. Students in the current preschool program make up less than 5% of all students. Studies have shown that learning development and outcomes later in life are greatly impacted by a child’s readiness for kindergarten. To reduce the disparity of educational outcomes between socioeconomic classes, we must take the opportunity to support enrichment of our education system. Sustainable, high-quality pre-kindergarten education to all of Chicago’s 4-year-olds is a significant step in providing equitable educational opportunities for kids. We view education as a tool to better the well-being of the city’s youth. The landscape for education has changed, and will continue to change, and we are ready to be part of this change. How might this initiative transform Chicago? In and of itself, this initiative requires the acknowledgment that there is a socioeconomic, racial, and geographic disparity in kindergarten readiness. In doing so, we can take ownership of our current systems and policies that do not consider these disparities. Starting with early childhood education, we have the ability to be proactive and complement students’ learning over time. To succeed, this initiative must take a system-wide approach to address language, monetary, and geographic barriers. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Ongoing marketing and information sessions for universal pre-kindergarten. ✶ Community involvement in planning and implementation. ✶ Annual assessment of universal pre-kindergarten outcomes. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Marketing strategy to ensure parents are aware of this service. ✶ Sessions to help new parents prepare to send their children to preschool. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Increase accessibility to affordable transportation. ✶ Strategically reinvest in our schools. ✶ Increase visibility of educational opportunities in underserved communities. 53 ENVIRONMENT The Environment Committee shares a vision for Chicago that embraces the principles of environmental justice to address the critical challenges and opportunities that face our city. In an environmentally just Chicago, every person has access to clean air, water, and land, along with safe and healthy food, housing, and communities. A Chicago that embraces environmental justice will prioritize the ethical use of land and water and support the reversal of current damage to Chicago’s communities and natural assets. This approach will require supporting the meaningful, equitable engagement and self-determination of marginalized communities and a sincere commitment to improve and protect Chicago’s natural resources. In a just Chicago, the city will prioritize investment and support communities of color who have been disproportionately burdened with the environmental hazards and public health hardships of industrialization. Environmental and public health considerations, and their interrelation with other socioeconomic factors, will imbue every decision. For example, an environmentally just economic development approach will include specific considerations at every decision point: where are investments to be located, what materials and practices are used, who is hired and what are their working conditions, and what are the overall community benefits? 54 To create a resilient Chicago, critical services will be prioritized, ensuring that every person is protected against current and future risks, such as flooding, pollution, heat waves, vector-borne disease, and inadequate infrastructure. Chicago will be a welcoming city, offering resilience—safety, security, and stability—for those leaving less resilient places. The city will work in partnership with communities, utilities, and other stakeholders to fulfill clean energy commitments, support a clean energy economy, facilitate transportation electrification, and accelerate energy-efficiency initiatives. It will prioritize the needs of divested communities as it leverages this transformation to enhance livability, economic opportunity, security, and public health, as well as ensure affordable access to water, clean energy, wastewater, and other environmental programs. Chicago must also prioritize the protection and improvement of natural areas that promote biodiversity, protecting wildlife and people. This is our vision of an environmentally just Chicago. If honored and implemented with humility and care, Chicago can put people, wildlife, and the environment first, creating and thriving in a healthy city for all. . . . a . . .1 1 1'3oaig} i ?1 . . Water Quality and Stormwater Management Chicago has abundant freshwater that is the envy of other cities, but chronic neighborhood flooding, exposure to lead, regressive rates, pollution, degraded habitat, and inconsistent access to the lake and rivers undermine this tremendous asset. Cooperative management strategies between agencies, suburban customers, and watershed partners will deliver cost savings and solutions, positioning the city for growth as climate change imperils other regions. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Recognizing Lake Michigan and our three rivers as assets for all Chicagoans will improve ecosystem and human health, and create opportunities for economic transformation across neighborhoods. The city will work with communities to solve chronic flooding, pollution, and lead contamination, restoring trust in government and enhancing neighborhood vitality. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Decades of progress on water quality and habitat that have transformed ecosystem and wildlife health. ✶ Neighborhood-scale green infrastructure projects that have delivered noticeable improvements. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Restore water service to all disconnected homes and initiate progressive water rates, likely starting with a study. 56 ENVIRONMENT ✶ Develop a plan to address lead pollution, including pipe inventory, testing, and filter distribution. ✶ Implement recommendations of the Great Rivers Chicago plan to meet Clean Water Act water quality rules. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Launch a condition and vulnerability assessment of water infrastructure based on future climate risks as the first step in designing a multi-year capital improvement plan. ✶ Launch lead pipe replacement program, working with other departments to maintain other existing public assets. ✶ Work with Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Lake County Stormwater Management Commission, and communities to develop a collaborative regional watershed-based stormwater management strategy. ✶ Comply with Chicago’s Phase 1 Combined Sewer Overflow permit and develop a Phase 2 permit and strengthen the city’s stormwater management ordinance. ✶ Resume leadership in Great Lakes issues including water affordability, climate resilience, restorative infrastructure, and aquatic invasive species solutions. Equitable Environmental Enforcement Chicago struggles to meet Clean Air and Clean Water Act regulations, and the relationship between industry and communities remains polarized, often leading residents to protest to protect their community’s safety and future. The city’s response to environmental concerns has often been reactive, and the city should acknowledge that, as a result, people and communities have been subjected to disproportionate impacts over many years. Action should be taken to rebuild trust and improve air, land, and water quality for everyone by creating a new environmental enforcement program that equitably, proactively evaluates and enforces environmental regulations. How might this initiative transform Chicago? This initiative will change how the city identifies, evaluates, reforms, prioritizes, surpasses, and enforces environmental priorities and laws. Community and agency experts will work together, and collaborate externally with sister agencies, to establish fair and equitable permitting and violation enforcement policies and procedures. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Ordinances and regulations should be met, and expanded to address gaps in compliance at the local, state and federal levels. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Conduct an inventory of current planning, permitting, and enforcement policies and programs, as well as underlying city zoning codes. Policy gaps should be identified, policies that are ineffective abandoned, and high-risk conditions addressed. ✶ Communicate findings broadly, and work with experts—in communities, agencies, nonprofits, and businesses—to prioritize urgent issues and build action plans. ✶ Appoint an environmental advisory council that includes city departments, sister agencies, and multigenerational community members from impacted communities. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Report annual progress for all initiatives established in 100-day assessment; include next steps, timelines, and goals. Advisory council should report on community perception/response. ✶ Continue to review, reform, and draft new city ordinances and regulations across planning, zoning, and environment, including industrial corridor processes and planned manufacturing districts, and recommend changes to improve environmental protection for city residents. 57 Land Use as a Conduit to Healthy, Prosperous Communities Reimagining open space and underused land can unlock pathways to vibrant careers, strengthen community health and safety, and reduce property flooding. The city can demonstrate its commitment to redevelopment through neighborhood ownership, leveraging environmental justice principles and climate resilience strategies to restore the wealth and health of divested neighborhoods. ✶ Assess the capacity of existing community-led green career programs to help build Black and Latinx leadership in the Green Economy. How might this initiative transform Chicago? ✶ Place a moratorium on healthy tree removal on city properties, devising a policy for decision-making that acknowledges the urban forest as critical infrastructure for climate change mitigation and resilience. Activating underused land will connect people to nature and spur job creation; developing green infrastructure will improve community stability and resilience, strengthen our ecosystems, and support local growth. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Collaboration with agencies, communities, and land trusts to expand the preservation and restoration of natural lands, urban agriculture, and working landscapes. Potential impacts could include access to affordable, high-quality local food and paths to Green Economy careers. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Inventory open space and green infrastructure projects; prioritize and modify with meaningful input from local communities. 58 ENVIRONMENT ✶ Revise the Open Space Impact Fee program to achieve equitable distribution of funding for parks and open spaces. ✶ Clarify a pathway for access to city water for open space projects. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Create public open spaces, with meaningful input from communities, that improve wildlife habitat and mitigate climate impacts. ✶ Update zoning codes to enable and encourage innovative uses, safe and cost-effective remediation, and revitalization of underused land. ✶ Support community-based land access and ownership through land trust models. ✶ Encourage new business development and expand licensing in fields such as urban farming, food distribution, green infrastructure management, and open space programming, with additional support for historically underrepresented populations. Green Jobs Chicago should facilitate the expansion of Green Economy jobs, while growing the capacity of neighborhood organizations to create pathways for enriching careers in these fields. Chicago must lead by example in authorizing the employment of persons with criminal justice records and assuring fair hiring practices for workers of all skills and ages. How might this initiative transform Chicago? The city can transform underserved communities by developing green jobs that will create durable careers and wealth, empower youth development, and make infrastructure more resilient to the effects of climate change. Green jobs span many fields including, but not limited to, stormwater management, clean energy and grid resiliency services, materials management, and urban agriculture, and a wide range of abilities, from entry-level laborers to professional services. Training and educational programs should be culturally appropriate in subject, geography, and language, include all skill levels, serve multi-generational populations, and provide funds to enable pipeline training programs. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Green job training programs such as Greencorps Chicago, the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, and related instruction in Chicago Public Schools (CPS). What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Map existing job training programs and demand for green jobs to identify gaps and opportunities. ✶ Identify upcoming city contracts that could provide employment for training program graduates. ✶ Resource summer employment programs to distribute water filters to households at risk of lead exposure. ✶ Integrate racial and health equity and traumainformed care into training competencies. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Expand and prioritize green careers education in CPS and City Colleges of Chicago. ✶ Modify city hiring policies to open opportunities for graduates of job training programs regardless of background. ✶ Address barriers to sustainable careers including access to transportation, stable housing, affordable child care, paralegal support, training stipends or wages, and family-sustaining benefits and pay. ✶ Facilitate coordination between state and local green job creators, e.g., Future Energy Jobs Act implementation partners, the Healthy Homes Program, and the Good Food Purchasing Program. ✶ Develop and fund a long-term maintenance plan that trains and employs people to ensure performance of green infrastructure. 59 New City Agency To protect its human, natural, and economic resources, the city should establish an agency that is mandated and resourced to enforce all laws and regulations that protect residents’ health and ensure equitable access to the city’s natural resources. This agency should coordinate across departments and sister agencies on environmental justice initiatives, responsive to community input, to improve and protect Chicago’s natural resources for the benefit of people and wildlife. How might this initiative transform Chicago? The agency will transform impacted neighborhoods by engaging residents and environmental justice groups from all Chicago communities, businesses, nonprofits, city departments, and sister agencies. The agency would prioritize compliance with, and equitable enforcement of, environmental laws, and the elimination of environmental and health hazards to improve the quality of life for everyone. