Vows property tax reform and economic fairness
By Chinta Strausberg, Chicago Crusader
Humanitarian and businessman Dr. Willie Wilson is again running for mayor, and his agenda represents everything Mayor Emanuel has done wrong for Chicago, he said Tuesday when he announced his candidacy at the Chicago State University.
Saying Emanuel is bad for Chicago, Dr. Wilson ticked off a litany of “wrong moves” by the mayor like his closing 50 schools in minority communities, using $55 million in TIFF funds to build a new basketball arena for DePaul University and private companies rather than for improving blighted areas as the TIFF legislation mandates.
Dr. Wilson, who ran in 2015 and placed third in a five-person race winning 50,000 votes, said the second time around he is sticking to his agenda—job creation, reduce property tax, reduce crime, improve economic empowerment, reopen those schools, reopen Meigs Field and build a casino in Chicago owned by blacks, whites, Asians and Latinos.
Flanked by a number of ministers and former Cook County Board of Review Comm. Robert Shaw, Wilson, who was a Democratic presidential candidate, said he intends to “spread fairness in every nook and cranny of the city.
“Right now, Chicago is bleeding and not just in criminal acts but we’re losing jobs, people are leaving the city and hope has faded,” he told this reporter.
Since his last run for mayor, Dr. Wilson has been an advocate for homeowners who can’t afford to pay their taxes and those non-violent offenders who are incarcerated but unable to make bond.
Dr. Wilson has been paying their bills while successfully getting the General Assembly to pass a bill allowing non-violent offenders to go through the courts to resolve their cases rather than serving time. He has been paying the property taxes and high utilities for economically strapped homeowners.
“Under Rahm Emanuel, Chicago property taxes have been raised eight times during the present administration,” aid Dr. Wilson. “High property taxes strangle homeowners.” Dr. Wilson said under his administration these financial burdens won’t be a part of “Chicago’s DNA.” He intends on reforming the property tax system so it won’t fall disproportionately on the backs of the poor.
Wilson is also concerned about the number of homeless people in Chicago. The mayor nickel’s and dimes us with little taxes like the cell phone tax, the bag tax and the four percent hotel and air bookings tax. These funds are suppose to go to the homeless yet I see the same faces everyday under lower Wacker Drive,” said Wilson.
“I intend to spread fairness all over this city in all 77 neighborhoods not just downtown and other select communities,” said Dr. Wilson.
