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Ald. Walter Burnett says he’s telling commercial building owners to stop offering space to the city for migrants
Tuesday, Oct 17, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller * Leigh Giangreco and Justin Laurence for Crain’s…
Thoughts? * Related…
* City’s Spending Plan For Migrants Doesn’t Add Up, Critics Say: But alderpeople during Monday’s budget hearing remained skeptical the city is allocating enough for 2024, and they worried the council will be asked to come back to approve additional funds throughout the year. Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th), chair of the council’s Committee on Immigration and Refugee Rights, said the city should prepare for a “worst-case scenario” plan in case outside funding sources did not come through. “As people have been kind of mentioning almost ad nauseam, it looks like we’d run out of those funds before the year is over. I get that the answer we’re hearing is what we’re hoping that the state or the federal government are going to provide the funding and make up the gap. But hope isn’t a strategy,” Vasquez said. * Renderings show proposed Chicago migrant base camp: There are multiple areas for housing, a few for sanitation, a central location for dining, and a spot for intake. The draft takes up almost an entire city block and borders residential homes as well as Metra tracks. The developments contradict what CBS 2 heard from Alderwoman Julia Ramirez (12th) whose office told CBS 2 she was unaware of crews working here on Monday. Ramirez’s office maintains the city only told her they’re “surveying” the area, though the Johnson administration does not need aldermanic approval to move forward with a base camp.
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- NIU Grad - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 10:31 am:
“there’s enough in our ward”
Enough what, Alderman?
The dehumanization on display during this situation is abhorrent.
- DeeLay - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 10:31 am:
“I’m telling them they can’t, there’s enough in our ward.”
Not so pro-business after all?
- Rabid - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 10:33 am:
Hang up the mission accomplished banner
- LastModDemStanding - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 10:37 am:
“Commercial landlords have been calling the city to offer their vacant space because of the city’s ability to pay lease terms comparable to high-end office tenants even as the demand for office space has lessened.”
I cannnot stress this enough–the limited money for migrant care is not going to go far if we keep paying fair market value in high-end neighborhoods, like the one Ald. Burnett represents.
Why should any one Ward have 5 shelters? There are 50 Wards, everyone can have at least 1.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 10:37 am:
=“I’m telling them they can’t, there’s enough in our ward.”=
Prepare to spend a lot of time in court. And…see you in church alderman.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 10:39 am:
There is a lack of leadership from the 5th floor.
- 26th Ward - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 10:40 am:
Burnett’s ward has enormous wealth, very good transit, easy access to social services. Neighborhoods like the West Loop (and Wicker Park, South Loop, Near North) should be bearing an extremely outsized share of shelter space. Shame on Burnett.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 10:48 am:
===Why should any one Ward have 5 shelters? ===
Because there’s lots of empty space and willing landlords.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 10:55 am:
1) There’s a huge lacking from the 5th floor, you can choose which and how to that lacking.
2) Spreading “pain” or however one wants to talk to the idea of shared burden, the opportunity to help migrants should not be confined to ward boundaries or neighborhood allotment, rather opportunities to have shelter should be focused on availability, accessibility, and want of the owners of the property… with local buy-in
3) Wards are fiefdoms. Same as it ever was. The mist local of local politics, these are times where the Lords of the Fiefdoms feel their needs are to the local loud voices maybe not the greater sounds of humanity.
Burnett is in a tight fix, but only if Burnett is looking at the politics and not as much the real humanity offered
- Donnie Elgin - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 10:58 am:
“the pairing could prove beneficial to both parties as the city scrambles to find space to care for migrants…However, downtown council members like Burnett are pushing back”
The apple of discord seems to have dropped.
- Appears - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 10:59 am:
Dictator Burnett?
An alderman is telling people how to run their legal businesses and lives…..
- Perrid - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 10:59 am:
Had to read it a couple times, first time I thought he was saying they already had sufficient space and didn’t need to give money to these businesses, but of course that’s NOT what he’s saying, he’s not saying they have capacity for everyone already he’s saying he doesn’t want to MAKE capacity for everyone.
The dude’s an a&&.
- DisappointedVoter - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:00 am:
The alderman needs to explain why he is turning help away. Help for refugees and landlords. The Johnson admin could be doing better but alders need to meet them halfway when they are on their way to getting things done like we are seeing here.
- NorthSideNoMore - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:00 am:
What happened to all the covid beds etc that were not used at McCormick place ? Use the State armories vacant CPS school facilities to temp house folks in need ? Gotta be better than the floor at the local police district.
