 - ctucke20
- Respected Neighbor
- USA
- 417 Posts
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Dear friend,
This Tuesday, in a City Council committee, I was able to do something that will have direct, positive effects on the day-to-day lives of my constituents. I'm sure you remember the terrible - and completely preventable - tragedy of Eri'ana Patton Smith's death in a fire last year on South Vernon. After the fire, we found out that the building didn't have working smoke detectors, and that the landlord had been cited for serious violations multiple times, including just last June for the very lack of smoke detectors that would kill four precious children.
Well, on Tuesday, I, along with Buildings Commissioner Felicia Davis and Eri'ana's father, Eric, successfully pushed the Budget and Zoning Committee to pass an ordinance that will create a public list of bad landlords. If you're a good landlord and you keep your building safe and secure, you've got nothing to worry about. But if you're a scofflaw, if you put your tenants at risk while collecting their hard-earned money - we're going to name you and shame you. And not only that: under the ordinance, these bad landlords won't be able to get any licenses, permits, or other help from the City. (More details are in the Sun-Times article below.)
The next day, with my colleague from the 44th Ward, Tom Tunney, I introduced a proposal to rein in the Red Light Camera Program. You know that I think the program is broken, so Alderman Tunney and I proposed some commonsense reforms: countdown clocks at each intersection with a camera, a citywide minimum yellow light time of 3.2 seconds, and a public process-including comprehensive traffic studies, a public hearing, and a City Council vote-before the installation of any more cameras. You can read more details below. I'm hopeful that the Mayor and my colleagues will agree that these are practical solutions to a problematic program, as the Sun-Times says in yesterday's editorial.
As an Alderman, it's not every day that I get the chance to push my colleagues to do something that will have such a direct impact on the everyday lives of Chicagoans, and that will potentially save lives. But this week, we did just that.
Sincerely,
Alderman BealeP.S. If you currently are a tenant of a bad landlord, please do not hesitate to reach out to my office.
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