To inform voters and to help the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board make endorsements, the board posed a series of questions to the candidates running for alderman. See their answers below. See how other candidates answered here.
Name: Brian C. Comer
Ward: 43rd
Current job: Comer Consulting, Lead Consultant (focused on smaller organizations requiring national/global reach, product development, marketing and renewable energy), 2014 – August 2022; Acciona Energy North America Corporation, Business Development Manager – East Coast Region (utility-scale renewable energy developer), 2008 – 2012
Previous political experience: I have never been elected to a political office nor appointed to a political position
Education: DePaul Univeristy – BSB Marketing, John Caroll University – Marketing & Finance, St. Ignatius College Prepatory – HS Diploma
Spouse’s occupation: Single
Sources of outside income: N/A
The rise in violent crime remains a top priority for City Hall. Homicides, shootings and carjackings are all unacceptably high. Tell us how city government can be innovative in combating crime, and explain what measures you would propose if elected.
I am committed to finding long term solutions for our city to be a safe place for our communities. Our neighborhoods should be making news on the accomplishments of CPS schools, not homicides, shootings over a cell phone or carjackings.
First, we must to address the human resources and culture problems of the Chicago Police Department and this starts with looking at their budget to fund our rank and file officers. 42% of the CPD budget goes to the top brass and misconduct lawsuits. I will lead the way to make certain the city directs a lot more money towards putting more boots on the ground. And, we must bring more officers out from behind the desk and onto the streets to serve and protect. A good portion of the office responsibilities can be reassigned to non-trained police officers.
With the newly allocated funds, I would address the 2,000-officer deficit by collaborating with one of the greatest assets we have in the 43rd ward and 18th Police District – DePaul University. I will develop a partnership between the University and the CPD to build a pilot program, where graduates commit to serving the CPD for four years, and at the end, they receive a reimbursement for one year’s tuition. If the CPD can retain even just 20-30% of those commitments after their four-year term, we can close the staffing deficit. Right now, twentysomethings don’t believe being a police officer is a desirable career path… social media tells them that. This was never the case years ago. Our program will focus on a factual education on good jobs serving the city. The 43rd Ward can be the launch pad to address this public safety issue. Once the program is up and running, we can bring it to other schools in the area – Loyola, Chicago State, etc. If we don’t act quickly to address this human resource issue, the problem of today will be the problem for a decade.
In the immediacy, I go after every dollar, both public and private, to get more cameras on the streets – we need to see more of what’s happening. Second, the city will have a historic turnover coming to City Council in May. There will be at least a 40% turnover in the voices. To me that screams change. I commit to gathering those new voices and leading a focused group, inviting existing alders, to march to Kim Foxx’s office to say enough is enough. Her policies must change and we are not leaving until we get her to ‘yes, it must change’. An overwhelming city effort to a county policy. At the end of the day though, we must address the inequities in the city which cause young people to believe crime is the only way to survive. If we don’t, we will continue in a vicious circle. This requires a real investment program in the south and west sides that has real teeth, real investment to show real results. Right now, that’s not the case.
The CTA, one of the nation’s largest transit systems, remains a troubled agency grappling with issues ranging from violent crime and ghost buses and trains, to flagging ridership. Give us your thoughts on what specific measures CTA should take to make train and bus service safer, more reliable and more equitable for Chicagoans.
The CTA must become a more transparent agency. As all agencies and departments should. When we are more forward facing and honest, we invite new ideas and outlets to resolve issues. The CTA’s issues feed off of one another and we can address them if they engage city government to help solve their problem and restore confidence in their agency to pre-pandemic levels.
When we build up our police force numbers in the manner I suggested in the previous question, we can provide more officers on the buses, platforms and train cars. This will rebuild trust between commuters and the CTA, which would increase ridership. Having more officers also makes it a safer environment for the drivers and operators which will have an impact on the recruiting/human resource function of the agency. However, the CTA must continue to invest in recruitment programs and develop a work place benefits package which is attractive to potential employees. While they have made some headway with restructuring some union contracts and provided some wage increases, it is obviously not enough. They need to build a program which goes deeper into struggling communities, demonstrate wearing the CTA logo is good solid career path or at least a job to assist in getting to the next level. Which again goes back to compensation package creativity – tuition benefits, higher education application assistance, etc.
Technology is the driving solution to address ghost buses and trains. The CTA must reconfigure the manner in which their set schedule interacts with real-time activity of the trains and buses traversing the system. And yes, the staff shortages do also feed into this problem. The agency makes the system safer-you increase ridership, develop an attractive recruitment program-more employees which means more trains and buses will be in service, and more vehicles in service and an updated technology formula-much fewer ghost buses and trains.
