Public Housing Advocates Urge Aldermen To Vote On CHA Overhaul
CHICAGO (CBS) -- More than 100 activists gathered outside City Hall on Wednesday, ahead of a City Council Housing Committee hearing, calling on aldermen to pass a long-stalled proposal to overhaul the Chicago Housing Authority.
Called the "Keeping the Promise Ordinance," the measure would give the City Council direct oversight over the CHA. It also would require the agency to submit quarterly reports on its progress and plans for building public housing, the amount of vacant and offline public housing, utilization of housing vouchers, housing inspections, and unspent revenue.
Activists gathered outside the City Council chamber on Wednesday, to rally ahead of a Housing Committee hearing to debate the proposal to overhaul the CHA.
"I've been looking for housing for over two years, and I'm still on many waiting lists for the CHA and other affordable buildings. Having a home would mean a new start in life, a base to start from," said Linda Diaz.
She said she lost her home in 2008 because of the Great Recession and lack of employment.
Diaz said she must leave the shelter where she has been staying by next month, and she still can't find a new place to stay.
"Right now, I can't even read a book, or have my own space. I want that space to concentrate, to think about the future," she said.
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Diaz and others want aldermen to approve the Keeping The Promise Ordinance as soon as possible.
Supporters of the proposal said too many low-income residents have been denied access to affordable housing, or given false promises.
Ald. Walter Burnett (27th) said there are people from places like Cabrini Green who are still waiting to go back to the neighborhoods where they once lived, after public housing complexes were torn down to make way for mixed-income developments.
"There are still people living in limbo in the city of Chicago, who was promised to be able to return back to the community who haven't returned yet, and it's over 20 years," he said.
Until Wednesday, the proposal had been bottled up in committee, without a public hearing to debate the measure. At Wednesday's hearing, aldermen heard input from community members and activists, but took no vote on the ordinance.
A spokesperson for the CHA said in a statement, ""CHA has been spending its resources to expand affordable housing across the city and is using a strategy to create, build, rehabilitate and acquire more housing in all neighborhoods. Working together with aldermen and community stakeholders, we can continue our progress and meet our goals."