- LastModDemStanding - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:02 am:
==Burnett’s ward has enormous wealth, very good transit, easy access to social services. Neighborhoods like the West Loop (and Wicker Park, South Loop, Near North) should be bearing an extremely outsized share of shelter space. Shame on Burnett.==
Agree with Rich’s point on willing landlords, but 26th Ward, please explain what does the wealth of residents have to do with where migrants are housed? Are you suggesting that enormous wealth is a reason to share an outsized burden for migrant shelters?
And please look at a map of where the social services offices are located before making comments. Social services tend to be located in the neighborhoods that require them to best service residents, not those with “enormous wealth”
- LastModDemStanding - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:04 am:
==Use the State armories vacant CPS school facilities to temp house folks in need ? ==
This would make too much sense, so naturally, it is not being done. City/State/Sister agencies charging $1 leases legally would save millions.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:09 am:
Yeah, no one has ever been able to work with Ald. Burnett. That guy just does not cooperate with the Mayor’s Office.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:12 am:
This idea of pushback…
The sitch is this;
Without a visible and workable plan that is seen as plausible, the blowback/pushback will get the media attention because “what exactly is the plan, what are they doing” is the real story, not what is being done as band aids.
The vacuum of leadership, that’s very much what this is, now all the way down to the “precinct-ward” level.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:15 am:
In defense of Ald. Burnett, if private commercial landlords don’t have to get his blessing to change the zoning to residential, how is Burnett supposed to earn off of this?
Ubi est mea.
- Donnie Elgin - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:18 am:
“Yeah, no one has ever been able to work with Ald. Burnett. That guy just does not cooperate with the Mayor’s Office”
The dude is the vice Mayor for crying out loud.
Sun-Times June 1, 2023
Ald. Walter Burnett expected to be stuck in the political wilderness. Instead, he became vice-mayor, with a $400,000 budget, keeping the staff he had as chairman of the Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety.
- Oklahoma - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:21 am:
Why spend all that one-time capital on tents, when you have empty indoor space? Far more cost effective and humane option.
- LastModDemStanding - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:22 am:
Oswego Willy raises the best points.
We (generally speaking) need to keep our eye on the ball- where is the plan, what is the administration doing to execute on said plan, and who is charge?
- Rudy’s teeth - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:24 am:
While Ald. Burnett has concerns about locating migrant shelters in his ward, has he located the whereabouts of the unaccounted campaign funds in the amount of $165K?
Updates, anyone, anyone.
- DS - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:41 am:
Lightfoot was right about aldermanic prerogative.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:41 am:
===$165K?===
Yeah, that will convince him to help the administration.
- Just a Citizen - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:44 am:
Absolutely agree with the idea of using state armories and vacant CPS facilities for temporary shelters because it is just common sense.
- low level - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:48 am:
Burnett has been an Ald since 1995 and without much opposition
The vice Mayor must be doing something right.
- supplied_demand - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:54 am:
==vacant CPS facilities for temporary shelters because it is just common sense. ==
Once you think about it for a minute, it becomes less “common sense”. These vacancies are centralized in neighborhoods that have loudly talked about disinvestment for decades (the closed schools being the evidence). Closing these schools to tax-paying citizens and then rehabbing them for migrants to live in feels like a slap in the face. It has not and will not go over well.
- VK - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:56 am:
I wasn’t aware the Alderman got to tell any business what agreement they can and cannot enter into with the city, but I might have missed something somewhere.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:59 am:
===I wasn’t aware the Alderman got to tell any business what agreement they can and cannot enter===
Eventually, they’re gonna want something from the city and will need the alderperson.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 11:59 am:
===I wasn’t aware the Alderman===
Aldermanic prerogative is a mighty big say in many things. Go around an alderman, odds are you’re gonna need the alderman at some point.
I don’t call wards fiefdoms on accident.
Going against “your alderman” or not getting an aldermanic nod is risky.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 12:01 pm:
Alderperson is the correct term. My apologies for the referencing with the past title
- LastModDemStanding - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 12:02 pm:
==These vacancies are centralized in neighborhoods that have loudly talked about disinvestment for decades (the closed schools being the evidence)==
Then why not upgrade some these structures as an investment for the community (as Ald. Vasquez has suggested), and then dedicate for community use in the future?
Instead, high cost leases and temporary upgrades are being utilized, just for the property to turn back over to the private landlord. That doesn’t feel like the best use of tax dollars.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 12:03 pm:
===Alderperson is the correct term===
Is that official? I have a hard time not calling them Aldermen, and I realize it’s 2023 and I like to think I’m not a sexist, chauvinistic pig.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 12:10 pm:
- 47th Ward -
Public Act 102-0015?
