3 big questions for voters in 2 wards
Nonbinding referendums will gauge public’s opinion on CTA, housing measures
Along with aldermanic and mayoral candidates, nonbinding referendum questions will appear on voters’ ballots in the 16th Ward and some precincts in the 5th Ward.
Such advisory referendums in Chicago wards are used to gauge public opinion or to spotlight certain issues without being legally binding.
The process of getting referendums on the ballot is much like getting candidates on the ballot, though the numbers differ.
For referendums in a precinct or ward, petitioners must get a number of signatures equal to at least 8% of the ballots cast in the last mayoral election in that precinct or ward.
For the Feb. 28 election, there are nonbinding referendum questions in only two wards, the 5th and the 16th. In each one, a “yes” vote is a vote in favor of taking action.
16th Ward: Reopening Green Line Station
This measure, on the ballot of every precinct in the 16th Ward, would push the city to reopen the Racine Green Line CTA station. The stop previously bridged an eight-block train gap between Halsted and Ashland/63rd in Englewood near the south end of the Green Line.
The station never reopened after large portions of the Green Line were renovated in 1994. At the time, the CTA said it “couldn’t afford” to reopen every station, and more recently the city’s transportation officials cited “declining ridership.”
In a November statement to the Sun-Times, the CTA said $100 million in updates would be required to get the station up and running again. It has been considered a historic building but never officially made one.
5th Ward, Precincts 1-11: Supporting a South Shore community benefits agreement
This ballot measure recommends the creation of a community benefits agreement ordinance to prevent renters and homeowners from being displaced in South Shore.
The referendum is the latest push from residents concerned over potential displacement due to the Obama Presidential Center, currently under construction in Jackson Park.
The measure lists four steps the agreement would take: funding home repairs, increasing homeownership and providing property tax relief; implementing eviction protections, rental relief and bans on application and move-in fees for renters; developing income-based housing on city-owned vacant lots; and encouraging local hiring and job programs.
In 2017, former President Barack Obama refused to add protections to an agreement for the project, causing residents to push for an ordinance.
The city later promised to put protective measures in the new development’s agreement, though nothing was secured in writing, with City Hall opting to instead say it would keep an eye on property values. Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) and Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th), whose wards would be most impacted by the Obama Center, previously proposed a community benefits agreement. Mayor Lori Lightfoot campaigned on a promise to protect residents in the area in 2019.
In 2020, the city passed an ordinance taking similar measures in the Woodlawn neighborhood that fell short of what activists wanted — Taylor called it “bittersweet.” Nearly $4.5 million was set aside for affordable housing programs, including a $1 million repair fund and another $500,000 to help residents purchase their homes.
5th Ward, Precincts 13-14: Supporting Affordable Housing in Woodlawn
This ballot measure, if approved, would advise the ward’s alderperson and the mayor to support a specific affordable housing formula for a development on a city-owned lot at 63rd Street and South Blackstone Avenue in Woodlawn. The recommendation is that 75% of housing built on the lot be “truly” affordable, defined as costing no more than 30% of a family’s income. The measure stems from fears of displacement due to construction of the Obama Presidential Center.
The fight for affordable housing in Woodlawn is part of the same fight for other protections in the area, such as the South Shore community benefits agreement referendum and wage demands made of Amazon when the company built a facility in West Humboldt Park.
The Woodlawn Housing Preservation ordinance, passed in 2020, created affordability requirements for 30% of 52 vacant lots in Woodlawn — a neighborhood with 208 empty lots. The ordinance also offers financial assistance to landlords who own or refinance multifamily buildings and maintain them as “affordable” for at least 30 years.