Only six aldermen on the Committee on Transportation and Public Way, short of a quorum, showed up for a planned quarterly hearing Thursday with the CTA. CTA leadership was prepared to answer questions, but the meeting could not even begin because too few elected officials bothered to attend.
That is unacceptable.
Chicagoans rely on the CTA every day, yet the system faces mounting challenges. Last week, a judge ordered the U.S. Transportation Department to dispense $3 billion in withheld funds, most of it for the Red Line Extension. The federal government was threatening to withhold an additional $50 million if the CTA didn’t adequately improve safety. It backed away from that threat, for now, and is focusing on the Illinois Department of Transportation, arguing that agency has failed to protect CTA passengers and workers.
A report from early this month showed violent crime on Chicago transit has reached alarming levels, with aggravated assaults and batteries hitting record highs and continuing to rise this year. CTA ridership still lags behind pre-pandemic levels, and City Hall has yet to name a permanent leader for the agency.
These are not minor issues. They affect whether people feel safe commuting to work, businesses can attract employees and customers, and the city can secure and maintain federal funding.
Oversight hearings are one of the few opportunities for elected officials to demand answers, press for solutions and represent the concerns of their constituents. When aldermen skip these meetings, they fail the public.
City Hall cannot claim to take transit seriously while neglecting the most basic responsibility: showing up.
Chicago deserves leaders who treat public safety, accountability and reliable transit as priorities, not afterthoughts. If aldermen will not attend hearings to question CTA leadership during a period of rising crime, leadership uncertainty and financial risk, when will they?
Fixing the CTA starts with accountability. Accountability starts with showing up.
— Micky Horstman, Illinois Policy Institute, Chicago
In defense of a walkout
As a Chicago Public Schools parent, I am thrilled that the Chicago Teachers Union has called for May 1 to be a day of civic action. Teachers calling for action to defend public education against federal attacks and stand up to demand that Immigration and Customs Enforcement get out of our cities is good for Chicago and for my child. I find that the Tribune Editorial Board’s piece attacking the CTU presents a shortsighted view of what education is (“The Chicago Teachers Union’s May 1 walkout puts politics ahead of education,” March 13).
I agree with the editorial that “education starts with the basics.” Core skills, like math and reading, are foundational. However, I send my kid to school also for important lessons like what they can learn from civic action. These lessons are impactful and educative and, I would argue, vital.
Issues such as the Donald Trump administration’s massive attack on public education don’t only exist outside the classroom. The potential loss in funding for youths with special needs or protections for LGBTQIA youths feels threatening to many parents I know.
Additionally, the impact of ICE raids and the high-profile killings by federal agents are felt in classrooms. I have gotten numerous emails from my child’s teacher letting parents know about the “hard conversations” and fear in the classroom of our elementary school-aged kids. Our friends, classmates and neighbors are living under the fear of masked, armed agents stealing away loved ones. How does one stick to the basics in that context?
The CTU — like the huge number of people around the country marching and organizing — says we should stop business as usual to try to stand for justice for our schools, our neighbors and our communities.
The editorial condescendingly argues otherwise, absurdly claiming that the CTU is “one of the greatest threats to public education” because one day of missed traditional instruction would mean failure for our kids and that any advocacy around education should only be done in legislatures and government buildings.
I am glad that the editorial board is not teaching my child. On the contrary, our kids can learn the important lesson that in our communities, we all have a role to collectively play to make change. It is good that Chicago’s teachers are joining with others around the country to say that we can all participate in raising our voice and playing an active role in history.
— Brian Bean, Chicago
Disparities fuel crime
A letter writer from Oak Park (“The proliferation of guns,” March 26) says lax gun laws are the most obvious cause of the killing of Loyola University student Sheridan Gorman, which she characterizes as a crime in “our city,” as if she were a Chicagoan.
Actually, the most obvious cause is the disparities that exist between communities like hers that are on the well-off side of Austin Avenue while property values plummet and crime escalates on the Chicago side.
— J.D. Colwell, Chicago
Delivery robot mayhem
Aside from being a public nuisance, now we can add vandalism to the list of charges against those annoying food delivery robots. If I ran my car, not once but twice, into a bus stop, I’d be arrested. Put out a warrant on all of them.
What is it that makes my blood pressure rise when I see these machines going down the sidewalk? Is it like Divvy bikes sticking their privileged rear tires into my pathway? Is it that I have to share my public space with private profit? Maybe it’s the feeling that this device believes it is my equal; it can do a task I can do, and it takes up a human amount of space. Do I feel threatened by this little guy? Is that why I want to kick it when I see one?
I don’t know, but let’s put them in jail and watch them break through the bars.
— Julia Smith, Chicago
Stopping teen takeovers
Thank you to Ja’Mal Green for a great piece on the teen takeover chaos in Chicago now that the weather is getting warmer (“Don’t surrender Chicago to ‘teen takeover’ chaos,” March 27).
Chicago is a beautiful city and shouldn’t have to deal with kids roaming around with nothing to do. As the author said, give young people places to go. It sounds like this author has worked with youths, so he knows what he’s talking about.
I love the city and want tourists to visit and have a wonderful experience in Chicago.
— Linda Berkow, Arlington Heights
Refusal to change course
Regarding the article “Study: Property taxes double rate of inflation” (March 30): I didn’t need a study to know that property taxes rose far faster than inflation. I paid those property taxes that outpaced my earnings. I was a Chicagoan through and through. I was born there. My father was a public school teacher. My sister was a public school teacher. I went through my entire education there. I worked my entire career at the University of Chicago, retiring 20 years ago.
I watched year after year as property taxes on my Chicago home far outpaced inflation. I watched as unions received generous pay raises and, by extension, increased their future pension benefits. Every tax increase to fund their pay and pension benefits meant that I had to use my own retirement money to fund their pay and retirement.
I watched for years hoping that city and state politicians would address these issues without raising taxes beyond the rate of inflation. They didn’t. I had a choice to stay in Chicago and be taxed to death or pack up and leave the state. Sadly, I left.
I loved my Chicago home — but the politicians didn’t have the will to change course. But I did.
— Chuck Wellek, formerly Chicago, Cave Creek, Arizona
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