CHICAGO ALDERMANIC RUNOFF NEWS: Race heats up in 15th Ward as Rafael Ya�ez charges opponent with support for for-profit prison industry
[Editor's Note: The following press release was received on March 16, 2015, from the campaign of Mr. Yanez. We are printing it here in full. As many of our readers know, the Chicago Teachers Union is supporting Yanez. George N. Schmidt, Editor, Substance].
Rafael Ya�ez, progressive candidate for alderman in the 15th Ward, is endorsed by the Chicago Teachers Union.Machine Candidate Ray Lopez, Booster of For-Profit Prisons, Launches Deceitful Attack on Reformer Rafael Ya�ez FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. Contact: Dion Miller Perez, 773-919-8114
CHICAGO-Ray Lopez, the machine candidate for the 15th Ward, has launched a deceitful attack against reformer Rafael Ya�ez to distract from his support for a bid by for-profit prisons to house violent offenders near a neighborhood school.
After community uproar, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart nixed efforts by the notorious GEO Group to house pretrial offenders, including potentially those accused of violent crimes and sexual assault, in an existing drug treatment center.
Ya�ez, a crime prevention specialist for the Chicago Police Department and a longtime community activist, stood with community leaders opposed to the for-profit warehousing of suspected criminals just blocks from Henderson school. Lopez, whose campaign has received contributions from corporate interests, sided with GEO Group in a naked bid for campaign cash from the disgraced private prison group.
In the attack literature that recently hit mailboxes, Lopez falsely claims that Ya�ez opposes drug treatment.
Following is Dr. Ya�ez's response:
"Ray Lopez's support for the for-profit prison industry is despicable. His efforts to falsely portray me as being opposed to drug treatment, to hide his own record, is even more so.
"As a police officer and community activist, I believe strongly that the illness of addiction requires a full range of support, including the mental health facilities that were shuttered by Lopez's patron, Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
"The private prisons that Lopez support have put a profit incentive in warehousing a disproportionate number of African-Americans and Latinos.
"Mr. Lopez should want to bring jobs to the 15th Ward, not prisons."
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