Sam Royko

Congratulations to the @ChicagoBears who have clinched a playoff spot!

On November 1st, 2023, we hosted a very similar press conference after releasing the letter below which was supported by organizations across the Greater West Town community. At that press conference, we announced we would hold a meeting for Mayor Johnson to speak to residents of the 1st and 36th Ward about their concerns. Mayor Johnson declined to attend. Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood, who we were informed would attend in Johnson's stead, was suddenly unavailable the day of the meeting. Since then, our requests have gone unanswered by the Mayor's office, and largely unanswered by the leadership of the 1st Ward. I don't know if I should be glad or frustrated to see Alderman La Spata is finally at least showing up to press conferences about public safety. Perhaps Alderman La Spata, who has supported, campaigned, and voted with Brandon Johnson, is better positioned to ask the Mayor to do more than simply ignore us. Only time will tell. But we need more than press conferences. We need results.

On November 1st, 2023, we hosted a very similar press conference after releasing the letter below which was supported by organizations across the Greater West Town community. At that press conference, we announced we would hold a meeting for Mayor Johnson to speak to residents of the 1st and 36th Ward about their concerns. Mayor Johnson declined to attend. Deputy Mayor of Community Safety Garien Gatewood, who we were informed would attend in Johnson's stead, was suddenly unavailable the day of the meeting. Since then, our requests have gone unanswered by the Mayor's office, and largely unanswered by the leadership of the 1st Ward. I don't know if I should be glad or frustrated to see Alderman La Spata is finally at least showing up to press conferences about public safety. Perhaps Alderman La Spata, who has supported, campaigned, and voted with Brandon Johnson, is better positioned to ask the Mayor to do more than simply ignore us. Only time will tell. But we need more than press conferences. We need results.

A new chapter. Congratulations again to Cook County State’s Attorney O’Neill Burke!

Alderman La Spata, State Senator Aquino, and State Reps Guzzardi and Dina Delgado are hosting a public safety town hall at 1127 N Oakley Blvd. on Tuesday, February 13th at 6pm. I would strongly encourage anyone who has been impacted by violence or has concerns about our current public safety policies to attend. There is a lot more our elected officials could be doing - and they need to hear from you. We deserve a safer and healthier Chicago. – at Chicago, IL

Rough start to the New Year. We had what appears to be a completely random attempted shooting at the corner of our block around 9:30am at Marshfield and Ohio today. It sounds as if our neighbor was just scraping the snow off his windshield when some guys in a white Kia opened fire on him. He tried to escape in his car and crashed into multiple cars, all while being fired at, before ending up in a driveway. Luckily, he was not hit, though he had a bullet hole through the hood of his hoodie. His roommate drove him to the hospital with some minor wounds, but thankfully, it looks like he will be physically fine. The explanation I received from the cops for what occurred was that the shooters may have been trying to make a name for themselves. I’ll update with more information as I get it. In 2023, according to University of Chicago Crime Lab’s end of year report, violent crime in Chicago was at its highest point in more than a decade and armed robberies were up 40%. While murders and shootings were down about 10%, it’s clear we have way more work to do. This violence is random and nonsensical, and we can’t rely on luck or shooters missing - we need reform to fix our city - and our current leaders are not doing enough.

REMINDER - COMMUNITY SAFETY MEETING TOMORROW, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 14TH​​​​ at 5:30 PM at 2247 W. CHICAGO AVE We are moving forward with the meeting on community safety we have organized with Alderman Villegas at the Ukranian Cultural Center. While we had hoped the Mayor would attend, after some discussion with the Mayor's office they have instead sent Garien Gatewood, the Deputy Mayor on Community Safety, to answer our questions and present the Mayor's public safety plan. Superintendent Snelling is unavailable on the 14th but he will schedule a different day with us soon. In his place, he is sending Deputy Chief Nieves, Deputy Chief Gutierrez, Commander Collazzo, and Commander Linas. Please submit questions by the end of today, Monday, November 13th to [email protected] and [email protected]. If we feel we do not get the answers we need, we will discuss taking additional action. I’m attaching the initial letter from GWTCC and many of our neighborhood organizations so you can see our questions and concerns.