THIS IS A PEOPLE POWERED CAMPAIGN. CHIP IN NOW TO HELP ENSURE WE BUILD A CHICAGO FOR THE MANY.
JOIN A CANVASS, TALK TO YOUR NEIGHBORS, HEAR WHAT ISSUES THEY CARE ABOUT, AND HELP ROSSANA WIN HER RE-ELECTION.
GRASSROOTS POWERED. NO DEVELOPER DOLLARS.
ABOUT ROSSANA
In her first term, Alderwoman Rossana Rodríguez won improvements to neighborhood schools, brought affordable housing to the 33rd Ward, championed Treatment Not Trauma (a model to respond to mental health crises with clinicians instead of police), and secured funding for violence interrupters.
In the community, she has increased democracy by giving neighbors a voice in zoning decisions and, through Participatory Budgeting, she invited residents to propose and vote on improvements in the 33rd Ward’s parks, streets, and green spaces.
At City Hall, Rossana introduced and passed legislation to protect abortion and gender affirming care, worked to codify Chicago as a sanctuary city for immigrants, and was an independent voice in City Council, not a rubber stamp for the mayor. All while not taking a dime from developers or big business.
Rossana is a mother, youth educator, and lifelong community activist. She is currently completing her Masters in Social Work from Northeastern Illinois University. Originally from Puerto Rico, she attended her first demonstration at the age of six, when her neighborhood of Mariana waged a successful battle for public access to drinking water.
ISSUES
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WHAT WE’VE DONE
• Secured a 70% increase in staffing at public mental health clinics
• Introduced the Treatment Not Trauma Ordinance and forced the administration to create a non-police mental health crisis pilot program
• Provided direct support to people affected by violence and connected them to immediate and ongoing help
• Convened a Public Safety Working Group that hosted community space activations and brought violence prevention workers to the ward
• Worked in tandem with the 35th ward office created a Task Force with all the different relevant departments: Dept of Housing, Dept. Of Buildings, Chicago Police Department, Chicago Housing Authority and the Law Department Ward Office snd the City of Chicago Law Department, to investigate and address issues with problem landlords in our community.
WHERE WE’RE GOING
• Passing Treatment Not Trauma, transferring 200 vacant positions from CPD to the CDPH clinics and reopening the seven closed clinics
• Creating a pilot program for safe, sanitary public bathrooms
• Expanding youth engagement programs
• Investing in community-based violence prevention and interruption programs
• Increasing funding for domestic violence shelters
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WHAT WE’VE DONE
• Instituted a Community Driven Zoning Decision process, which allows community members to decide whether or not to allow a zoning change
• Broke ground on the Maria Elena Sifuentes Apartments, a 50-unit, 100% affordable housing development in Albany Park
• Worked with the Department of Housing, Chicago Housing Authority, Department of Buildings, and other city agencies to hold slumlords accountable for their buildings’ conditions
WHERE WE’RE GOING
• Continuing the fight to implement rent control in Chicago
• Passing an ordinance guaranteeing renters right to counsel during eviction proceedings
• Stopping displacement by bringing more affordable housing to the ward
• Setting up a program through which the city can purchase existing housing to use as public housing to stabilize neighborhoods
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WHAT WE’VE DONE
• Secured a new home for North River Elementary to better meet student needs
• Secured $5.8m in TIF funding for a new turf field for Roosevelt High School
• Secured $75k to fund a Nature Play Space at Bateman Elementary
• Stood with our ward’s teachers during 2019 strike and the fight for a safe reopening during the pandemic
WHERE WE’RE GOING
• Collaborating with our neighborhood schools in creating robust Restorative Justice programs
• Advocating to remove the student-based budgeting formula that leads to major disinvestment in our schools
• Supporting the expansion of sustainable community schools
• Together with 33rd Ward Working Families and neighborhood allies, electing school board members who will fully resource and support public education
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WHAT WE’VE DONE
• Created a Participatory Budgeting process that allows 33rd Ward residents to vote on how our ward’s menu money is spent. Participatory Budgeting has directed more than $3 million to improving our ward’s parks, playgrounds, and streets
• Instituted a Community-Driven Zoning Decision process that allows neighbors to decide on zoning changes
• Stood with organizing workers fighting for living wages and safe working conditions
WHERE WE’RE GOING
• Ensuring that City Council is independent, not a rubber stamp for the Mayor
• Fighting for a city budget that adequately funds constituent services such as tree trimming, street repairs, and other ward service requests
• Increasing outreach and continuing to grow participation in Participatory Budgeting, Community Driven Zoning, and Public Safety Working Group
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WHAT WE’VE DONE
• Increased bike lane infrastructure in the ward
• Sponsored 33rd Ward clean and greens with community partners
• Enhanced community green spaces, such as Drake Gardens in Albany Park
• Connected the Global Gardens refugee farm to local restaurants to provide local, sustainable food
• Co-sponsored the call to release the report on the HILCO explosion
WHERE WE’RE GOING
• Ending Chicago’s relationship with ComEd following their $200 million fine for corruption
• Establishing a municipal Department of the Environment and City Council Committee on the Environment
• Implementing a Green New Deal for Chicago
• Fighting to protect the City’s water resources and shorelines from pollution and climate change
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WHAT WE’VE DONE
• Introduced the Bodily Autonomy Sanctuary ordinance to protect people seeking or providing reproductive health and gender affirming care to ensure no one is prosecuted for seeking care
• Chief sponsor of the Welcoming City Ordinance, which eliminated the carve outs that allowed CPD to collaborate with ICE
• Introduced an ordinance to establish a $1 million Abortion Clinic Defense Fund within Chicago's Department of Public Health
• Organized community defense brigades to keep neighbors safe when Donald Trump threatened Chicago with ICE raids
WHERE WE’RE GOING
• Passing Bodily Autonomy Sanctuary Ordinance
• Establishing an annual appropriation of at least $1M for abortion clinic access and defense
• Passing the Indigenous People’s Day Ordinance (currently the lead sponsor)
IN THE NEWS
