Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd) and Ald. Marty Quinn (13th) say the national Democratic wave carries a message for Washington and for City Hall: residents want relief from rising costs, and they want their votes on ShotSpotter and school spending to count.
Democrats won majorities in both the U.S. House and Senate on Nov. 3 with Democrats securing a 254-162 majority in the House and a 54-44 majority in the Senate, according to Ballotpedia. Senate races are still not called in Alaska and Mississippi and some House races are also not decided.
Tabares said Democrats now have a chance to deliver on affordability before the next presidential election. Quinn called the vote a backlash against President Donald Trump’s administration.
A message to Washington
“That was a big topic that motivated people to go out and vote, was affordability,” Tabares said. “The cost of gas, the cost of groceries, it’s going up and I think it’s an opportunity for Democrats in Washington to get it together. Now they have the votes in the House to pass something to give residents some financial relief.”
Democrats will have two years to act, she said, and she wants them doing everything they can.
Quinn said the reasons for the big local Democratic vote varied. He pointed to the Trump administration turning its back on the southwest side for FEMA flood relief, to residents paying nearly $5 a gallon for gas and to the uncertainty around last year’s Midway Blitz ICE raids.
“All of those factors have contributed to a backlash against the current federal government and the Trump administration,” Quinn said. “So whether it’s in the 13th Ward, the state of Illinois or on a national level, this is a signal that how the country is being run is not the way Americans, Chicago residents want it to be run.”
School board races
Both aldermen backed Jessica Biggs, who won her race for school board president over a candidate supported by the Chicago Teachers Union. Tabares said Mayor Brandon Johnson also strongly supported Biggs’ opponent.
For Quinn, the choice came down to a 13th Ward project. The ward had a plan to buy the property at 63rd Street and Lawndale Avenue and build a career-ready curriculum for Hubbard High School seniors, he said. The union passed on it.
“I supported Jessica Biggs, in part because the Chicago Teachers Union and Hilario Dominguez didn’t support our initiative to expand Hubbard High School,” Quinn said.
Tabares framed the result as a win for taxpayers.
“Hilario lost and so I think that having the CTU-backed candidate not winning that seat is going to be good for taxpayers, especially when you see the history of how previously, the mayor has appointed people who want to support his agenda and ideology including the CTU agenda,” she said.
She said Biggs has a voting record of opposing the union. Members she considers anti-CTU could hold as many as 12 seats on the board, she said, depending on a North Side race involving incumbent Carlos Rivas that was still undecided as of this writing.
“Seeing that is a testament by residents and how tired they are of the teachers’ union,” Tabares said.
Immigration enforcement
Tabares said her position on immigration enforcement has not changed: “If you’re a convicted violent offender, you should be held accountable.”
The ordinance she and Ald. Ray Lopez (15th) wrote was meant to protect law-abiding residents from immigration raids by forcing law enforcement to focus on people with violent criminal records, she said.
The alderman said the cost of living in the 23rd Ward as painful for residents.
“What I saw on election night, the number one issue that … residents are really primarily concerned with is the cost of living,” she said.
Residents she meets door to door tell her they cannot keep up with rising gas and grocery prices, she said. Her office’s property tax appeal event drew its biggest turnout and residents are now asking for additional help appealing their bills, she said.
ShotSpotter
Both aldermen interpreted the ballot question on ShotSpotter as a rebuke of the mayor.
“70% of Chicago residents want ShotSpotter reinstated and here the mayor is still stalling and not taking action to deliver what residents want,” Tabares said.
Quinn, the measure’s lead sponsor, said nearly three of every four voters backed gunshot detection technology in their neighborhoods. The result, he said, was “a real direct message to the mayor of the city of Chicago that he can’t put his own politics before the desires of the taxpayers.”
Taxing millionaires
Voters also backed a ballot question on taxing millionaires and billionaires. Both aldermen said any new tax needs a clear plan for the money.
“Specifically, if we’re going to tax millionaires, what are we going to use that for?” Tabares said.
She said she had heard ideas about directing the money to schools and she wants to make sure it actually goes to Chicago Public Schools. Decades ago, she said, the state promised lottery money for education and that promise fell through the cracks.
Quinn said the idea dates to former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan and could be a new revenue source. He pointed to the $75 million clawed back in the parking meter deal, that a council coalition he joined set aside up front to pay down pension debt.
“So, utilizing that as an example, if and when there is a tax on millionaires, there needs to be a clear nexus to where that money’s going to be spent on behalf of the taxpayers,” Quinn said.
Instead of spending that money right away, he said, the coalition chose to invest it, hoping for a 6.5% return.
“That’s how you wall off future property tax increases; you invest one-time assets,” he said. “You don’t go out and spend it or hire more people with one-time assets. You invest it.”
The city’s operating expenses run more than $6 billion, Quinn said and its pension obligation is $2.5 billion every year.
“So, if you’re not thinking about long-term and how to rein that in with contributions and supplemental contributions, that will continue to be a real issue for the next generations,” Quinn said.