Equity is at the heart of a plethora of our city’s problems, as ridership increases, the city must invest in new routes on the south and west sides where people need them the most. No one should have to walk a mile to their closest bus or train stop. In the short term to build this infrastructure, the CTA must work with other departments in government to find as many public and private investment routes to assist in getting this arterial expansion up and running.
Ten years ago, enrollment at Chicago Public Schools was 403,000 students. In September, enrollment stood at 322,000 students. Enrollment at CPS has dropped for 11 consecutive years. What specific measures should CPS undertake to reverse the trend of ever-dwindling enrollment?
Investment in neighborhood schools and fostering communities where people feel comfortable, safe raising their kids requires key investments in neighborhood parks, critical infrastructure improvements and avoiding over taxation of property to keep families from moving to the suburbs. People want our public education system to be their route, they are already paying for it with their taxes.
The city must more directly focus on the areas where schools are seeing the largest drop in attendance. Build an invisible circle centered on those schools and examine what asset(s) is those communities are missing or require improvement. This builds community. Families desire engagement with their neighborhoods and utilizing CPS to educate their children will be one of those ways. Real actionable investment is required
Disinvestment on the South and West sides is a decades-long problem with myriad causes. Give us at least one innovative idea that you believe could play a role in reversing South and West side disinvestment, and explain why the idea is realistic and feasible.
Micro-lending has seen positive results globally. We must deliver it more powerfully to the south and west sides. That is not happening at the moment. The city must educate what micro-lending is to those neighborhoods. If that means walking the streets, knocking on doors, so be it.
We can bring in both public and private partners to fund the program. The city communicates to the participants the importance of being a good faith partner. Educating the borrower that by paying back the loan, it allows that money to be used by the borrower’s neighbors to build their own small business they have been dreaming of. They all build an economic engine as a community. City Hall also must cut red tape to help these new business enterprises take off and remain viable.
Do you support giving Chicagoans property tax relief? If yes, please explain how you would accomplish it. If no, please explain why not.
Yes, I support giving property tax relief. How do I accomplish it… it’s a math problem. Chicago, as we all know, has a lot of fat. We must take a deep dive into the budget and realize that we are wasting monies on programs not serving the residents and should be reallocated those to pay for the programs and services that are needed to lift up the city and help residents. This includes TIF reform.
We are pricing people out of the city. If we continue down this path, the chasm between the rich and extraordinarily poor will continue to expand. This image does not make for a viable city. We are losing residents. Chicago should not be placing bloated ineffective program funding on the backs of its working families.
Give us your take on the city’s use of tax increment financing districts. Do you feel they have been useful, or do you feel that the problems associated with them outweigh their usefulness? What if any reforms would you want to apply to the city’s usage of TIFs?
The TIF program can be a useful tool if it runs as it was designed to and not as it is now. TIF funds should not be considered a part of the city budget. They should be used for the purpose they were created for and directed to those projects/blighted communities that generated the increment. These funds should not be held by the Mayor to use as they see fit. We also must be stricter and lay out in no uncertain terms what the term ‘blighted’ means. The city’s current interpretation allows for developers to take advantage of the tax payers and reap rewards that should not be available to them. TIFs cover a third of the city, we should see a lot more of that money improving those communities and we do not.
The TIF program is not transparent. I will fight to change that. Those are taxpayer dollars. We should be able to see where that money is being spent or not spent. These reports must be developed so the average resident can access and understand them, not buried in bureaucracy where only insiders can see the truth.
In fact, I would work with the General Assembly to change the law on TIF programs so that if the generated funds are not used for the community that generated them in a timely manner, or sit there unused for a certain amount of time, that the funds be directed elsewhere to serve the community and not within the purview of the mayor. This will motivate the mayor to use it or it will service working families in another way.
Lead in drinking water is a major health concern for the city. It is estimated that in Chicago there are roughly 400,000 homes and small apartment buildings with lead service lines. So far, the city has replaced less than 300 lead service lines. Do you feel the pace of lead service line replacement should be expedited, and if yes, what is the best, most feasible way to accomplish that?
The pace of lead service line replacement is not going at nearly the rate it should to guarantee Chicagoans have safe water in their homes. Yes, the work should be expedited. Recognizing that the cost to complete such a large project approaches $9 billion dollars, the city needs to do a better job at sourcing the necessary funds. This is not a project that the city can fund on its own and the cost to individual property owners is extraordinary.
The best pathway to ensure the city receives the resources it needs is to look at collaborative solutions with its public and private partners. First, we must approach and request federal dollars from our members of Congress. The earmarks that the Chicago congressional caucus could deliver would be in the hundreds of millions over the next several years. This public safety emergency is exactly why earmark spending returned to Congress. The lead-lined service is extraordinary detrimental to brain development in children and we cannot afford to allow it to continue. This is most evident in lower income areas of the city. If we do not prioritize the removal in these areas, we continue the systematic racism that has been incredibly harmful for generations.