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ The city’s recent commitment to 100% renewable energy by 2035. ✶ Electrification of CTA’s bus fleet by 2040. ✶ Public parks and natural landscapes. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Identify priority communities through a cumulative impact analysis that accounts for environmental exposures and population vulnerability. ✶ Create an inventory of environmental programs and responsibilities across city departments and sister agencies. ✶ Convene an Environmental Advisory Board to review and advise on existing and proposed policies/regulations, including, but not limited to, environmental justice, river ecology, nature and wildlife, urban forestry, energy and climate resiliency, land use/zoning and planning, and water quality. Include community representatives and apply an equitable lens in all deliberations. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Establish an environmental agency as described herein. ✶ Commit to leading the timely transition to a 100% clean and equitable energy future. ✶ Foster creative solutions to environmental challenges such as testing micro-grids, clean transportation solutions, urban farming, and expanded access to wildlife. Identify smart solutions that scale over time to increase long-term impact. ✶ Enable environmental and climate conversations that are culturally appropriate, multi-generational, and accessible. 60 ENVIRONMENT YOUTH PERSPECTIVE Climate Action Plan for Chicago Climate change is one of the most significant challenges facing our planet, and youth will be affected by climate change more than anyone. We propose a Climate Action Plan for the city, to be implemented by 2020. This would be a bill that requires the commitment of the new administration and aldermen. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Ideally, there would be wording ensuring that even after the incoming administration leaves, the plan will still continue. The Climate Action Plan would include a ban on single-use plastic products in most circumstances, an environmental-education curriculum for all students throughout the city, more accessible public transit for residents of the Southeast Side, and quarterly reports on carbon emissions from the city. The plan should be formed with input from all communities throughout the city, including youth. This will ensure there is no community left out or adversely affected. When this is successful, we can see Chicago’s plastic consumption and carbon emissions go down drastically. What is happening today that should continue or expand? What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ A ban on single-use plastic products in most circumstances. This policy will allow for growth in businesses that produce goods like reusable coffee cups, will create more jobs in the green sector in Chicago, and could make Chicago the go-to space for national environmental conferences. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Create and implement an education curriculum in city elementary schools, high schools, and the City Colleges about climate change. Make climate change study a prerequisite in the City Colleges. This would be similar to how civics is required in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) for graduation. ✶ Support CTA expansion to the Southeast Side. ✶ Create a gift bag for distribution in underserved communities that cannot afford eco-friendly products. This would be a reusable bag that would include metal straws, reusable water bottles, reusable coffee cups, water filtration systems, etc. ✶ Being able to recycle at home, Red Line and Blue Line Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) trains that run all night, and the plastic bag tax should continue. ✶ Anything that allows for citizens to be eco-friendly with ease and without any cost should remain in place. 61 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Protecting and improving the health and quality of life of all Chicagoans must begin by expanding deep-rooted, narrow definitions of health and care. Transformation will require a definition that assumes emotional and psychological health care that is commensurate to physical health care. Traumainformed practices must become embedded into every interaction the city has with the public, and the city must offer an equally trauma-informed approach to its own workforce. Transformation will require unprecedented levels of coordination, not only between the Department of Public Health and the Department of Family and Support Services, but among all city departments, agencies, and community organizations. Embodying a trauma-informed approach will require solutions that acknowledge the intricate interplay between social and physical factors. For example, the economic vitality of a neighborhood, the neighborhood’s environment, educational achievement, and access to health care are interconnected determinants of health and well-being. Structural conditions—racism, poverty, poor housing quality, joblessness, food access, educational outcomes, violence, justice involvement, and other forms of oppression—all contribute to poor community health and quality of life outcomes. To achieve full integration and coordination of care for patients across their 62 physical, mental, behavioral, and social care needs, solutions must move upstream to address these structural conditions, which lie at the heart of the city’s inequities. Taking an equity-in-all-policies approach to improving the health and vitality of all residents and communities will be threatening to the status quo. This approach will inevitably require allocating public funding in new ways and according to need. It will require departments, agencies, and community organizations that haven’t worked together before to address problems collectively. This will be uncomfortable for some. But to uproot inequities and nurture healthier neighborhoods and residents, we must shift the narrative in our city to one in which residents from every community understand that the health and wellness of everyone is critical for the viability and growth of everyone. Mental Health and Safety Strategy for the Public Workforce The city’s public sector workers, particularly emergency responders, are on the front lines, dealing with Chicago’s most challenging, sensitive, and pressing issues daily. Our public workers are exposed to trauma that can undermine the health and safety of the worker and others. The city needs a thoughtful strategy to provide city workers with trauma-informed support and resources to be physically and mentally healthy, so they can, in turn, serve communities facing trauma from violence, poverty, and racism. How might this initiative transform Chicago? The mental health and safety strategy for the public workforce will be generated from insights gathered from a wide range of city employees, will acknowledge the dual role of public servants as residents of this city and employees, and will be structured to identify the most critical needs of each department. The strategy will build the social-emotional capacity, increase competence, and move the workforce towards greater health and safety. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ The Department of Health is initiating a traumainformed transformation initiative that could be adapted to other city agencies. ✶ Several departments and unions have Employee Assistance Programs. These should be assessed, integrated with best practices, and expanded to all departments and agencies. 64 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Provide a health, safety, and satisfaction survey to city employees so as to include their feedback in the creation of department-specific toolkits that promote mental wellness. ✶ Ensure all supervisors have training on signs of mental health issues and compassion fatigue, how to discuss the topic with staff, and how to make referrals. ✶ Encourage department and agency leaders to include family members during orientation or recruit training and help employees identify their support systems. ✶ Implement programs to reduce stigma associated with seeking mental health treatment. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Integrate traumatic incident reports into a mental health and safety toolkit to create guidelines and timelines for supporting a worker after a stressful or traumatic event. The Chicago Police Department should review their current policy to include all city employees involved in an incident, including Office of Emergency Management and Communications, other officers, and command staff. ✶ Provide ongoing training on chronic stress, trauma, compassion fatigue, PTSD, secondary trauma, and other relevant topics. Upstream Solutions to Health and Social Equity Too many Chicagoans are born, live, learn, work, worship, and play in environmental conditions that adversely affect their health, functioning, and quality of life. Achieving social and health equity requires solutions that address the social determinants of health—like unstable housing, low incomes, unsafe communities, and lack of access to communitybased resources. The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) and Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS) are well suited to co-lead the achievement of expansive citywide goals, such as creating social and physical environments that promote good health, and to work with other city departments and community organizations to achieve upstream solutions to social determinants of health. How might this initiative transform Chicago? This would be the first large-scale collective impact effort in Chicago involving multiple city departments to significantly and systematically reduce racial and economic disparities in health and social outcomes. By working across departments not typically engaged in health and social services, the Mayor’s Office will accelerate CDPH and DFSS’s efforts to address persistent disparities that keep too many Chicagoans in a vicious cycle of adverse life experiences and outcomes. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ CDPH has a citywide plan to create a Healthy Chicago, currently embodied in Healthy Chicago 2.0, that should continue to evolve through data and community and partner inputs. ✶ DFSS supports extensive services at the community level through a broad network of trusted social service providers. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ State a commitment to develop a framework for a citywide effort to address social and health disparities, including every city department and sister agency required for success. ✶ Mandate all city departments and sister agencies actively participate in CDPH’s “Health in All Policies” goals and strategies. ✶ Publish bold goals and targets that the agencies will be accountable for achieving, and a timeline, with milestones, for achieving them. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Establish standard systems and protocols for cross-agency and delegate agency collaboration, accountability, and impact measurement. ✶ Commit long-term resources to ensure the continuity and sustainability of the plan. 65 Insurance Enrollment and New Options for Those Currently Ineligible Too many Chicagoans remain uninsured because they lack awareness of their insurance options. With adequate education and assistance, eligible residents can gain access to Medicaid or marketplace insurance plans to cover medical, behavioral, and oral health needs. Among our city’s immigrant populations, fear and confusion have resulted in inadequate use of essential health care services. Immigration status can also limit options for credible coverage. The city should pursue partnerships with area health care providers, Illinois, and Cook County to create new coverage offerings for those locked out of existing safety-net systems. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Closing the health insurance gap will help make Chicago a healthier place to live and work. More people will be vaccinated for communicable diseases such as measles, hepatitis, and influenza. Access to essential health care services will increase the productivity of our workforce. Responding to the health care needs of low-income Chicagoans will mitigate the emotional and financial strain poor health and lack of health insurance place on families and communities. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Past enrollment efforts by city agencies to reach vulnerable groups, such as artists and taxicab drivers, should be scaled, making use of the Department of Health’s Health Atlas. 66 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Understand the scope of the problem and capacity to respond. Publish population-level data for detailing how many are uninsured, what is known about them, and where they live. ✶ Maintain a matrix of service providers and payers to illuminate assets and gaps in coverage and care. Include public reporting of hospitals’ community benefits and charitable care contributions. ✶ Create a high-profile, citywide enrollment campaign advancing a “no wrong door” framework. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Provide small grants to community-based organizations to reinvigorate and coordinate their navigator programs. ✶ Explore a program to offer ineligible residents a city-provided health service card with benefits that include access to a network of accessible services. ✶ Determine whether area hospitals could be required to assume a fair share of the charity care needed to cover the ineligible population. Integration and Expansion of Care The city has a responsibility to improve the health of all its residents. Primary health care that spans the lifespan and a wide range of health needs—mental, physical, substance abuse—are crucial. Taking an equity approach to health care requires ensuring that comprehensive care is available to the most vulnerable populations, including the uninsured and undocumented. Striving for greater co-location and integration of mental, physical, and substance abuse services can help reach more people. This is especially true when services are co-located with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) because it allows the city to leverage enhanced reimbursement. While integration should happen across all community-based locations, FQHCs are unique in their federal mandate to provide low- to no-cost primary care. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Integrated and co-located services will change the way residents interact with health care providers. It will decrease barriers to care as well as reduce stigma for treatment of mental health and substance abuse. The city will set a new standard for the expectation of collaboration between care providers and for the support of a full care continuum. This improved safety net of integrated care will deliver services equitably and efficiently. