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Stacy Haskin, Assistant Deputy Managing Editor; and,
Since I took office a year and a half ago, my team and I have had the
say thank you for being so incredibly responsive and open to working
proud to say that 70% of my entire team is women and they make up
depicts the racial makeup of our City: 34% African American, 29%
understanding of the 1.3 million people we serve every year. I’m proud
to say that our team not only talks the talk but also walks the walk by
I’m proud to say that my office is creating the next generation of public
By putting these qualities front and center in all that we do, we are
into government in a way that they have not been brought into the
process before.
In the twelve months since I last sat up here, we have gone full speed
into our Council Modernization initiative to bring City Council into the
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and your staff are already involved to make it easier for residents to
access legislation. One of the first steps we took was to introduce a new
committees next year. As always, any aldermen that would like to join
One of our biggest initiatives has been the Chicago CityKey which as
you know has been in incredibly high demand. This was an initiative
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issued ID, your Chicago Public Library card, Ventra card and Chicago Rx
when entering a bar, which I will say is sadly less and less these days.
the age of 16 or you’re a senior, and even location, for individuals who
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live in isolated communities. National data shows that 10% of Latinos
and 13% of African Americans do not have a valid form of ID. And the
number is even higher for young people between the ages of 17 and 20
with 15% of them saying they do not have a valid form of ID.
And at our CityKey events, these are exactly the type of people we see.
I sat up here last year and mentioned a few instances of why people
need this program, but this year I found out just how true some of
her stage three breast cancer, a young man who needed an ID to start
his new job the next day so that he could provide for himself and his
apartment after being involved in the justice system and a woman who
To date we have printed over 20,000 cards and have been at over 160
events across our City. By the end of this month, we will have been to
all 50 wards, several of them multiple times. I want to say thank you to
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all of your teams who have been incredibly helpful when we came to
were some of the very first to host our CityKey Mobile Printing Sites.
Thank you for your patience and partnership, it has been invaluable in
What’s even more impressive is the way were able to do the program
sure that our program was as efficient as possible and that our office
did not use the entire million dollars that was allotted, giving back
program in the country with two full time dedicated team members
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Our goal was to administer CityKeys to 2% to 3% of the City’s
population in the first two full years of the program. I am proud to say
and business partners across the city, five months into the program, we
Another one of our initiatives has been the Chicago Rx Card which I
mentioned briefly can be printed on the back of your CityKey but can
The idea for the Chicago Rx Card, and adding this fourth benefit to the
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Michelle Garcia from Access Living, an organization that advocates for
including discounts for our pets. So far, we have seen residents save an
Whether our seniors and families save $10 or $100, for many
Chicagoans, that savings means paying rent, signing their kids up for
prescription medicine.
With the Affordable Care Act in jeopardy in D.C., we are leading the
Chicagoans across the city can live longer and healthier lives.
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In addition to going out into the community and delivering services to
opening up our doors to the next generation of civic leaders who have
the chance to sit in the seats of power and see themselves reflected in
those roles; to know that they too are worthy and capable of holding
That is exactly why I launched our Civic Engagement initiative last year
with 8 CPS schools from across our city: Uplift High School, Roosevelt
College Prep, Juarez High School, Michelle Clark High School, Kennedy
High School and King High School. Working closely with Chicago Public
come to City Hall to learn not only that their voice mattered but how to
use their voice so that they knew we were listening. I want to give a
special thanks to Alderman Michael Scott and Alderman Joe Moore for
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sitting on our Civic Engagement Advisory Council and to Alderman
Austin who met with our city’s next generation of leaders in both the
In total, 240 CPS students were engaged over a five month period at no
expense to the tax payer. With the help of a generous grant from
And it’s not just high school students who we are bringing into
government; we’re also bringing in women and girls. Reading the news
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households by three points to 23 percent while Black and Latina
women are graduating college at a third of the rate of white men and
change ourselves.
City, we are launching the Status of Women and Girls Working Group.
More than 120 women will come together from across sectors,
neighborhoods and backgrounds to help create a plan that will lay the
framework for Chicago to be the best city in the nation for our women
and girls.
Our goal is to introduce this plan and report during women’s history
month in March and provide tangible steps and actions in the coming
months and years for our city. With the shape of our national political
structure, local government must step in with plans of our own to close
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While our office has taken a lot of new initiatives this year, we have
improved the way we have done many of the things that our office has
compliance.
This includes exploring a larger office space for our satellite offices to
better serve residents, seniors and people with disabilities. Gone will be
the days of long lines on the sidewalk and customers standing in the
rain. We have increased the number of frontline staff which has in turn
increased our ability to handle the number of people who come into
our locations.
And it’s not just the humans of Chicago we’re looking out for it’s our
furry family members too. We started sending out monthly dog license
renewals, something that had not been done since early 2016. We also
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partnered with Cook County to match up rabies vaccinations with dogs
dogs in the month of September. I’m proud to say that we have seen
September 2014.
friendly and easier for residents to find what they need whether they’re
internet at their local library. It will include new ways to take advantage
order their items in advance and they will be available for pick up at a
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designated time, similar to how you can order your coffee ahead of
time at Starbucks.
allowing residents to track products where they are and create better
of the City Sticker, we have a duty to make sure that all Chicago
residents who have a car are compliant with their Wheel Tax. Research
experts have demonstrated that what has been done in the past hasn’t
solution.
My goal is to create a path and lower the barrier of entry for those
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First, we will be introducing the four month sticker. In addition to being
able to purchase a one year, or two year city sticker, residents will have
the option to purchase a four month sticker. This policy balances the
need to provide residents more affordable options for their Wheel Tax
while ensuring that the City has enough funds to cover the
paycheck. Many families in Chicago know all too well what it is like to
have to choose between putting food on the table or paying a tax like
the City Sticker. By giving residents the opportunity to pay $29 instead
of almost $90 at one time, this choice may be a little easier. We never
know what someone else is going through and we believe that a four
Second, we found that some people are not in compliance with the
Wheel Tax because they simply don’t know it exists. We will expand our
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creating materials in different languages, billboards and through
who have fallen out of compliance with the Wheel Tax. This would
allow residents to get back into compliance with no late fee or back
charges.
Best of all, we estimate that we would need less than 1% of those who
are needed to come into compliance in order to pay for the technology
changes required for our system, making this a win-win for both our tax
dollars and our residents. This is not the whole solution, we need a
holistic approach and my office will explore what we can about other
fines and fees. My office is committed to doing its part to improve the
own office’s fines and fees and come back to you all with possible
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This has been an incredible year and I haven’t been able to do all of this
alone. Thanks to the work of this incredible team – those who are
sitting here today and those that are currently at work on the front
lines – as well as the community leaders who have helped us shape the
policies that I have spoken about today and to the aldermen and your
teams who have been great partners on CityKey and other initiatives.
Your hard work does not go unnoticed and we could not have done any
your questions.
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