FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 6, 2019
STATEMENT: Incoming progressive aldermen stand with #RejecttheMegaTIFs Campaign
Eight incoming aldermen call on Pat O'Connor to cancel Monday vote on Lincoln Yards TIF giveaway
CHICAGO--With City Council preparing to vote next week on over $2 billion in tax giveaways to Lincoln Yards and the 78, eight incoming aldermen-elect today released a statement calling on Finance Committee Chair Pat O'Connor to cancel the Monday committee vote required to advance the MegaTIFs.
The aldermen-elect releasing the statement today are: Daniel LaSpata (1), Jeanette Taylor (20), Michael D. Rodriguez (22), Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25), Rossana Rodriguez (33), Andre Vasquez (40), Matt Martin (47), and Maria Hadden (49).
"As an incoming bloc of aldermen-elect, we have spent the last year talking to Chicagoans from across the city. The message we've heard on the doors is crystal clear: it's time for a City Council that is fighting for the many, not the wealthiest few.
"This week, Rahm Emanuel and his lame duck allies are trying to push through a set of unpopular and unjust measures: $2.4 billion in taxpayer money for luxury developments at Lincoln Yards and the 78, and converting a south side high school into another cop academy. The money for the megaTIFs should be returned to the public with investments in neighborhood schools, clean drinking water, public libraries, and re-opening mental health clinics.
"We were elected to serve the working families of Chicago--not luxury real-estate developers and private military contractors. Enough is enough. City Council should say NO to Mayor Emanuel's final efforts to enrich his donors at the expense of poor and working people, and cancel these votes until the new Mayor and City Council take office."
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