Chuy Garcia's speech from the January 24 Grand Ballroom rally... 'the main thrust of my campaign is to marshal the power of the people of Chicago so the neighborhoods will be at the center of new government in this city...'
The rally for Jesus "Chuy" Garcia was held Saturday, January 24, 2015, at The Grand Ballroom on 63rd and Cottage Grove Ave in the heart of Chicago's South Side. More than 700 people attended,.The energy level was high as Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis promoted Garcia's candidacy for Mayor of Chicago and warned the crowd about the importance of defeating Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the February 24 municipal election.
The speech by Garcia also heartened the crowd.
Karen Lewis and Jesus "Chuy" Garcia on January 24, 2015. Substance photo by Jean Schwab.�A new era of new neighborhood revitalization is getting closer," Garcia told the crowd in his speech. "To make that a reality requires that each of you get registered to vote on February 24, and that each of you go out and find 10-20 people to get out the vote on February 24.
�We strive to look for new ways to reinvigorate our neighborhoods to make them safer, to make them healthier and to make them more vibrant. Through the ballot box we can usher in a new era of equity for all Chicago neighborhoods. I have stated over and over again that the main thrust of my campaign is to marshal the power of the people of Chicago so the neighborhoods will be at the center of new government in this city.
"In order for Chicago to be a world class city, it needs world class neighborhoods. The children behind me here deserve world class neighborhoods that have robust schools which provide opportunities for young people, after school hours and weekends, vibrant parks where people can go and enjoy them and not be nickel and dimed to death, which prevents people from using those parks. We need peoples� parks in Chicago.
"Chicago needs good transportation. Transportation for good mobility, transportation to take people to jobs and bring them back home, to go to school, go to the institutions, such as our great museums. All Chicago needs good transportation and good infrastructure and we intend on directing it to the neighborhoods.
"Down town's central business district is doing real well. I�ve read that in Crane's. It has produced 540,000 new jobs. We must make sure that more people have access to those jobs in our neighborhoods. We have high unemployment rates in many of our neighborhoods. We have many talented people working at non-profits and for profits in our neighborhoods. We need to put more people to work in Chicago. If we put more people to work, we can reduce crime and violence. We cannot have our government hijacked from us by investment bankers and hedge fund managers.
"Public servants can administer cities. Public servants can provide real meaningful service and attention to problems in areas all over this country.
"Winning in Chicago means following the example of New York. New York ran against the currant. New York said to bankers,'You don�t know what�s best for our communities.' The bankers won�t create jobs, the bankers brought us the great recession in America. The Great Recession hurt a lot of people. The Great Recession put people out of work. The Great Recession increased crime, especially violent crime, in our communities. The Great Recession caused massive foreclosures that our communities are still hurting from. I resent that! We�ll change that!
"Every time I step out of my house, I look at an abandoned building on my block. I know you have vacant buildings where you come out and see them on your block. That is a sign of disinvestment and neglect. Our agenda will be to change that, to devise strategies together of how we will revitalize our community. We will stop the flow of Tax Increment Financing to corporate people connected to City Hall. Those are our tax dollars. We deserve accountability for them. We deserve to say how they will be utilized. We will shine a light on those dollars because $1.7 billion of our tax dollars are hard earned.
"So ladies and gentlemen, they said we were demoralized, brothers and sisters, they said we couldn�t reach across those barriers, couldn�t come across race, couldn�t reach across the state, couldn�t reach across ethnicities, but as I look out tonight, I see all Chicago here. I see it ready to take back our city, I see Chicago saying 'I have ideas!'
"I see people saying, 'I am important!' I see people saying, 'I will be counted!' -- and I need your help.
"We need to bring in a robust vote February 24. We need to reelect the good members of the city council who have shown a commitment to people. We have to elect them first so we can have a working majority in city council. We all might be held accountable. That is part of participatory Democracy. That is what transparatory democracy is to take our city back.
"I have only one thing to say to you, let us continue to work the next month to lay the democratic foundation of our city. Chicago doesn�t belong to somebody, Chicago belongs to everybody!"