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Department of Public Health (CDPH) seed grants to FQHCs to support integration of mental health care. ✶ 311-NAMI help line that connects individuals to behavioral health resources. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Establish a Director of Medicaid within CDPH or the Mayor’s Office of Equity to lead integration. This director will advocate for local, state, and federal policy on Medicaid expansion and reimbursement, and amplify the voices of health care consumers in Chicago. ✶ Establish a database via Chicago Health Atlas or 311 that includes Medicaid enrollment information and FQHC, free, and income-based clinics. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Increase funding to CDPH to support more seed grants to FQHCs and community-based providers for co-location and integration of services. ✶ Advocate for the expansion of services covered under Medicaid. Advocate with payers to align reimbursement policies with the true cost of care. 67 Comprehensive Response to Trauma Gun violence in Chicago leads to high rates of trauma for our most vulnerable communities, but it is not only gun violence that leads to trauma. The city must use a holistic approach to support those who have experienced, or are at risk of experiencing, a variety of traumas, including gun violence, domestic or child abuse, discrimination, homophobia, homelessness, and racism. A holistic approach should include mitigation strategies and long-term, quality services for victims of violence including family members and friends. How might this initiative transform Chicago? What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Develop a coordinated strategy that includes all stakeholders and incorporates people with lived experiences in decision-making. Use the Children’s Advocacy Center model, which coordinates case review with necessary stakeholders. ✶ Provide the city’s communications team with training on Person First Language. ✶ Budget corporate funds for supporting mental health and substance abuse services. There are many community-based organizations and city agencies that are dedicated to this work. An initiative that defines a coordinated, comprehensive strategy to trauma response will pool resources and thought leadership into a more impactful collective effort. It will link responses to trauma with access to mental health care and substance abuse treatment, ensuring those who suffer from violence have the resources they need to heal. ✶ Encourage department and agency leaders to include family members during orientation or recruit training, and help employees identify their support systems. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Examine the model of the Social Justice School to increase workforce development in community health, peer navigation, and mental health. ✶ Community- and school-based organizations working in violence prevention, wellness centers, and access hubs. ✶ The Flexible Housing Pool and All Chicago, who provide critical work around ending homelessness; people who are homeless often experience untreated trauma. ✶ Via 311, the NAMI help line, which provides mental health coordination to callers. 68 HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES What should the administration do over time? ✶ Advocate for expanding the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) definition of homelessness. ✶ Educate philanthropists and corporations about community navigators and peer-led activities. YOUTH PERSPECTIVE Citywide, Trauma-Informed Care Health and human services intersects with and influences public safety. At the individual, community, and city level, the way we perceive our safety directly impacts how we move about the city. In neighborhoods with high crime rates, trauma is not a single episode but a constant reality. The heightened attention around gun-violence prevention has left little space for addressing the people within these communities once the sirens have faded and the yellow tape is removed. We recommend that health clinics and centers should have trauma-informed care. Every location needs a psychiatrist and multiple psychologists prepared, and supported, to address real city issues with those directly impacted, including children. How might this initiative transform Chicago? This initiative creates a foundation for everyone to have serious conversations around the impact of trauma on one of our city’s most vulnerable populations, youth. Through the health clinics, we are intentionally inviting our communities to share their Chicago experience as a means to inform policy and initiative decisions. The city taking a stance on the importance of mental health will aid in disseminating any remaining cultural and social stigmas. Inclusion of all resident experiences permits the city to take a wider perspective on the strategic approach to mental health services. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ The innovation of different media to administer mental health services. ✶ Viewing health as a public safety concern. ✶ Recognition of mental health as a city priority. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Research to understand the impact of violence and trauma on Chicago’s youth. ✶ Convening of community and city partners to formulate a cohesive mental health strategy. ✶ Acknowledgment that youth in high-trauma areas view and use city resources differently. ✶ Evaluation of current mental health facilities. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Community engagement in high-crime areas. ✶ Mental health curriculum within Chicago’s schools. ✶ Initiatives that are formed by trauma-based research. 69 HOUSING Chicago should be a place where everyone has access to a basic human need: housing that is affordable, decent, stable, and accessible. Achieving this goal requires a clear assessment of the current challenges. More than 80,000 Chicagoans experience homelessness in a given year, and it is estimated that demand for affordable rental housing outstrips supply by ~180,000 units. At the same time, the gap between a booming downtown and other parts of the city widens. These disparities are not the product of impartial market forces. They are the consequence of painful public policies that have encouraged segregation, redlining, and exclusion. We believe that Chicago can heal from within. We can lead a renaissance if we reckon with our past. The new administration should evaluate its housing agenda with both historic and visionary lenses. It should pursue a multifaceted strategy that builds on and strengthens community-level planning, increases the availability and flexibility of revenue, and pursues systemic change that breaks down unnecessary barriers. It should help the most vulnerable, those newly displaced as some neighborhoods gentrify, and the communities that have suffered disinvestment for so long. 70 We imagine a transformed Chicago with fewer unjust evictions and more inclusive, diverse, and affordable communities. We envision new and innovative ways to build and finance housing in the city. We see new partnerships between affordable and market-rate developers, and nonprofits, housing advocates, and the vulnerable. We imagine protections for displaced families in rapidly changing neighborhoods. We believe in a new narrative that changes the perception of housing that is affordable and of our disinvested communities. Other cities and states have placed housing affordability on the top of their political agendas. The new administration can do the same, striving to make Chicago a model to emulate. . - i Access to Homeownership Homeownership is a strategic tool to build a thriving Chicago. The city should create a strategy to promote its neighborhood assets, plan for needed investments, preserve affordability, and build demand in its unique neighborhoods. Homeownership is also a wealthbuilding and stabilizing tool that can close the racial wealth gap for both individuals and communities. How might this initiative transform Chicago? By facilitating an increase in homeownership, the city can advance economic development, reclaiming vacant buildings and lots, boosting adjacent property values, and attracting new residents who support further commercial and economic development. The new administration can also prevent displacement in gentrifying neighborhoods by helping longtime homeowners afford essential household repairs and reducing their monthly housing costs. Both strategies must be responsive to local needs. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Expand home purchase subsidies through the Building Neighborhoods and Affordable Homes programs to cover appraisal gaps for new construction. ✶ Increase resources for housing counseling and education for current and potential homeowners. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Work with practitioners to strategically target resources for long-standing programs such as Tax Increment Financing Purchase Rehab to cover rehab appraisal gaps. ✶ Work inclusively with residents to create citywide marketing and investment plans with an equity lens. ✶ Consider how the Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) can better support the creation of new affordable homeownership units across the city. ✶ Allow coach houses and Accessory Dwelling Units in new construction and rehab to help owners build wealth and offset monthly housing costs. ✶ Provide technical assistance and financing to promote shared ownership models such as co-ops. ✶ Facilitate financing opportunities and train local workers for new construction projects to pursue affordable single-family development and to rehab and preserve naturally occurring affordable housing in 2-, 3-, and 4-flat configurations. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Originate a new and inclusive narrative about Chicago neighborhoods, highlighting cultural assets on the South and West Sides and building demand for all communities. ✶ Use community development plans to proactively, strategically, and equitably deploy resources to prevent displacement and incentivize development in underserved areas. 72 HOUSING Revenue to Reduce Homelessness Over the course of a year, more than 80,000 people in Chicago experience homelessness. This burden falls disproportionately on Black and Latinx residents. Historically, Chicago has not invested sufficient resources to tackle this problem, spending only 5%, on a per-capita basis, of what New York allocates to homelessness prevention. The new administration should implement a graduated city real estate transfer tax (RETT) to create a dedicated revenue stream to reduce homelessness, including funds for services that help stabilize individuals and families. How might this initiative transform Chicago? The funds raised from a graduated RETT could reduce the number of people experiencing homelessness by ~36,000 over the next 10 years. This represents an unprecedented opportunity for Chicago to develop a proactive strategy that helps individuals address their needs more promptly. If done right, this will also spur new housing partnerships and coordinated resources across the city. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Convene a task force to articulate how new funds from a change in the RETT would be spent, with priority given to homelessness reduction. This task force should also work to define the target beneficiaries, revenue projections, and metrics and data to be tracked. ✶ Work with legislative affairs, City Council members and other stakeholders to pass a resolution to bring RETT changes to voters by 2020. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Develop an inter-agency administrative process on managing changes to the RETT, including revenue collection and disbursement. ✶ Publish data and key metrics, using Los Angeles as potential model. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Strategic cross-sector partnerships that have been built to tackle homelessness, including the Families in Transition program, the Flexible Housing Pool, and the Chicago Continuum of Care’s focus on youth homelessness. ✶ The Chicago Housing Authority’s work with people who experience homelessness. 73 Building, Permitting, and Zoning Processes Chicago struggles with a legacy of redlining, exclusionary practices, and cycles of displacement in its communities. While some communities suffer from decades of disinvestment, others experience displacement as gentrification takes hold. These crises can be mitigated by a consistent and reliable city government that invests in an innovative building code, offers an efficient permitting process, and builds a proactive and comprehensive land use policy. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Adopting a system of comprehensive planning backed by deep community engagement would align entitlements and prioritize city reviews and approvals for developments that fulfill a larger strategic citywide vision. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Neighborhood development plans as best models for community engagement. ✶ Recent updates to the building code modernization plan. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ The new administration should convene a process to create a comprehensive plan for Chicago, with community and stakeholder input, that builds on existing community-level plans and establishes clear priorities for the city. ✶ The new administration should explore how to encourage the use of innovative construction materials. 74 HOUSING ✶ The Department of Buildings’ review and inspection process should institute transparent best practices for all reviewers and inspectors. ✶ The new administration should consolidate the Department of Planning and Development, the Department of Buildings, and the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities. ✶ The new administration should explore the strategic use of tools to gain control of vacant buildings stuck in legal limbo. ✶ The new administration should introduce the Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU) ordinance which allows conversion of illegal basement and garden units to affordable housing. The city should also consider allowing tiny homes and coach houses in zoning changes. What should the administration do over time? ✶ The new administration should explore giving priority access to development of city-owned or controlled parcels to neighborhood-based organizations. ✶ The new administration should work with City Council to define a transparent timeline for planning proposals to move to approval, and to transfer non-discretionary permitting considerations to the Department of Planning and Development (DPD). Incentives for Preserving Affordable Housing Chicago’s multifamily rental stock provides the backbone of our neighborhoods, but the majority was built more than 50 years ago. These units need investment and care; preserving an affordable unit costs one-sixth that of new construction. The new administration should use existing programs and expand incentives to preserve affordable housing. How might this initiative transform Chicago? An investment in preserving buildings would increase the supply of affordable rental housing and improve the quality of neighborhoods that have been wrestling with the impact of vacant and abandoned homes. Preservation would also create more equity for Black and Latinx households. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Troubled Buildings Initiative, which has a track record of preserving affordable housing. ✶ Preservation of Existing Affordable Rentals (PEAR) program, which provides financial assistance in exchange for affordable rental covenants. ✶ Tax Increment Financing Purchase-Rehab Program, which provides subsidies for single-family homebuyers to rehab vacant homes. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ The city should convene experienced stakeholders, including the Preservation Compact, to explore expansion of programs to preserve affordable housing—for example: - Employ more strategic use of legal tools to gain control of vacant buildings and/or safely preserve them for future development. - Offer city- and philanthropy-backed lending pools to property owners of affordable rental housing. - Offer down-payment assistance or rehab grants to owner-occupants of 2- to 4-unit buildings. Mechanisms for preserving affordability could include entering the property into the Chicago Community Land Trust. - Establish a task force to explore a Debt and Equity Fund for larger affordable preservation developments. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Explore streamlining the process for preserving affordable housing, including expediting approvals and refinancing. ✶ Grow the capabilities of the Chicago Community Land Trust. ✶ Study how public resources currently allocated to the Chicago Housing Authority’s transformation program, now ending, can be distributed to neighborhood projects. 75 Affordable Requirements Ordinance and Qualified Allocation Plan Since the Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) was introduced in 2007, developers have built only 383 affordable units to meet their ARO obligation. Meanwhile, the problem of housing affordability remains acute. The Lightfoot administration should amend the ARO so that it is an effective and flexible incentive to create more housing that is affordable. The Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) is an important metric in the distribution of Low Income Housing Tax Credits, the largest funding source for developing affordable rental properties. Chicago currently does not use QAPs. The new administration should develop a transparent QAP to build transparency and advance the city’s housing priorities. How might this initiative transform Chicago? An amended ARO ordinance and transparent QAP could spur the development of affordable and accessible units across the City of Chicago, increasing the affordability of housing for tens of thousands of Chicagoans. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Quarterly reporting, as done by Chicago Rehab Network. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Document the number of affordable units created under ARO in each pilot area, and publish the in-lieu fees collected and where they were allocated. 76 HOUSING ✶ Convene a task force of developers, advocates, and Community Development Financial Institutions to determine most impactful changes to the ARO, including the feasibility of the affordable percentage increases, limiting the off-site rules, and implementing accessibility requirements. ✶ Convene stakeholders to develop an annual QAP, including consideration for accessibility, racial equity, affordable housing preservation, housing climate change mitigation, and other housing priorities. ✶ Determine budgetary implications of proposed amendments, including feasibility of increasing the share of in-lieu fees to the Chicago Low Income Housing Trust Fund or allowing marketrate developers to invest in shovel-ready housing projects. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Study ways to maintain the unified goal of creating affordable units in higher-income markets while addressing tension between stakeholders on how best to achieve the goal. ✶ Establish a transparent data system to track creation of new affordable units. YOUTH PERSPECTIVE Community-Oriented Planning Despite Chicago’s net population loss in recent years, the city is seeing an increased number of neighborhoods undergoing gentrification. We have long prided ourselves on being a melting pot, a city full of different neighborhoods with an array of rich cultures and experiences. In celebration of our diversity, we invested in community centers, major home developments, and CTA bus stations. Unfortunately, these efforts produced blind spots that require attention. The Affordable Requirements Ordinance (ARO) is a prime example of efforts to address long-time residents being pushed out due to rising costs of living. We see this ordinance as a key variable in protecting our communities’ futures, but it is in need of revision. The removal of the in-lieu fee option for developers to buy their way out of the affordable units requirement is a necessary step to ensure sustainable and affordable neighborhoods for all of Chicago’s residents. How might this initiative transform Chicago? When cities think of community development, it is often independent of the people residing within the communities. The city is constantly managing the priorities of all of its constituents and partners. In historically underserved communities, residents perceive that community interest is trumped by corporate or financial priorities. The removal of the ARO buy-out option will help preserve Chicago neighborhood cultures that are affected by displacement. This initiative will allow a transformation in perspective and in priorities for everyone. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Transparency of priorities between developers, aldermen, and community members. ✶ Accessible hours for community listening sessions. ✶ Cross-sectional partnerships with the Chicago Housing Authority. ✶ At its core, ARO is a good piece of legislation, but loopholes need to be addressed. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Take the appropriate steps to turn this initiative into legislation. ✶ Accessible and frequent community forums. ✶ Convening of Chicago’s major residential developers. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Change the culture around how we see and define affordable housing. 77 PUBLIC SAFETY AND ACCOUNTABILITY In 2016, Chicago was reeling from its highest number of homicides in decades. For the past two years, important progress has been made, but the homicide rate remains more than three times that of Los Angeles and six times that of New York City. In Chicago, homicide is the leading cause of death for Black males aged 15 to 34. The easy availability of guns exacerbates the crisis. Our hometown is also one of the most segregated cities in the country, and our communities of color are disproportionately affected by gun violence. In the past year alone, 97% of shooting victims were people of color. To date, the primary response to violence has been law enforcement. Recent reduction in gun violence will not be sustainable, however, without a paradigm shift. The new administration should support efforts to build and strengthen meaningful relationships between law enforcement and community so that residents and officers become partners in building safe neighborhoods. The new administration’s commitment to full and swift implementation of the Chicago Police Department consent decree is a starting point, and will help ensure officers receive the supports they need to do their jobs safely and effectively, but it is not enough. 78 By taking a comprehensive, humane, community- and trauma-informed approach to violence, we believe Chicago can be the safest big city in the country. We believe ours can be a city where confidence in our police department is strong; where we acknowledge the rich and vast lived experience of our neighbors who are central players in creating safe neighborhoods and streets; where all human capital is valued; and where investments reflect community values. We believe we can achieve widespread and lasting peace, and contribute to a vibrant city in which residents in every neighborhood can thrive. Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention To address the crisis of gun violence plaguing our most vulnerable communities and jeopardizing the vitality of our city, the new administration should create a Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention (MOGVP). The office should develop and advance an equitybased, community-informed, public health approach (comprehensive, coordinated, and data-driven) to reducing violence and promoting public safety. The office should be adequately staffed to carry out its functions. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Many organizations have been working to reduce violence through programming in schools, services for individuals re-entering society, violence interruption initiatives, police reform, and more. The strategy will connect efforts across the public, nonprofit, community, faith, and philanthropic communities for a collaborative approach to reducing gun violence, ensuring that Chicago is a place where every resident lives in a safe and peaceful community. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Community-level collaborations such as Communities Partnering 4 Peace and the Violence Reduction Working Group. ✶ Programs that deliver evidence-informed services to individuals at acute risk of violent victimization. ✶ Police and criminal justice reform. ✶ Legislative and advocacy efforts to reduce the flow of illegal guns. 80 PUBLIC SAFETY AND ACCOUNTABILITY What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Announce the appointment of a Deputy Mayor for Gun Violence Prevention and Public Safety and the intent to increase office staffing. ✶ Develop and implement a transitional anti-violence summer plan. ✶ Announce the intent to develop and implement an equity-based, community-informed, public health long-term plan. ✶ Support efforts to optimize Chicago’s newly built street outreach capacity. ✶ Conduct an inventory of anti-violence networks. ✶ Work collaboratively with other city, county, and state offices, departments, and agencies. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Conduct regular assessments to determine efficacy. ✶ Publish an annual report on office data, activities, and outcomes. ✶ Build capacity to lead policy advocacy at both the state and federal level. ✶ Streamline and make accessible grant opportunities for community-based organizations. ✶ Establish a neighborhood presence by using existing infrastructure, such as libraries and parks. Illegal Guns Initiative Chicago has a gun violence problem in large part because Chicago has a gun problem. Easy access to illegal guns fuels the violence and makes it more lethal. In 2018, the Chicago Police Department (CPD) took almost 10,000 guns off the streets, many more than New York or Los Angeles. Research shows that policies and practices that reduce the availability of illegal guns result in lower rates of homicide and non-fatal shootings. Addressing gun violence in Chicago requires a comprehensive strategy, including a dedicated effort to reducing the flow of illegal guns. How might this initiative transform Chicago? By implementing a citywide strategy to reduce the proliferation of illegal guns, Chicago will experience fewer shootings and homicides. As shootings decline and residents feel safer, fewer will make the very risky choice to carry guns for their own protection, thereby reducing demand—a virtuous cycle that will transform Chicago into a sustainably safer city. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Strong voice in Springfield on illegal gun policies. ✶ Data-driven policing strategies to target those at highest risk of gun violence. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Launch a task force on illegal guns, within the Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention, to identify best practices and coordinate efforts; include relevant city agencies, law enforcement, and community partners. ✶ Conduct inventory of all public and private sector efforts to address illegal guns. ✶ Publish the administration’s strategy and metrics for addressing illegal guns, and make available all relevant data to evaluate performance. ✶ Expand policy and legislative advocacy at the regional, state, and federal levels. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Develop a neighborhood-specific public education program on illegal guns. ✶ Build a regional approach to illegal guns with neighboring counties and states; host a regional summit on illegal guns. ✶ Develop a non-incarceral strategy for addressing illegal gun possession that includes community supervision, diversion programs, and support for those at risk of illegally carrying guns. ✶ Collaboration between police and community members, with a focus on interrupting the sources of illegal guns. ✶ Tracing all recovered guns via the federal government’s eTrace program; produce annual reports. 81 Community Policing The Task Force on 21st Century Policing defines community policing as “a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies that support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues....” Community policing is a core mandate of the Chicago Police Department (CPD) consent decree, and in its 2019 Strategic Plan, CPD highlighted its commitment to community policing and a goal of “ensur[ing] that community policing is a Department-wide philosophy and not just a program.” What is happening today that should continue or expand? Today, CPD has multiple, disparate initiatives that seek to further community policing goals, and some programs are more effective than others. The new administration should ensure there is a citywide framework and infrastructure to support community policing, while tailoring community policing strategies to the needs of individual neighborhoods. ✶ Create an inventory of community policing and engagement efforts and their effectiveness. How might this initiative transform Chicago? By developing and implementing a cohesive framework for collaborative problem-solving through community policing, CPD and communities will begin to rebuild trust and secure safe, thriving neighborhoods in partnership with one another. CPD will achieve its vision in which all Chicagoans are proud of the department. ✶ Neighborhood Policing Initiative being piloted in CPD District 025. ✶ Safe passage routes. