Chicago has one of the strongest economies in the country, but it could be stronger. Because of the instability of our current city finances, and decades of mismanagement, and disinvestment in the South and West sides of Chicago, we have an economy that doesn’t work for all Chicagoans, and as a result, the  entire city struggles to grow. As someone who has a worked in many different fields, whether making pizza to pay for high school fees, and paying for college, managing healthcare facilities, vaccinating our communities during the Covid-19 pandemic, or as a researcher and policy analyst, I have a wide array of skills learned over the past 10+ years that allow me to problem solve the current issues our city faces today, that know other candidate does. 

I don’t support a head tax, but I do support working with businesses here in Chicago to bring together the right people to make our city globally competitive. As Mayor, my priorities would focus on the following:

• Identifying policy and regulation that would eliminate barriers for new business growth across the city, specifically for small businesses.
• Creating a new consortium of top university, business, teacher, trade, AI and community leaders to build a pathway pipeline for Chicago youth to get high paying jobs. 
• Bring more innovative and emerging companies to create new markets in our city.

Every Chicagoan should have safe and affordable clean water that allows them to live healthy, thriving and meaningful lives. For decades, many people in our city have struggled to afford their water bills, and as a result, have had their water shut off by the city. This to me, is a cruel and inhumane version of torture. No one can survive without water, so shutting it off, is a death sentence. 

My priorities as Mayor are focused on several key areas for Chicagoans:

• Ensuring that All Chicagoans have water protections that include equitable access to clean water. 
• Investing in equitable, climate-resilient, and affordable water infrastructure for all.
• Addressing water rate hikes, and mismanagement of billing and finance in the Department of Water Management

In 2027, Chicago will have to rapidly come in compliance with federal requirements for replace lead pipes throughout the city. We cannot make struggling Chicagoans pay for water debt that’s a result of city mismanagement, or make Chicagoans pay to replace their own lead pipes. As Mayor, I will coordinate with state and federal government to bring necessary funding to our city, and make water affordable for all. 

Education outcomes are very unequal across our city. Many Chicagoans lack accessible and affordable early childhood education, high-quality K-12 education in their neighborhoods, and sustainable pathways from that education to good jobs and workforce credentials. I am the only candidate that has the extensive knowledge of building pathway programs for K-12 students and higher education, and building ecosystems needed to connect students, parents, educators, universities and business leaders across the city to reform our education system in Chicago. 

As Mayor, my priorities are:

• Fully fund education and provide the resources that every child and parent needs whether they attend CPS, charter or private schools.
• Support early investment that creates global competitive education system, that works alongside career and technical education to create career pathways into high paying, meaningful careers.
• End childhood hunger. It’s imperative that every child in our city has access to healthy and culturally sensitive food if we want a strong talent workforce. 
• Bring together leaders from  the top highest growing workforce sectors to identify talent and skill needs so that Chicago students are being employed here in their city.
• Create paid apprenticeship and internships for high school students before graduation.

It’s time to bring a single-payer, Medicare for All system to our state that guarantees healthcare for every Chicagoan. The goal is to create a single-payer health plan beyond County Care for all income levels, just as Medicare provides care to all Americans 65 and older or those with disabilities. Under this new managed care plan there would be no more expensive health insurance premiums, co-pays, deductibles, or prescription costs for Chicagoans. We currently provide this already, we just have to expand it for everyone!

My Proposal

• Guarantees healthcare for every Chicagoan and saves Chicagoans money.

• Expands healthcare to include dental, hearing, vision, long term care and mental health.

• Allow Chicagoans to still choose the doctors and hospitals you want.

Our city operates the second largest public transit system in the U.S. We have the ability to really provide efficiency in rider travel, reduce cost, and support the density we’re building throughout the city. However, Chicago has not been the safest city when it comes to bicyclist and mobile motorist. We have to do better to make sure that our streets are safe for people and not private cars. That means making sure our street infrastructure is green, and modernized to those in it. I am committed to making sure bike lanes are protected, streets are created to ensure drivers and mobile motorist can commute safely. As well as modernizing the infrastructure to make sure that streets aren’t flooded or hot for pedestrians. 

As Mayor, my priorities are:

• Designing and creating streets that are walkable, equitable and safe. 
• Protecting Chicagoans that use bikes and new e-scooters but investing in physical barriers to separate bikes and cars. 
• Making sure Buses are reliable and fast, by enforcing dedicated bus lanes and modernizing scheduling. 
• Creating more car-free zones and open spaces for Chicagoans so that everyone of all ages can enjoy the communities they live in.
• Increasing more greenery and trees across Chicago, and designing streets that address our climate issues.

Our city has both an aging population and child population that need more support for our city. I am committed to ensuring that we allocate resources to support Chicagoans. That means ensuring that we are investing in homes for seniors, providing home support, free and accessible activities and healthcare. The same for Chicago children. As Mayor, I plan to invest and coordinate heavily to ensure all parents in Chicago have access to high quality, safe and free childcare. 

Chicago is built on strong immigrant communities. As a life-long Chicagoan who grew up on the south side, I have had the opportunity of meeting so many people across the city, of all backgrounds. What I love about our city, is that despite the attempts to make our city segregated and divisive, those before us built a city where culture is strong, and we could learn from our differences.

The chaos and violence that has occurred not only in Chicago but across our country is one of the reasons I am running for Mayor. We have not done enough to support those in our city that need it the most. Whether that’s newly arrived or those that have been here.  I stand committed to protecting the long lasting commitment to making sure our city remains a sanctuary city and providing the resources and support needed to help families across our city affected by the recent ICE raids. 

Housing has been unaffordable for many people in Chicago for decades. It has lead to hundreds of thousands of residents leaving the City. Right now, we are facing a housing mobility issue. It requires a multi-faceted approach that allows renters to buy homes, current homeowners to downsize, and people to find starter homes. Chicago has the ability to directly make housing more affordable for all Chicagoans at every income level.