Besides earmarks, we work with our federal representatives to secure more funds from the federal infrastructure bill and the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) as both make room for such public health programming. More locally, the city must engage Cook County. The county has funds that they can put towards this type of public health crisis and will partner with Chicago, if asked.
Additionally, to source private funds, the city should hire a grant writer or a small team of them. The return on investment of a couple hundred thousand dollars for a svelte team focused on this project that can realize hundreds of millions to billions of dollars is a wise move.
The city can also collaborate with the private sector to lower the total cost of the work needed. Chicago should partner with organized labor to get their help with negotiating more favorable sourcing costs from the larger vendors. The unions should be happy to do this because it delivers more jobs and steady employment to their members. The unions can also assist in acquiring funds through lobbying their state and federal representatives.
And finally, the city can coordinate with IL EPA to build the case for this multifaceted approach to solve this public health crisis. The information they have compiled over the years on the harmful effects of lead on the brains of children is plentiful and heartbreaking.
If you are an incumbent, please explain what is it about your service on the City Council that makes you most qualified for the job. If you have never served on the council, please explain what is it about your background that makes you most qualified.
I was raised by the 43rd Ward. I am a proud graduate of Oscar Mayer Elementary and know the foundations of my commitment to service started here in our community. For the last three years I have served as president of the Sheffield Neighborhood Association, a volunteer-led community organization in its 63rd year representing the residents and businesses on the western edge of Lincoln Park. We service approximately 10,000 residents. For the four years prior, I served as a board of director. We represent the community in an all matters – public safety, zoning, park and community beautification projects, community festivals/events, and fundraisers. It has truly been an honor to serve as the leader of the neighborhood association I grew up in because the work is always focused on continually advocating for our residents, consistently developing programs to add value to our community, working with our neighborhood partners (Chicago Police Department, other neighborhood associations and elected officials) to provide a safe environment for all community members, and to build a cohesive community.
I also serve as a Chicago Police Department Beat Facilitator for the 018th District, only stepping down from that role when I filed as a candidate for this election. I believe firmly that the CPD needs all the community support it can get and being able to serve in that role was just a way I could give of my talents to assist them. In both of these roles, I consistently speak with district leaders, including Commander Heine weekly.
I am co-founder of the 43rd Ward Alliance, which is the rebirth of the Lincoln Park Conservation Association that died off years ago. I realized that we had a problem with elected officials using information sharing as a weapon, pitting community stakeholders against one another when they are usually on the same page and desiring the same things. The Alliance gives a platform for all the neighborhood association presidents within the ward to come together to discuss what’s happening in each of our corners of the community. We share the information that has been communicated to us by the different levels of government to ensure it is all the same and on the level. A neighborhood cannot thrive if it is not in step with its surrounding neighborhoods.
For seven straight years, each week I cooked and served the homeless and hungry at the Dignity Diner. I also serve as president of the Trinity Volunteer Corps, which provides real world experience to adults with developmental disabilities.
Professionally, I was a utility-scale renewable energy developer and then consultant, focusing on wind and solar farm development. Tasked with introducing energy projects to rural communities was delicate. It was an incredible experience that taught me a lot as to how to bring together communities to develop and build new resources to guarantee future stability, both financially and environmentally. The job equipped me well for the work ahead bringing my community and City Council together to solve problems.
What is the most pressing issue facing the people of your ward, and how would you address it?
Crime/Public Safety and property tax reform. How I would address these issues was laid out in earlier questions.
Sum up why should voters elect you and not your opponent(s)? (Please limit this to policy and approach, not a biography recitation.)
As we move forward as a ward it is imperative that our leader have already proven they care about this community before the spotlight of an election. The alderman’s approach to solving ward issues is the key to building a safer, healthier and more vibrant ward. I have already demonstrated to my ward the core of who I am – my focus on community engagement, listening to neighbors, building two-way communication, collaboration with community partners, building community, delivering resources, and being an aggressive advocate for those in need. These traits will help our ward and our city.
As Alderman my focus guides my plan to 1) fortify the 18th Police District, bolstering resources to turn back the crime invading our community and addressing equity development in areas where the offenders feel it’s the only way exist; 2) be a responsive and accountable leader, ensuring everyone is heard and responded to; 3) build community and resources to enhance our schools; 4) cut red tape on small business so they can thrive not just survive; 5) work with City Council to develop tax-free holidays for small businesses to help develop loyal customer base; 6) fight for LGBTQ+ and women’s reproductive rights, parenting decisions and healthier parental leave; 7) increase community engagement on all real estate developments; 8) restore trust, delivering a true independent voice accountable to only to voters.
Chicago must work towards delivering a more equitable community for all its residents. I commit to that goal.
