Chicago Alderman Emma Mitts (37th Ward) has faced her share of challenges this year.
Perhaps most notably, the treatment she received by fellow alderman, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, (35th Ward) who attempted to physically block her from entering the City Council chamber to cast a crucial vote on a matter regarding the ongoing migrant crisis. He has since apologized.
Her ward also dealt with unprecedented flooding and property damage this past summer. As of Sept. 16, the Federal Emergency Management Agency had distributed $125.9 million in relief funds, with about a third of those funds going to Austin and other West Side communities. That, however, was not enough to adequately deal with the devastation, according to Mitts.
Now, Mitts, like the other aldermen and the rest of the city, is dealing with the fallout from the migrant crisis as her constituents voice concern that city officials are not as quick to provide badly needed resources for their West Side community, but are able to come up with millions of dollars for asylum seekers. For example, the Chicago City Council approved $51 million in city funding this past summer to fund the crisis, $33 million in federal funding this past September, with another $150 million announced in November. from the state, according to news reports.
Despite controversies, Mitts has seen investment projects in Austin come to fruition, including the first responders training academy and the new Boys & Girls Club constructed on the same site. Some residents and local leaders fought to no avail against the center for youth being housed there. According to Mitts, the idea is so that kids can be near examples they can strive to become.
Mitts spoke with the Austin Weekly News about the triumphs and challenges she faced in 2023.
AWN: What went through your mind when you realized Ald. Ramirez-Rosa was blocking you from entering the chamber?
Mitts: “My thoughts were, ‘I’m being bullied.’ When that happens, oftentimes people don’t know what to do and they don’t know what it looks like, maybe. I’ve seen it enough in my lifetime being in the political arena and even before I got here, just being a female and how we be bullied just being a female. I asked him why he was bothering me. He said something about how the immigrants feel when they hear us talking about them. I said, ‘well, I’m here to represent my community because I have to hear my community speak every day about resources being taken from our community.’ He wanted to prevent a vote from occurring on the floor to have a hearing on sanctuary city status.’”
AWN: What are your thoughts on the migrant issue as a whole in terms of how West Side residents are upset about disinvestment in their community versus the financial support earmarked for asylum-seekers?
Mitts: I think this is a national issue that’s coming from [President Joe Biden’s] administration and [it’s] the Democratic Party versus the Republicans. As an alderman, I have to care for all the constituents in my ward. My resources are slim because I’m already dealing with a devastating flood. It’s not that we are against the migrants or that we don’t want them here, but there are plenty of places that can house migrants in the city of Chicago and the state of Illinois whereas not to put so many in one location.”
AWN: Can you talk about current investments on the West Side?
Mitts: A lot has been occurring this year with projects that have been undertaken and through previous administrations. The Joint Public Safety Training Academy on Chicago Avenue and Kostner is up and operating. It’s a 34-acre facility that started out at $95 million but increased over time with other expansions that were needed there. I would put it now at somewhere around $150 million. We also just opened the [$15 million Rusu-McCartin] Boys & Girls Club this year right next to the Public Safety Training Academy. [The new] Culver’s is in the same location. We also have an alternative healthcare facility that we brought in to deal with mental [health] and that’s on the 4700 block on Chicago Avenue. I also have the [10-acre] youth sports center on the 1800 block of North Laramie.
AWN: Are there projects and investments planned for 2024?
Mitts: We are working on the PCC Community Wellness Center expansion on Lake Street and I’m working with Oak Park Regional Housing on the $14.5 million Laramie State Bank [project]. The groundbreaking has already been done.
AWN: Are there any specific crime initiatives coming to Austin?
Mitts: I would like to see the police department do more and be more visible on the street. We just got our new police superintendent [Larry Snelling] in. I would like to see more in terms of dealing with carjacking, robberies, theft, smash and grab. I used to not feel safe in the community but I feel safer now in the community than I do downtown. I plan to meet with the new police superintendent. We’ve already submitted a letter to him. We just need confirmation on when we can host a meeting with him and get the community out so he can understand what the community has to say about what needs to happen and who they can call besides 911 and not get a response.
AWN: Why continue to live in Austin?
Mitts: They are my people. The same way I was brought up, they came up the same way.
AWN: Is there anything you’d like to say to the constituents ending out the year?
Mitts: I want to keep in the forefront the flood devastation that occurred here in the community. I do not take that lightly because that’s a displacement. A lot of people are still struggling. I feel as though a lot of my constituents were not given enough money from FEMA, families receiving $300 and being told to take the SBA loans. I need the governor [J.B. Pritzker] and agencies to step up and make sure our community is taken care of.