It’s very difficult for me as well. Very use to the past term
- Chicago Voter - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 12:29 pm:
The lede is buried in the story:
“On the city side, a small cadre of about four public employees are working together to scout the sites.”
CPZ seems to take pride in this lean team.
This is a story of the Mayor’s Office not having a plan, not using their tools of government or bringing together folks to problem solve.
What is the Mayor’s plan?
- Rudy’s teeth - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 12:44 pm:
The issue of housing in Chicago has taken strange turns. Some council members strongly object to provide housing in their wards.
Yet, some of the very individuals who loudly object lived in housing provided by the CHA.
Good for thee and not the migrants.
- Wowie - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 12:44 pm:
I wonder how many people who are upset at Ald Burnetts comments live in wards who are taking in relatively equal amounts of migrants at this time.
A lot of the “nicer” neighborhoods I visit are pretty much untouched by this issue but then I return home to my neighborhood or others that look like mine and we’re expected to just bare a lot of this burden on our own.
I’m not saying I totally agree with Burnett, and I think language is important and he’s being a bit callous with his words. But I don’t think it very “progressive” to expect certain neighborhoods to deal with this while the nicer areas don’t deal with it themselves.
Tough situation all around.
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 12:52 pm:
- Wowie -
Do you live in Burnett’s ward.
It’s far bigger than Burnett’s ward, it’s far smaller than even at the precinct level.
The NIMBY aspect of “pointing out” the “well, do you live…”, I dunno how that changes a single word or thought Burnett has here, nor does it let the 5th floor off the hook.
To the pointing at Pacione-Zayas,
I have a great deal of respect and admiration for her, her reputation speaks for itself. I’d only suggest that the glaring misses going on inside are so apparent that I can see them so that’s not great. My hope is Pacione-Zayas can look around and see what “I” see and realize fixes must include getting the administration at full steam, otherwise any plan will be hampered by being short handed.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 12:56 pm:
===“progressive” to expect certain neighborhoods to deal with this while the nicer areas don’t deal with it themselves===
Much of Burnett’s district is in “nicer” areas. This ain’t the old 27th Ward.
- supplied_demand - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 1:01 pm:
==Then why not upgrade some these structures as an investment==
In a perfect world, this idea works. In reality, these people want grocery stores, lower rent prices, and more services TODAY. Nobody can estimate when the future community use will happen, because we don’t know when this crisis ends.
- Jerry - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 1:11 pm:
=supplied_demand=: Closing these schools to tax-paying citizens and then rehabbing them for migrants to live in feels like a slap in the face. It has not and will not go over well.
Absolutely! And I cant say that I blame them on this point.
- LastModDemStanding - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 1:20 pm:
=In reality, these people want grocery stores, lower rent prices, and more services TODAY. Nobody can estimate when the future community use will happen, because we don’t know when this crisis ends.==
Good point, no end in sight because no leadership from the 5th floor on resettlement/integration. Just shelters, shelters and shelters. Not to mention no Commissioner on Housing.
I don’t think sacrificing the economic engine of the City for tourism, tax revenue and growth for migrant shelters in addition to paying a premium for downtown commercial leases to score political wins is the best route to take. But hey, maybe this is what drives downtown to vote in high numbers next time. The election is years away, but a good candidate will make sure this move isn’t forgotten.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 1:32 pm:
===The election is years away===
The mayoral election, yes. You’ll have to find something else by then unless this problem persists.
- Frida's boss - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 2:44 pm:
When does it end? When do buses stop coming? If the city has received 75% of the immigrants in the last 2 1/2 months how much longer will it continue? How many more will arrive?
When does the 5th floor stop governing by the seat of their pants?
4 people checking out all the possible sites in the city? That should be the final voting group size after 12-15 staffers have gone out and assessed each site with facts and figures.
With all the “organizers” that helped in this election they can’t find 25-50 college-educated “policy analysts” to distribute to throughout all departments who want a city job?
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 2:51 pm:
===When does it end? ===
To whom are you asking that question, because it looks a lot like a kid in the back seat asking if we’re there yet.
- low level - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 3:56 pm:
==When does the 5th floor stop governing by the seat of their pants?==
I agree w that, and is anyone on the 4th Floor (IGA)? A well functioning IGA would help make this go smoother for the Johnson administration.
- Just Me 2 - Tuesday, Oct 17, 23 @ 7:20 pm:
I am uncomfortable with an Alderman having the political power to tell businesses what they can and can’t do that isn’t otherwise some sort of business/zoning violation. These alders just have way too much sway.
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Wednesday, Oct 18, 23 @ 9:04 am:
===Ubi est mea.===
Well, we all can’t extort Shotspotter now can we?