Relief for homelessness

In Gregory Pratt’s article “Lightfoot still has promises to fulfill” (April 4), Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office maintains that the pandemic and the uprisings after the killing of George Floyd have prevented her from delivering on her campaign promises.

One promise, to raise the real estate transfer tax on properties over $1 million and create dedicated funding to end homelessness, was poised for passage months before the pandemic started. In July 2019, 27 aldermen signed on as sponsors of the Bring Chicago Home resolution to put a question on the March 2020 ballot seeking public permission to raise the real estate transfer tax to fund housing and services for Chicagoans experiencing homelessness.

The referendum was likely to pass; in a 2018 poll of Chicago voters, 66% indicated they would vote in favor of the increase. Successful passage of the referendum would allow City Hall to unilaterally raise the tax — no need to ask Springfield.

With the mayor’s blessing, the broadly popular Bring Chicago Home initiative would have required little effort or political capital on her part to see it through.

The mayor’s office claims that one of its main goals is to work toward “a government that centers race and gender in all of its work” and that equity and inclusivity are their “North Star.” With Black Chicagoans making up 61% of those experiencing homelessness and 81% of students who are homeless, racial equity cannot be achieved in Chicago without ending homelessness.

Putting aside what’s happened in the past and the challenges of governing during a pandemic and public unrest, now is the time for the mayor’s office to renew its focus on her campaign promise to create significant dedicated funding for homelessness.

With an eviction moratorium soon to be lifted and 35% of Chicagoans reporting that eviction or foreclosure is likely in the next two months, we can’t wait any longer to keep our promise to people experiencing homelessness in Chicago.

— Aldermen Carlos Ramirez Rosa, 35th; Jeanette Taylor, 20th; and Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th