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Ensure procedural justice is a guiding principle for CPD interaction between officers and residents. ✶ Collect, analyze, and make public data regarding community policing efforts. ✶ Develop clear metrics for evaluating community policing and integrate in COMPSTAT. ✶ Encourage Chicago Public Schools to work with individual schools to define the mission, goals, and scope of the School Resource Officer (SRO) role, which should be tailored to the needs of each school’s student body and which should reflect input from school-community stakeholders. Implement a formal SRO application process, consistent with these goals and scope. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Build a formal strategy to incentivize community policing, such as integrating community policing metrics into all officer performance evaluations. 82 PUBLIC SAFETY AND ACCOUNTABILITY Community Rapid Response Both short- and long-term strategies are needed to reduce gun violence. In the short term, the new administration should centralize the coordination and deployment of rapid response efforts, which respond to outbreaks of gun violence. Following public health practices, this response should entail a coordinated and data-informed deployment of multiple communitybased resources and public sector services delivered to families of victims, individuals who are connected to the victims who are at risk of violence, as well as communities impacted by the incident. What is happening today that should continue or expand? Victim response services (such as those led by Chicago Survivors) and community-based violence reduction strategies (such as Communities Partnering for 4 Peace and READI Chicago) already exist. The new administration should support these initiatives and the citywide Violence Reduction Working Group, which has catalyzed data sharing and created structures for coordinating service provision. A new initiative would expand efforts by engaging new partners, reaching additional neighborhoods, and most importantly, centralizing them in the Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention (MOGVP). ✶ Announce the city’s commitment to these efforts and acknowledge the importance of street outreach workers as key partners. How might this initiative transform Chicago? A coordinated, systematic, and city-led strategy that acknowledges and leverages the expertise of community partners engaged in violence reduction efforts will reduce shootings and homicides and help rebuild trust between communities and police to ensure sustainability. ✶ Rapid Reduction Initiative launched in summer 2018; expand in 2019 and ensure Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention leads coordination effort. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Develop and make public an inventory of rapid response strategies. ✶ Coordinate city services to target neighborhoods with the highest rates of crime and violence. ✶ Integrate trauma-informed care with all rapid response strategy, starting with children and youth. ✶ Build on partnerships with hospitals to support a more comprehensive response to violence. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Expand outreach to community partners and collaborate with community groups to develop strategic plans for rapid response efforts. ✶ Integrate these efforts with community policing strategy to leverage relationships and promote sustainability. 83 Officer Safety and Professionalism The men and women who serve as officers in the Chicago Police Department (CPD) face daily pressures that take a toll on the individual, the department, the community, and the city. To execute their jobs in a safe and professional manner and serve as effective community partners, officers need training and support that go beyond the general recommendations (as provided by the Health and Human Services Committee) on public workforce wellness. How might this initiative transform Chicago? With expanded officer training and support, Chicago will be a city with the most respected, well-trained, healthy, and professional police department in the country. CPD will no longer be the sole responder to violence or social disorder. Instead, CPD will have the trust and partnership of community to support a comprehensive approach to public safety. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Development of the CPD Officer Support System. ✶ Departmental racial equity training; should assess for effectiveness. ✶ Embedding community policing philosophy throughout CPD; should include incentives for community-building activities. 84 PUBLIC SAFETY AND ACCOUNTABILITY What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Designate representatives from all ranks at CPD to participate in the new administration’s citywide wellness strategy for the public workforce, which will include a focus on the wellness needs of first responders. ✶ Engage in a listening tour of communities to signal the administration’s and CPD’s commitment to shared healing and to build trust between police and the communities. ✶ Audit CPD staffing to determine needs and appropriate staffing structure, including an assessment of overtime and use of sworn officers in positions that could be filled by civilians. ✶ Prioritize settlement of the collective bargaining agreement. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Implement state-of-the-art training on multiple best practices, including officer wellness and resiliency. ✶ Increase transparency and accountability in the merit promotion process by measures such as publishing merit nomination packets of promoted candidates and using outside law enforcement professionals to assess candidates. YOUTH PERSPECTIVE Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention Chicago is the third-largest metropolitan city in the country. We are an international hub with a diversified economy. However, around the globe, we are known for our increased rate of homicides over the last 10 years. Children are also often the victims of gun violence. We want to take a different approach in how we, as a collective, view public safety. A Mayor’s Office of Gun Violence Prevention will provide a proactive, instead of reactive, approach in addressing gun violence throughout the city. It is imperative that this office have individuals who have experienced gun violence in their communities. This perspective will better inform anti-violence decisions, policies, campaigns, and partnerships. How might this initiative transform Chicago? This office will be a conduit for intentional outreach between the city and those most affected by gun violence. Co-designed initiatives between community members and policymakers—through the ideation, planning, and implementation phases—will have direct and indirect impacts on city violence. We recognize it is important to acknowledge and work with data, but we do not want to forget that behind every data point is a real person. Transformation cannot happen without community members’ input. There must be a strong sense of collective accountability to make Chicago a safer city for everyone, in every neighborhood. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Informal and formal partnerships between the Chicago Police Department and community-based organizations. ✶ City department outreach and listening sessions. ✶ Continual evaluation and assessment of the city’s initiatives and programs to address gun violence. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Financial assessment of current gun-violence prevention initiatives. ✶ Shared accountability on gun violence, and all violence, from all city departments and agencies. ✶ Reallocate funding to create these initiatives. CPD receives one-third of the city budget, and these initiatives should fall under that umbrella. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Formalized and ongoing structure for community members to engage in violence prevention conversations. ✶ Transparency about failures and shortcomings from departments and agencies, especially CPD. ✶ Acknowledgment that previous initiatives have not adequately served all of Chicago’s youth. 85 TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE Transportation is the great connector of our city. Whether Chicagoans are going to work, going to school, visiting friends, or going to a community center—a high-quality, reliable, accessible, safe system is critical to social mobility and economic vitality. Chicago is a hub for moving people and goods, driving business development and job creation. Its location and infrastructure link Chicago to the rest of the nation and the globe. While today’s transportation system serves many well, it also presents multiple challenges. Decisions and disinvestment have segregated and disconnected communities. The system is not equitable, as illustrated by longer commute times, higher rates of traffic fatalities, and financial barriers in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. These inequities also extend to the low representation of gender, racial, and disability inclusion in transportation and infrastructure leadership. Chicago’s infrastructure is also aging and needs upgrades. For example, O’Hare and Midway are capacity-constrained. Road and rail networks also require updates: It sometimes takes a freight train more than a day to move through Chicago—the same time it takes the train to travel from New York to Chicago. Finally, revenue streams and staffing are not adequate to operate, maintain, and invest in transportation infrastructure. For example, Chicago’s mass transit system has a repair backlog of nearly $20 billion. Funding is often allocated based on outdated, static, statutory formulas and evaluation and prioritization practices that are inconsistent and inequitable. 86 We envision a Chicago that is a global leader in mobility and transportation infrastructure, where: ✶ All Chicagoans can get to the places they need to be conveniently, safely, and affordably. ✶ The public is engaged early and meaningfully in planning and design processes. ✶ Planning and project selection criteria are clear, transparent, and performance-based, and incorporate best principles for disability accessibility, equity, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, design, and public health. ✶ Job creation and inclusive economic growth are bolstered through the implementation of major upgrade and modernization programs, such as O’Hare and Midway airports, Union Station, Red Ahead, and CREATE. ✶ City agencies and other government and private entities work more effectively together to improve transportation and infrastructure. ✶ Our region attracts, develops, and retains a diverse transportation and infrastructure workforce. ✶ All these efforts are supported by sustained and equitable funding and adequate staffing. Z: Mobility that Supports All Chicagoans Chicago’s transportation system should provide equitable mobility options for all and promote the use of high-efficiency, low-energy, low-emission modes, including public transit. The attractiveness of those modes should be increased relative to single occupancy vehicles. Additionally, the adoption of new mobility trends should be tested for ability to reduce congestion, one of Chicago’s key challenges. Current access is not equitable—commute times are longer, traffic fatality rates are higher, and financial barriers are greater in communities of color and low-income communities. Additionally, public transit ridership has been declining, particularly bus ridership, which is critical to equity—bus routes have wider geographic reach than rail, and paratransit is built off bus routes. Finally, mobility is experiencing significant change due to technology, which can disrupt traditional transit use. Only through guided adoption will these trends allow Chicago to reach its mobility goals. How might this initiative transform Chicago? All travelers can get to the places they need to go conveniently, rapidly, safely, affordably, and sustainably. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Planning activities through existing efforts such as the Chicago Department of Transportation’s (CDOT) Complete Streets Program, the RTA Access to Transit Program, Vision Zero, and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s Transportation Demand Management Strategies. 88 TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE ✶ Prioritizing CDOT and Chicago Transit Authority plans directly tied to mobility goals and accelerate implementation—e.g., Streets for Cycling Plan, Pedestrian Plan, High Crash Corridor Action Plan, and All Stations Accessibility Plan. ✶ Coordination among operators at multimodal facilities to provide real-time traveler information. ✶ Expanding electronic payment systems to include all major transportation modes and a unified fare policy for transfers among modes; reduced fare options. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Advance Red Ahead. ✶ Bus Prioritization Network Plan that identifies where and when dedicated bus lanes will be added. ✶ Appoint an individual or body to manage the city’s mobility strategy. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Focus on developing a forward-looking, integrated mobility strategy and framework for decisionmaking to advance diversity and inclusion, equity, disability accessibility, accountability, transparency, and transformation, while ensuring thoughtful adoption of technology. Public Selection Criteria and Community Engagement Chicago lacks clear transportation and infrastructure priorities, leaving program and project selection prone to flashy or grant-tied ideas rather than community needs. At the same time, community engagement is inconsistent and often occurs too late. This exacerbates inequities. The city, with residents, should develop targeted transportation priorities, a plan to achieve them, and both output and outcome goals. From there, it should develop and make transparent selection criteria that advance diversity and inclusion, equity (including Racial Equity Impact Assessment principles), disability access, sustainability, public health, and design excellence. These criteria should be applied to the “5Ps”: policies, programs, projects, procurement, and partnerships. These criteria should be complemented with robust community engagement mechanisms. Standards for community engagement should be established and a mandatory part of planning and selection. Engagement should happen early to co-generate solutions and incorporate voices representative of the community, including residents who depend on public transit: youth, seniors, and people with disabilities. There should be clear standards for engagement follow-up, summarizing the input that was received, and making clear how input was incorporated. How might this initiative transform Chicago? What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Recent reports (e.g., Mobility Task Force, MPC analyses) to inform priorities. ✶ Disability advisory groups facilitated by Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities on airport access and taxi/Transportation Network Providers (TNP) accessibility. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Through engagement with communities and stakeholders, define transportation and infrastructure goals and evaluation criteria, focusing on the administration’s values. ✶ Work with stakeholders to establish and implement community engagement standards. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Produce regular progress reports on goals, including output- and outcome-oriented metrics; require more regular reporting via City Council. ✶ Develop a positive narrative about transportation and infrastructure that presents investments as community assets, and spurs ongoing dialogue to inform progress. Chicago’s transportation system would be designed in an intentional, community-driven manner, with step changes in improving accessibility, equity, and sustainability. The change would be felt by residents and evident in easy-to-understand, publicly available data. Decision-making processes and lines of accountability would be clear and transparent. 89 Implementation of Major Modernization Programs Chicago’s transportation system requires an accessible, multi-modal network of infrastructure that is responsive to the needs of diverse communities and the businesses that drive Chicago’s economy. Many assets exist, including airports and rail infrastructure. In 2018, Chicago’s airports served 105 million passengers—more than ever—driving significant economic impact. O’Hare, the world’s only dual-hub airport, saw a record 83 million passengers and handled almost 2 million metric tons of freight. Chicago Region Environmental Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE) is a first-of-its-kind, $3.2 billion partnership to improve regional rail traffic efficiency. Nonetheless, it is a pivotal time for these assets. To accommodate demand increase, both airports are undergoing unprecedented improvements—Midway is undergoing a $323 million modernization, and O’Hare is undergoing a $8.5 billion program to redesign terminals for future growth. CREATE secured $750 million in recent funding, with more needed for completion. Multiple initiatives are underway at Union Station, including a master plan to dramatically increase passenger rail capacity as part of the Midwest Regional Rail System. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Keeping O’Hare, Midway, CREATE, and Union Station projects on track. ✶ Contracting and apprenticeship programs that promote diversity and local hiring. ✶ Building mutually beneficial relationships with our suburban neighbors within a regional framework. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Develop an intergovernmental strategy to reduce congestion on roadways around O’Hare. ✶ Establish an Air Cargo Development Plan to secure O’Hare’s place as the regional cargo leader. ✶ Open more apprenticeship opportunities at all skill levels. ✶ Secure additional state and federal funding for CREATE and the completion of the Union Station master plan. ✶ Develop plans for underused assets (e.g., the port, water taxis). How might this initiative transform Chicago? What should the administration do over time? Chicago would elevate its status as a global transportation hub, with top-notch assets and exceptional customer experience. Through modernization projects, Chicago generates jobs, with an emphasis on expanding the diversity of contractors and laborers and creating apprenticeship programs for the next generation. ✶ Improve the accessibility of O’Hare and Midway, both for passengers and employees. Travel from the South Side to O’Hare is challenging. 90 TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE ✶ Shift from “sufficient” to “outstanding” assets. For example, Chicago’s airports have room to improve the customer experience. The new terminals will be an important step. Funding to Support Sustained Investment Better transportation connects communities, creates economic opportunities, and improves the surrounding area. Historic investment has made the region a premier transportation and freight hub. While Chicago has recently secured funding for major aviation and rail projects, overall transportation funding and staffing have been insufficient for years. For example, the RTA’s Capital Asset Condition Report cites a regional capital backlog of projects that exceed $19 billion. The average Chicago commuter lost $1,445 in time and gas last year due to congestion. Furthermore, the funding that does exist is not always distributed fairly or equitably, and traditional funding sources are shrinking. Chicago must seek ways to use current funding more effectively, secure its “fair share” of existing funding streams, and explore new funding sources. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Chicago’s existing assets would receive adequate, consistent funding to maintain a State of Good Repair. Additional funding would be secured, allowing Chicago to expand and improve assets and service in the areas with the biggest need, dramatically improving equity, inclusion, accessibility, affordability, and sustainability. Funding sources would be raised and spent fairly, paying special attention to their impact on people of color and low-income communities. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Seeking opportunities to use federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) funds. What should the new administration begin it its first 100 days? ✶ Push for the State Capital Bill. This is a critical opportunity, and there are only weeks left. Consider supporting gas tax proposals. ✶ Develop a strategy to respond to federal funding opportunities. Cities historically do not get their fair federal funding share. Work with other major cities to advocate for a fair share, in particular maintaining highway trust fund support for mass transit. ✶ Use existing resources more effectively through improved collaboration (see Initiative #5). What should the administration do over time? ✶ Examine potential new sources of funding, e.g., value capture for transit improvements, congestion pricing, Loop Transportation Network Company (TNC) surcharge, vehicle miles traveled fee, parking app tax. ✶ Prioritize Tax Increment Financing (TIF) funding for transit. ✶ Seek a fairer distribution of state highway funds. ✶ Consider broadening the regional transit taxing authority to allow the region to implement new taxes or fees to support transit funding. 91 Coordination Between Entities The construction and operation of transportation and infrastructure depend on collaboration across many entities. Failure to collaborate results in service delays, duplication of efforts, increase in costs, and reduced levels of service. Those that need to collaborate include: ✶ Public transportation entities: the RTA Service Boards: Metra, Pace, and CTA; Amtrak ✶ Core city entities addressing transportation and infrastructure: CDA, CDOT, DSS, DWM ✶ Other city entities: OEMC, DPD, BACP, DOH, CDPH, DFSS, CPD, MOPD ✶ Other under Mayor’s control: IL International Port District (IIPD), Chicago Infrastructure Trust ✶ Other governments: CMAP, Cook County, surrounding counties, the State of Illinois, ITHA, federal entities ✶ Politicians: Mayor, Cook County Board President and Commissioners, Governor ✶ Private and nonprofit partners: utilities, airlines, freight railroads, contractors, community organizations Improved collaboration should be complemented with efforts to attract, develop, and retain a diverse transportation and infrastructure workforce, and make organizations more inclusive and equitable. Many organizations lack both skilled workers and a diverse workforce across the entire labor value chain, i.e., not just in construction jobs, but also planning, management, etc. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Plans across entities are cohesive; regional entities —both public and private—collaborate seamlessly. 92 TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE The sector employs and retains a diverse, well-trained workforce, supporting local jobs in the trades and professions. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Coordination for road repair (e.g., People’s Gas and ComEd working with city). ✶ CREATE projects. ✶ Current service levels/strategies for transit should remain until the new administration can be involved in shaping those plans. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Begin a culture shift across governmental entities (e.g., state, county, city, region), taking advantage of the new political leadership by taking concrete steps to work together. ✶ Drive collaboration among city departments, e.g., by combing departments, setting collaboration goals, or appointing a chief transportation and infrastructure officer. ✶ Improve Minority, Women, and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (MWDBE) compliance by incorporating past performance into bid evaluation. ✶ Enhance Metra service to Chicago, focusing on transit-underserved neighborhoods. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Explore further structural changes to government to promote coordination (e.g., create funding vehicles with “carrot and stick” goals for coordination, remove layers of administration). YOUTH PERSPECTIVE Public Transit Accessibility In a given weekday, 1.6 million people use Chicago’s public transit system. Many of us on this committee rely on it to travel to and from school every day. Our commute times vary between 15 and 90 minutes each way. Through our committee meetings, we were able to share our experiences and recognize that Chicago is littered with transit deserts, especially on the Southwest and Northwest Sides of the city. We want to ensure that public transportation is made more accessible for all Chicagoans. The evaluation of current route timetables, security protocols, and health standards is a high priority. We do not want to prioritize cosmetic renovations while forgetting the needs and priorities of Chicago’s daily riders. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Transit routes are designed to prioritize routes and services into high business/traffic areas. This has led to a high concentration of infrastructure investments in the downtown and Loop area, but has left many Chicagoans relying on two or three transfers to arrive at their destinations. This initiative is transformational because it aims to align fiscal and structural priorities for the city and its riders. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Ensure new and renovated stations are handicap-accessible. ✶ Reduced fare for students. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Community member representation on the transportation committee. ✶ Open budget sessions for community input on transit priorities. ✶ Public meetings to discuss potential transit renovations or additions within neighborhoods. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Expansion of bus routes. ✶ Increased security on trains during the evenings. ✶ Expansion of reduced fare to include winter and spring breaks. ✶ Re-evaluate the variables used to prioritize route expansion. 93 CROSS-CUTTING INITIATIVES Individual committees were charged with identifying transformational initiatives within their assigned functional areas. However, nothing that is truly transformational lives in a silo of one function or policy area. The fact is, public safety is an economic development problem, health is an education problem, and so on. For that reason, the Co-chairs felt it was necessary to meet and discuss ideas across committees. Examples of these initiatives are listed in the pages that follow. We call them out to emphasize the need for the new administration to look beyond the typical confines of departments, to work across traditional bureaucratic, organizational, and geographic boundaries if these (and other) initiatives are going to be truly transformational. The chapter starts with one cross-cutting initiative —meaningful community engagement—that every committee discussed. Public engagement is at the heart of a democracy, underpinning the legitimacy of government and the effectiveness of all recommendations in this report. To live the values of transparency, diversity and inclusion, equity, and accountability, the new administration will need to engage communities in ways that have to date remained elusive. Operationalizing what is described will not be easy, but it is necessary, to build the trust that real transformation must be built on. 94 '1 ?Wig? atlalprv' -- .. 11" 1'1] .1 .. Igr?illin v. I. A Meaningful Community Engagement While government is part of Chicagoans’ everyday lives, its decisions often feel far removed, especially in racial, economic, and geographic communities that historically have been excluded. Too many feel powerless to change their communities’ futures. This depresses civic engagement—not only in voter turnout, but in how residents assert their voices, determining the future of their schools, homes, and community institutions. We cannot change the Chicago Way through good policies alone; true transformation requires that everyday people reclaim their power in community institutions. While the transition report highlights ways to achieve equity in outcomes, maintaining the existing structure’s top-down approach will perpetuate inequitable processes that undermine even the best ideas. A systematic approach to engage those who are directly impacted by current disparities can lead to greater support for reforms and much better policies before decisions are made. Chicagoans crave a true democracy that is accountable to the public; it should be the administration’s top priority to address this before policy implementation begins. Where are we today? While all city agencies undertake community engagement efforts, few resources are available for staff training and engagement strategies. The efforts are therefore seldom anchored in trust and accountability, and residents perceive these as superficial afterthoughts that confirm predetermined solutions. An unending circle of planning discussions without implementation has led to frustration, fatigue, and ultimately reduced participation. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? Work with community groups, researchers, and the philanthropic community to publish a comprehensive Community Engagement Action Plan that, at minimum, addresses: ✶ Citywide vision of meaningful community engagement: Building on recent recommendations from Chicago’s strong network of community organizations, including Resilient Chicago’s Community Engagement Baseline and Elevated Chicago, develop a vision and outcome measures that shift the focus from “informing the public” to community ownership and self-determination. ✶ Barriers to engagement: Develop guidance for agencies to address common challenges to engagement, such as childcare, accessibility for people with disabilities, interpretive services for people with limited English proficiency, using neutral locations close to directly affected communities, using plain language, and offering multiple ways to participate. 