Obama CBA Coalition Organizers to Join Alderpersons Desmon Yancy and Jeanette Taylor in Press Conference Announcing Intro of the South Shore Housing Preservation Ordinance
*Note: Chicago Lawyers’ Committee helped draft the ordinance and sent this release to support the Obama CBA Coalition.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Conference Advisory
Contact: Dixon Romeo (312) 880-7265
Monday September 11, 2023
South Shore and Woodlawn Residents, Obama CBA Coalition Organizers to Join Alderpersons Desmon Yancy and Jeanette Taylor in Press Conference Announcing Introduction of the South Shore Housing Preservation Ordinance
The ordinance’s introduction represents a milestone in the coalition’s years-long campaign to prevent displacement of longtime, Black residents living near the Obama Center
WHAT: Press Conference Announcing Introduction of the South Shore Housing Preservation Ordinance
WHEN: Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 9:30am
WHERE: Outside City Hall at 121 N. Lasalle
WHO:
Alderperson Desmon Yancy (5th Ward)
Alderperson Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward)
South Shore and Woodlawn residents
Obama CBA Coalition organizers
Not Me We
Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP)
CHICAGO, IL - On Thursday, September 14th at 9:30am, South Shore and Woodlawn residents and Obama CBA Coalition organizers will join Alderpersons Desmon Yancy (5th Ward) and Jeanette Taylor (20th Ward) in a press conference announcing the introduction of the South Shore Housing Preservation Ordinance to prevent displacement of renters, homeowners, condo-owners, and longtime residents living near the Obama Center. Neighborhood residents will speak to the impact of displacement on their lives and the importance of passing the CBA ordinance to ensure development without displacement in South Shore.
The introduction of the CBA ordinance represents a milestone in the CBA Coalition’s years-long fight to prevent displacement of longtime, Black residents living near the Obama Center. The coalition has been organizing since 2015, with a campaign focused on South Shore since 2021. In 2020, the Coalition won passage of the Woodlawn Housing Preservation Ordinance to address displacement in Woodlawn, but South Shore was cut out of that bill by former Alderperson Leslie Hairston and the former Lightfoot administration. In February of this year, South Shore residents voiced overwhelming support for the proposed CBA ordinance and passed a ballot referendum about the bill with 89% support, while Woodlawn residents passed a referendum regarding development of affordable housing on the vacant lots at 63rd and Blackstone with 92% support.
South Shore is ground zero for Chicago’s affordable housing crisis. More than 75% of South Shore residents are renters, most are low-income, and most are rent-burdened. The neighborhood has had the highest eviction rate of any neighborhood in Chicago for a decade. And it has among the highest rates of homeowners who lose their homes to property tax sale. Surging real estate speculation in the area now puts South Shore residents at even greater risk of displacement. The South Shore Housing Preservation Ordinance will help to address these issues by ensuring equitable development in the neighborhood, preserving affordable housing, protecting renters and homeowners, and supporting local property owners.
“South Shore residents deserve to be able to stay in their neighborhood to benefit from the Obama Center and future development – not to be pushed out and replaced,” said Dixon Romeo, Executive Director of Not Me We. “The South Shore Housing Preservation Ordinance ensures that we can have development without displacement by protecting renters, homeowners, and condo-owners alike.”
“Since 2020 the city has evaded setting aside the vacant lots at 63rd and Blackstone for development of affordable housing, despite the City Council passing the mandate into law as part of the Woodlawn Housing Preservation Ordinance,” said Linda Tinsley, a member of STOP. “We are glad to be working with Aldersons Yancy and Taylor to move the City to follow through on its promise to Woodlawn residents and prevent more displacement of Black residents.”
Read a one-pager on the CBA ordinance here.
Read a comprehensive breakdown of the CBA ordinance here.
Read the full text of the CBA ordinance here.
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