On Sunday, Aldermen Deborah Graham (29th), Robert Fioretti (2nd), and
Toni Foulkes (15th) joined members of the Chicago Teachers Union, Action Now,
and a group of parents and community safety advocates for a press
conference urging Mayor Rahm Emanuel to make the Vacant Property Safe
Passages Ordinance a priority.
If approved, the ordinance,
which has sat in legislative limbo since it was introduced by Graham on
October 5, 2011, would require daylight watchmen to guard schoolchildren
as they pass by vacant properties near public schools.
"Recently,
the mayor said he cares so much about student safety on the way to
school that he's installing speed cameras," said Aileen Kelleher, Action
Now communications director, during a phone interview Tuesday. "We're
saying if you care so much about safety this ordinance should be your
number one priority."
Read more »
In light of President Barack Obama’s decision Monday to move this year’s 