96 CROSS-CUTTING INITIATIVES ✶ Timelines: Develop guidance on setting time horizons that allow for meaningful, trust-building engagement. ✶ Resources: Develop guidance on creating authentic engagement budgets, including: adequate staff time to coordinate and incorporate feedback, compensation and recognition of participants, outreach expenses, events, staff training, and ongoing support. Develop community engagement principles that: ✶ Recognize communities are not homogenous and can only be defined by themselves, ending the practice of representative tokenism that engages only with community groups that support the Mayor’s Office. ✶ Are transparent about the purpose and extent of community engagement and explicit about how community input will be incorporated into a decision or action. What does long-term accountability to this vision require? ✶ Create a structure within the Mayor’s Office to implement the Community Engagement Action Plan, with regular reporting against benchmarks. ✶ Develop an external council that promotes a strong civic architecture. While the Mayor’s Office must promote a more inclusive government, it will take a coordinated effort across external stakeholders to build independent accountability and increase civic participation. ✶ Conduct ongoing engagement events, including regional town hall meetings and community budget hearings. ✶ Require city entities to work with community stakeholders to develop transparency and accountability plans. ✶ Continuously evaluate the process and supplement it with feedback, reflection, and adaptation. ✶ Ensure all stakeholder types are engaged—not just the reliable voices, but also groups that are smaller or less resourced. Check for diversity gaps and propose solutions for those gaps. ✶ Acknowledge power and privilege dynamics, as well as different communication styles, and actively pursue engagement of less vocal or powerful members. ✶ Identify current external platforms that could be used as forums to provide input. 97 Mayor’s Office of Reintegration Services The new administration should create a Mayor’s Office of Reintegration Services (RISE). This office should design, streamline, and coordinate re-entry services in Chicago to help ex-offenders and returning citizens succeed. The office should take a holistic approach to reducing crime and recidivism by: 1) developing opportunities for individuals with records to become employed and trained in high-demand industries and eliminating barriers; 2) creating opportunities in employment, housing, health care, education, and stabilizing support services. The office should continue to support and expand existing, effective efforts, but should also advance policies and programs at the city, state, and federal level that remove barriers and create opportunities for people with records. The office should be adequately staffed and funded to carry out its functions. How might this initiative transform Chicago? By taking a comprehensive and innovative approach, Chicago will become a national leader in reintegrating returning citizens. City and taxpayer resources will be better spent investing in programs and services that help mitigate violence, lower the rate of recidivism, improve public health, narrow the skills gap, and build economic mobility. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Continue but scale up programs such as the Chicago Transit Authority Apprenticeship Program, the REBUILD Program, and the Neighborhood Cleanup Program. 98 CROSS-CUTTING INITIATIVES ✶ Make permanent and scale up the Chicago Housing Authority Re-entry Housing Pilot Program. ✶ Promote the procurement ordinance that encourages city contractors to hire diverse management teams and workforces, and employ people from vulnerable populations in the city’s procurement process. ✶ Continue and expand efforts under HealthyChicago 2.0 to address health equity. What should the new administration begin in the first 100 days? ✶ Announce a director to lead the office. ✶ Establish and convene a Chicago Re-entry Council led by the director of the office. ✶ Establish a task force to collect and analyze data to help assess program efficacy. ✶ Bring Chicago Housing Authority policies into compliance with the Fair Housing Act. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Increase the availability of temporary and transitional housing for individuals released from jail or prison. ✶ Publish an annual report on office data, activities, and established outcomes. ✶ Partner with private sector employers to identify high-demand living wage employment opportunities and hire people with records. ✶ Develop justice-involved transportation hubs and resources. Tourism In 2018, Chicago welcomed nearly 60 million visitors, supported over 150,000 tourist-related jobs, and generated approximately $16 billion in economic activity, more than $1 billion of that in taxes paid by non-Chicagoans. These numbers demonstrate that the world is drawn to Chicago’s diverse cultural landscape, which includes exceptional architecture, theatres, citywide museums, restaurants, hotels, convention centers, jazz music, film industry, and cultural centers. Understanding the interconnected nature of transportation, economic development, and arts and culture is critical to ensuring that our guests have fulfilling experiences unique to each of Chicago’s 77+ neighborhoods. Tourism is one of the best ways to share our rich cultural assets and enhance the global perception of Chicago. Visiting different neighborhoods must be safe, efficient, and affordable—not only for our guests but also for all Chicago residents. As the Midwest’s transportation hub, the city must continue to focus on advancing mobility and maintaining its favorable public transit and air travel rankings. How might this initiative transform Chicago? A holistic view of tourism would require the city to bring artists, economists, employers, and transportation experts together to make betterinformed decisions on tourism strategies that ultimately impact all communities. A new Chicago would take an arts-influenced approach to tourism, such as hiring local artists to perform at O’Hare Airport, along with investing in physical improvements through the O’Hare Modernization Program, which together will enhance the passenger experience while also elevating Chicago as an arts-focused city investing in its creative communities. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Cultural tours, expanded to each of the 77+ neighborhoods. ✶ City festivals, shows, and concerts. ✶ Significant investment in mobility, way-finding, and transportation infrastructure. ✶ O’Hare modernization. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Work with Chicago Transit Authority to extend weekday curfew hours and student discounts through the summer. ✶ Secure increased and consistent funding for tourism marketing and address state holdbacks. ✶ Automate one calendar for all city arts-related events. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Create subsidized cultural districts where tourists experience Chicago legacy arts. ✶ Involve artists and community in the design of transportation projects. ✶ Ensure Choose Chicago and the CTA market all of Chicago’s assets and neighborhoods. ✶ Create a Night Mayor role. 99 Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (eTOD) Chicago’s transit system provides an opportunity to build a better connected, more equitable city by concentrating investments close to transit hubs. Equitable Transit-Oriented Development (eTOD) closes gaps in wealth, health, and resilience across communities by incentivizing affordability, disability access, mixed uses, density, and walkability near transit. Building on community-led plans, Chicago can create equity through housing, small businesses, green infrastructure, health clinics, cultural venues, and community centers fully connected to transit. How might this initiative transform Chicago? At scale, eTOD addresses the two sides of displacement affecting Chicago: In gentrifying communities, it can retain low- and moderate-income residents and small businesses, and in disinvested communities, it can bring vacant lots and buildings to life, attracting new residents. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Continue the city’s partnership with Elevated Chicago. ✶ Continue and adequately resource the crossdepartmental Working Group developing the Equitable Policy Plan mandated by the new eTOD ordinance, engaging community-based organizations, developers, advocacy groups (including disability groups), and the civic sector; examine best practices from other cities. ✶ Increase cross-departmental collaboration and coordination across agencies engaged in eTOD (especially DPD, CDPH, CDOT, DOH, and CTA). 100 CROSS-CUTTING INITIATIVES What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Appoint an adequately supported eTOD director. ✶ Identify community-led eTOD pilots and align funding and support for them. ✶ Prioritize bus rapid transit along eTOD routes in South and West Sides. ✶ Begin testing new investment tools and criteria in eTOD pilots (e.g., Equitable Capital Screens, Racial Equity and Health Impact Assessments, and Community Engagement Principles). ✶ Prioritize affordability and resident retention, walkability, disability access, community-led public safety, and place-making initiatives in eTOD pilot areas. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Apply lessons learned from pilot locations to all communities undergoing eTOD. ✶ Link infrastructure investments, incentives, and other funding (public, private, and purpose sector) in support of eTOD locations. ✶ Expand priorities to economic development and mixed-income housing investments. ✶ Work with Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), Cook County Land Bank, and state and congressional offices to prioritize and increase funding for eTOD planning and investment. Racial Equity Impact Assessments This report has many strong policy recommendations that could make Chicago a better place. However, Chicago will only be marching in place if policies are implemented within the same siloed power structures that have been closed to our city’s communities of color. To achieve real transformation, the city needs to undertake racial equity impact assessments (REIAs) before implementing any reform initiatives. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Through the use of REIAs, City Hall’s policies will begin to reflect and benefit all Chicagoans equitably. By examining in advance how different racial and ethnic groups will be affected by a policy or decision, the administration will be able to identify key stakeholders to engage, meaningfully collaborate with those persons and organizations, and adapt the proposed policy or decision before it goes into effect. This will minimize governing by reaction, where members of our city have to be harmed before the impact is considered, to a government that acts adaptively and collaboratively with its people to achieve the best policy for all from the beginning. What is happening today that should continue or expand? What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Conduct REIA training for the Mayor and all staff. ✶ Create a public advocate to serve as a watchdog and to lead REIA and engagement efforts. ✶ Publicly set benchmarks that need to be met to demonstrate measurable improvement on racial equity. ✶ For immediate impact, partner with community stakeholders to focus initial REIA implementation on high-need areas such as economic development, public safety and police accountability, and good governance. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Expand the use of REIAs to all city departments. ✶ Require an annual report that tracks decisions made by departments and wards with the use of an REIA, and publish the city’s progress against the benchmarks described above. ✶ Create an office of racial equity within the Mayor’s Office to oversee the broader implementation of REIAs and enforce standards across city government. ✶ Support and leverage the expertise of Chicago’s strong network of community and advocacy organizations, which can help guide the city’s process for devising and implementing its REIA plan. ✶ Leverage the momentum from community activists’ clear message that racial equality must be a high priority for the new administration. 101 Mayor’s Office of Equity and Social Justice The problems that have plagued our city for decades, such as violence, homelessness, unmet health care needs, and disparities in life expectancy, endure because their root causes have not been adequately addressed. A Mayor’s Office of Equity and Social Justice (ESJ), with cabinet-level status, will pursue a focused agenda combatting racism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and ageism. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? How might this initiative transform Chicago? ✶ Study models in other cities that combat racism and other forms of systemic oppression. ESJ will have convening power over every department, elevating city policies and community organizations already addressing this topic. It will put equity at the forefront of every policy decision and will ensure the city no longer avoids conversations on race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or age. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities should remain a core oversight entity to ensure city policy protects the rights and dignity of residents with physical and cognitive disabilities. ✶ Department of Human Rights should be adequately supported to fully investigate claims of discrimination. ✶ The Age-Friendly Assessment and Commission should move into the Mayor’s Office of Equity and Social Justice. ✶ The Department of Public Health is working with Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) to implement racial equity tools. This model should be expanded to other departments. 102 CROSS-CUTTING INITIATIVES ✶ Determine steps to choose a core team with representation from every city department at the level of deputy commissioner. ✶ Analyze every city policy to determine the current state of equity within city government and collect baseline data. ✶ Develop a roadmap to city equity and an action plan and ensure annual benchmarks are monitored and reported publicly. