2 full committee sessions done. 5 different blocs, 5 different focused problems, 4 different working papers and 1 passed ordinance. There has been a lot of debate on whether the aldermen of the Chicago City Council should focus on the migrants coming into the state or the Chicagoans that are already there. Their solution? Combine.
During the past committee session, the council, specifically Ald. Dowell, 3rd, Ald. Lee, 11th, Ald. Reilly, 42nd, and Ald. Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, passed a Short-term Migrant Solution (SMS) paper recognizing that there are many abandoned buildings that should be able to be used for the sake of housing migrants. The passed paper also recognizes workers that are needed to support the migrant shelters and acknowledges the necessity of providing proper funding.
“There are many school buildings that are abandoned which are in perfectly working condition but haven’t been used,” Ald. Lee, one of the ordinance sponsors, said. “We need to clean up, turn on the heating and air, etc. We hope to turn them into temporary shelters for migrants and homeless people in our city.”
“Similarly there are other people in working on public safety and municipal marketing,” Ald. Lee said. “Essentially, our council is able to do as many topics as we wish. I believe multitasking and combining the paper is working well for our committee.”
Even though this paper has passed, the council is now working on another paper similar to the first but mainly focused on topic 3, municipal marketing.