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Develop equity report cards for departments and agencies. ✶ Create a strategy for community engagement, including current networks of community organizers and community-approved metrics for tracking progress to equity. ✶ Embed an equity lens into the city’s budgeting, hiring, public engagement, and procurement processes. Community Schools and Coordinated Learning Citywide Addressing the educational inequities that many of our young people experience requires coordination to grow Chicago’s full-service Community Schools model around the needs of young people. It is localized in schools, and intentionally connects and expands beyond school walls. It calls on and organizes caring adults, organizations, and agencies to play a role in youth learning and development. Ultimately, it enables the equitable engagement of youth in connected opportunities that support pathways to college and career success. How might this initiative transform Chicago? Chicago’s homegrown Community Schools model is effective in advancing academic and social-emotional outcomes for youth most impacted by structural inequities. Scaling and connecting this effective inschool model to a robust citywide system of out-ofschool learning opportunities would accelerate positive outcomes and realize Chicago’s broad potential to invest in its youth. This transformation would mean every young person in our city feels connected to a positive view of their identity, future, and purpose in our city and our world. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Continue supporting diverse funding streams for Community Schools, mentorship, social-emotional learning, and models including arts programs and personalized learning. What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Convene current Community Schools partnerships through the Mayor’s Office to provide backbone support and determine the best strategy for expansion. ✶ Convene agency, education, nonprofit, social, advocacy, and business communities to identify, connect, and expand learning opportunities offered to youth in and out of school. ✶ Provide equitable and expanded access to afterschool, internship, and job opportunities for teenagers and young adults. ✶ Ensure collaboration and accountability; collect program participation data; use that data to evaluate cross-agency outcomes from birth to career; expand what works. ✶ Invest in and expand efforts focused on disconnected and opportunity youth. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Remove access barriers, like transportation; improve policies around building use. ✶ Connect Community Schools, out-of-school experiences, internships, and jobs so that youth and young adults can pursue personalized pathways organized around their needs. ✶ Invest in current systems that effectively enable community asset-mapping and the coordination of programs; continue marshalling public-private resources to respond. 103 YOUTH PERSPECTIVE Connected Learning Spaces In a city of abundance and in an age of increased connectivity, too many Chicago youth and families live disconnected. If equity is a core value, Chicago must better connect learning programs and spaces that prepare young people for academic, civic, and career opportunities. Chicago is already a nationally recognized leader in hands-on, innovative learning. Now is the time to make lasting commitments to build on that foundation by leveraging people and places throughout our city of learning. Connected Learning Spaces is a public-private partnership and public awareness campaign to create new spaces that connect current youth programs and services beyond traditional places of learning. How might this initiative transform Chicago? This new initiative would build on past success like YOUmedia and identify nontraditional learning sites to provide positive, 21st century learning experiences. By placing these spaces in neighborhoods most impacted by violence, the new administration can lower barriers to equity caused by lack of awareness and access. We envision a robust and transformed physical landscape of learning spaces, which will support greater youth participation and retention in summer and out-of-school time (OST) programming. What is happening today that should continue or expand? ✶ Many OST organizations and educators are connected and use digital media tools and technologies. ✶ Initiatives like Chicago Learning Exchange (CLX) are already lowering barriers to innovation. 104 CROSS-CUTTING INITIATIVES What should the new administration begin in its first 100 days? ✶ Use technology and city services to increase youth and family awareness and access. - Use outreach events, social media, billboards, and CTA video displays to celebrate youth and advertise learning events. - Expand reduced-cost or free transportation for after-school and summer programs. ✶ Equip more youth and adult mentors. - Pay mentors, thereby creating job opportunities among under-employed populations. - Increase the numbers and training of school counselors who can connect youth to opportunities. ✶ Celebrate and showcase Chicago’s youth. What should the administration do over time? ✶ Sustain organizational collaboration and innovation. ✶ Connect and create pathways from youth programs to opportunities with tangible payoffs. {:Tfl .. ?Id? I ?tum? n'u nuumn . t. (u Committee Members and Co-Chairs Over the past five weeks, more than 400 Chicagoans, young and old, from all neighborhoods and perspectives, across racial, economic, and identity silos, met, shared ideas, debated, and have spoken out in the process that led to this report. Arts and Culture Nick Cave (Co-Chair) Denise Gardner (Co-Chair) Lisa Yun Lee (Co-Chair) Carlos Tortolero (Co-Chair) Miguel Aguilar Hebru Brantley Steve Cohen Amina Dickerson Hector Duarte Stuart Dybek David Feiner Theaster Gates Hallie Gordon Esther Grimm Akilah Halley Monica Haslip Evan Hatfield Heather Ireland Robinson Terryl Jares Kevin Iega Jeff Sally Ko Omar Magana Billy Ocasio Todd Palmer Lou Raizin Joseph Robinson Jacqueline Russell Joe Shanahan Lauren Sivak Willa Taylor Katie Tuten Kristina Valada-Viars Amanda Williams Patrick Wood-Prince 106 Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development Ric Estrada (Co-Chair) Meghan Harte (Co-Chair) Maria Kim (Co-Chair) Darnell Shields (Co-Chair) Rocky Wirtz (Co-Chair) Rev. Ira Acree Paola Aguirre Brenda Palms Barber MarySue Barrett Andrew Beideman Marcus Betts Sandra Bivens Dr. Byron Brazier Markell Bridges Jose Cerda III Jahmal Cole Ed Coleman Malcolm Crawford Jack Crowe Cherita Ellens Bill Fienup Phil Fuentes Chris Gladwin Perry Gunn Hermene Hartman Rev. Dr. Bernard Jakes Paul Lambert Jack Lavin Marie Lynch Brad McConnell Kevin McDunn David Merriman Eileen Mitchell Matt Muench Bill Niesman Julian Posada Teresa Rufaro Prim Nadia Quarles Lyneir Richardson Charmaine Rickette Shari Runner Neal Sáles-Griffin Dawveed Scully Rebecca Yemin Shi Joel Simon Whitney Smith Sam Toia Tim Tuten Jayne Vellinga Leon Walker Christy Webber Simone Weil Betsy Ziegler Andrea Zopp Education Niketa Brar (Co-Chair) Aarti Dhupelia (Co-Chair) Dr. Sybil Madison (Co-Chair) Sylvia Puente (Co-Chair) Sandra Abrevaya Chad Adams Jennifer Alexander Daniel Anello Karina Ayala-Bermejo Jennie Biggs Meredith Bluhm Wolf Dr. Mary Ellen Caron Jason Coleman Greg Darnieder Sandy De León Mary Dempsey Juanita Douglas Clarisol Duque Alejandro Espinoza Olazaba Courtney Everette Acasia Wilson Feinberg Sol Flores Cheryl Flores Maricela Garcia Phyllis Glink Cornelia Grumman Dr. Mildred Harris Dr. Theresa Hawley Sana Jafri Constance Jones Dr. Steve Katsouros Imran Khan Ruth Kimble John Kozlar Mimi LeClair Phyllis Lockett Adelric McCain Dr. Luisiana Meléndez Robin Melvin Cameron Mock Jenny Nagaoka Zena Naiditch Katya Nuques Dr. Cristina Pacione Zayas Dr. Alexios Rosario-Moore Dr. Dilara Sayeed Carmita Semaan Fareeda Shabazz Natasha Smith-Walker Dr. Sonia Soltero Paul Sznewajs Karen VanAusdal Sheila Venson Ilana Zafran Walden Anthony Watson Maria Whelan Environment Good Governance Joe Dominguez (Co-Chair) Suzanne Malec-McKenna (Co-Chair) Anton Seals (Co-Chair) Jennifer Walling (Co-Chair) Gerald Adelmann Marcella Bondie Keenan Joel Brammeier Joyce Coffee Josh Ellis Don Finn Margaret Frisbie Seva Gandhi Benjamin Helphand Lisa Hyatt Veronica Kyle Charles Matthews Katie McClain Dr. Jo Elle Mogerman Josh Mogerman Susan Mudd Uzma Noormohamed Antonia Ornelas Mike Pagano Danielle Perry Grace Troccolo Rink Carina Ruiz Peggy Salazar Kari Steele Edward Torrez Mijo Vodopic Kim Wasserman Doug Widener Ernie Wong Kyra Woods Wendy Zeldin Khadine Bennett (Co-Chair) Ami Gandhi (Co-Chair) Andrew Kang (Co-Chair) Dick Simpson (Co-Chair) Clem Balanoff Noelle Brennan Asiaha Butler Marie Dillon Madeleine Doubek Derek Eder Adam Gross David Hoffman Darryl Holliday Mary Miro David Orr Ameya Pawar Elliot Richardson Rev. Saeed Richardson Abe Scarr Michael Shakman Sendy Soto Remel Terry Matt Topic Stevie Valles Griselda Vega Samuel Audra Wilson Jay Young Health and Human Services Evelyn Diaz (Co-Chair) Alexa James (Co-Chair) David Munar (Co-Chair) Jennifer Welch (Co-Chair) Christine Achre Heather Higgins Alderman Dr. David Ansell Tom Britton Robert Buckley Suzanne Carlberg-Racich Arturo Carrillo Kirstin Chernawsky Dr. Colleen Cicchetti Esther Corpuz Dr. Judith Cothran Selma D’Souza Karen Foley Dan Fulwiler Dr. Wayne Giles Pastor Chris Harris Grace Hou Mark Ishaug Jeri Linas Nancy Loeb Roberta Lynch Rosanna Marquez Juan Morado Dr. Jaime Moreno Bela Moté John Peller Luvia Quiñones Roberta Rakove Quinn Rallins Edgar Ramirez Leticia Reyes Nash Dr. Lorrie Rickman-Jones Jose Rico Erica Salem Elizabeth Salisbury-Afshar Tina Sanders Margie Schaps Dr. Jay Shannon Martinez Sutton Dr. Shastri Swaminathan Kai Tao Donna Thompson Linda Xochitl Tortolero Dr. Carolyn Vessel Jennifer Vidis Kathy Waligora Erin Walton Eli Williamson Scott Winslow Housing Angela Hurlock (Co-Chair) Juan Carlos Linares (Co-Chair) Paul Roldan (Co-Chair) Mark Angelini Joy Aruguete Curt Bailey Duwain Bailey Jeff Bartow Betsy Benito Deborah Bennett Ciere Boatright Marca Bristo Debra Cafaro Craig Chico Jim Coyne Felicia Dawson Albert Friedman Andrew Geer Rob Grossinger King Harris Calvin Holmes Kim Hunt Nicole Jackson Courtney Jones Mack Julion Rafael Leon Rami Nashashibi Marisa Novara Erika Poethig Raul Raymundo Brian Rowland James Rudyk Doug Schenkelberg 107 Committee Members and Co-Chairs cont’d Housing cont’d Britt Shawver Mark Skender Geoff Smith Janet Smith Steve Thomas Rev. Dr. Richard Tolliver Jaime Torres Carmona Richard Townsell Vivien Tsou Jessica Rose Wallace Stacie Young Public Safety and Accountability Eddie Bocanegra (Co-Chair) Lisa Madigan (Co-Chair) Charles Ramsey (Co-Chair) Nina Vinik (Co-Chair) Thomas Abt Roseanna Ander Phil Andrew Pastor Randall Blakey Rev. Dr. Beth Brown Vaughn Bryant Amy Campanelli Commander Ernest Cato Tom Dart Ahmadou Drame Dwight Gunn Luis Gutierrez Sergeant Jermaine Harris Hnr. Terry Hillard Susan Johnson Captain Sean Joyce Norman Kerr Denise Lam Susan Lee Becky Levin Tracey Meares William Michael Sharone Mitchell Dennis Mondero Rev. Dr. Otis Moss John O’Malley Andrew Papachristos Father Michael Pfleger Autry Phillips Maria Pike Rebecca Raines Leo Schmitz Alicia Tate-Nadeau Jim Tracy Marny Zimmer Kristi LaFleur Ray LaHood Mary Rose Loney Dr. Kate Lowe Daniel Lynch Fidel Marquez Angel Mendez Wilbur Milhouse David Narefsky Carlos Nelson Marc Poulos Tom Powers John Robak Kimberly Slaughter Amber Smock Mike Sturino Steven Vance Esperanza Santana Marilyn Schatzel Brian Simmons Josiah Smith Prisilla Tito Benjamin Wallace Terrel Watson Kiya Williams Milik Wright Youth* Transportation and Infrastructure Duana Love (Co-Chair) Roberto Requejo (Co-Chair) Ivan Solis (Co-Chair) Carol Ross Barney Ron Burke Nancy Clawson Jim Connolly Kirk Dillard Sharon Feigon Kitty Freidheim Dr. Robert Ginsburg Billy Glunz Jacky Grimshaw Derrick James Vig Krishnamurthy Najae Oshibanjo (Co-Chair) Rohit Khanal (Co-Chair) Aysha Ahmad Angel Alexander Sharon Alvarado Abril Alvarez Adelina Avalos Artez Carter Nala Cotton Donell Davis Jaheim Hawkins Catia Hopson Amonti Johnson TeYonna Lofton Charlotte Manier Dale Oleszczuk Erika Perez *Not all young people who participated in the Youth Committee wished to share their names publicly. We are grateful to all who participated. 108 Acknowledgments Over the course of the transition, dozens of organizations and individuals provided pro bono support to our committees and other activities of the transition. We are grateful to everyone who provided support in myriad ways. Senior Advisers Individuals Ra Joy Sarah Pang Bill Abolt Michelle Boone Jamie Cleghorn April Figueroa Evan Hatfield Lynn Lockwood Ruth Ludnicer John Martin Rohan Mascarenhas Soledad McGrath Alejandra Moran Colleen Mueller John Ramirez Marilynn Rubio Matt Sather Meghan Shehorn Matthew Sostrin Erika Taylor Corporations and Partnerships A.T. Kearney Accenture Baker McKenzie BMO Harris C3 Productions CIBC Crowe EY FCB KPMG Lantern Partners Mayer Brown McKinsey & Company Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority Protiviti Russell Reynolds Associates Tribune Media Company Social-Sector Organizations Civic Consulting Alliance LISC-Chicago Metropolitan Planning Council The Chicago Public Education Fund The University of Chicago Crime Lab 109 Appendix: Community Outreach Survey On April 24, the Education Transition Committee launched an online tool to expand the number of voices at the table. We asked students, parents, community members, civic partners, and practitioners to share the tool and to submit responses. We included five language options. We received over 1,700 responses, a signal that Chicagoans are interested in education-focused discussions. Given time constraints and the limits of web-based outreach, the respondents were not representative of either the city or the students served by the education system; 46% were white, 16% Black, and 27% Latinx. Almost three-quarters (72%) were between the ages 25 and 54; 40% were parents or guardians; 14% were students; 13% were educators; and 12% were community members. We received, translated, and included 119 responses in Spanish and three in other languages. The results were consistent with the mandate for change that voters delivered on April 2. The majority of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the current system at every level. Common themes included the need to continue to: ✶ Invest in more deeply rooted learning, from birth through career, about the needs of young people. ✶ Increase equity in the distribution of all resources and opportunities. ✶ Increase diversity among agency leaders, on our boards, and in our schools. ✶ Expand free, universal preschool, improving collaboration with community based organizations (CBOs). ✶ Consider policy changes that would positively impact student outcomes, including investments in the professional development of educators and a reduction in class size. ✶ Reduce the total cost of higher education in Chicago. It is important to note that many respondents expressed appreciation for the city’s educators and current agency leadership; they especially appreciated stability and predictability. The Mayor-elect and her team should invest in partnerships to help extend and expand on this conversation and to build on past efforts. The long-established My Voice, My School Parent survey is one important example; newer engagement processes like the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Annual Regional Analysis or the Vote Equity project are also important to consider. 110 . him-Infused . 43" '[Buildi?? 3 - I Pm?unitr 9? 3