Alderman, 25th Ward: Daniel Solis
Jan 11, 2011
Updated: January 20, 2011 4:28PM
Birth date: 11-03-1949
Political affiliation: Democrat
Neighborhood: No response
Occupation/Firm name: Alderman, 25th Ward
Marital status: No response
Campaign HQ address: 2441 S. Oakley
Campaign website: www.dannysolis.org
What is your campaign budget?
No response
What are your top priorities for the City of Chicago?
Jobs, Education, Safety
What are your top priorities for your ward?
Jobs, Education, Safety, Immigration
The city is in serious financial trouble and can't afford the level of service it currently provides. For 2011, Mayor Daley, with City Council backing, balanced the budget without raising taxes or fees, relying instead on some cost-saving measures and one-time fixes, including using proceeds from leasing the city's parking meters. Do you support this approach? What should be done differently going forward?
Please be specific about your plans to reshape government: what services and departments would you scale back or cut? Can you identify new revenue sources? How can the City reduce personnel costs? What kind of concessions should the City seek from the unions?
I do not think the City should raise taxes, instead I would balance the budget by increasing revenue through programs like the EB-5 visa. This visa was created in 1990, but has not been utilized to its full potential. With this program, entrepreneurs who invest at least $1 million and plan to create or preserve 10 permanent jobs for qualified United States workers are eligible to apply for a green card. The investment must benefit the U.S. economy and create full-time employment for 10 or more U.S. Citizens. This program has potential as businesses produce jobs and in turn revenue for the City.
It is very difficult to find more areas to cut city spending, but some areas where I see we could save money, would be consolidating departments, looking into the privatization of Midway Airport (if and only if it makes financial sense) and exploring the option of a casino in Chicago. I think furlough days should be taken across the board.
The city's four employee pension funds have been called a "ticking time bomb," with Mayor Daley's pension commission predicting that the four funds will run out of money in 20 years. "There is no low- or no-cost solution to this problem," the commission wrote in a report earlier this year. "Deferring action is not a viable option." What is your plan for bringing the pension funds to solvency?
I think the only way we can make these funds solvent is to implement a variety of measures to lessen the overall impact. I support higher contributions from employees, a higher retirement age, and reduced benefits for future employees.
Does Chicago need 50 aldermen? If not, what's a better number? What City Council committees could be combined? What other ways can the City Council save money?
The City Council represents a small fraction of the budget. Besides contacting 311, residents have few options for communicating with City Departments. The aldermanic offices act as a liaison between residents and city departments. If the number of alderman were reduced the City Council would need to employ the same number of staff to provide the same level of services to residents. Reducing the number of Alderman would also have the effect of increasing the amount of power that any respective alderman wields.
Chicago was designed as a weak mayor, strong council form of government yet Mayor Daley wields considerable power over the City Council. What measures would you recommend to strengthen the council? On which issues should the mayor lead? On which should the council lead?
I think you will see a stronger City Council moving forward. Each player will push forward on issues that are most important to their respective constituencies. Mayor Daley has been in charge for many years and with a new mayor coming in, it will change the dynamics of City Council substantially.
The city's tax-increment financing program has been criticized on several fronts, including the proliferation of districts, how money is diverted from schools and other basic city services, how TIF funding decisions are made and for an overall lack of transparency. How would you improve the TIF program? Does the TIF law need to be changed in any way?
Tax Increment Financing has been a great way to increase the overall tax base of the City. TIF funding has been used to fund infrastructure improvements and neighborhood amenities that promote private investment, along with public works like Benito Juarez High School, Whittier Elementary in Pilsen and Ping Tom Park in Chinatown. The private investment especially comes at a time when improved facilities mean more jobs and subsequently, more revenue. I believe TIF money spent has a track record of funding numerous projects that spurred development that would not have otherwise been possible. There is also a long term benefit for the area after the TIF ends, resulting in increased tax revenue. I don't think the City needs to reduce the number of TIF districts, but I do think the City Council should have a bigger voice in deciding how TIF money is spent.
Mayor Daley has focused on privatizing city assets. Are there any other assets the City Council should consider privatizing? If so, would you make any changes to the way privatization deals are negotiated and passed through the City Council?
I would support privatizing Midway Airport, if and only if, it is in the financial interest of the city. The issue would absolutely have to be carefully evaluated. We have all learned from the Parking Meter privatization, but some services the City has privatized have been successful.
The Chicago Police Department is understaffed, with no lasting budget solution in sight. Given the current staffing levels, what changes would you recommend to use resources more efficiently? Do you support realigning beats in a way that moves police from lower crime areas to higher crime neighborhoods? What should happen to the diminished CAPS program?
I am strongly in favor of, and participate regularly in ridealongs with CPD in the 25th Ward. I think all officials and community leaders (like principals) should go on these ridealongs at the most critical times to see where the gang activity, drug trafficking, etc. is occurring. Seeing this information first-hand, I would use a holistic, block-by bock approach instead of being reactive. I would utilize this tactic, along with existing strategies with cameras, additional lighting, etc. Rather than realigning the beats, I would work to get more police officers on the streets so they can work with all areas of the City. I think the CAPS program should continue to work with what funding they have, but what needs to increase is the community participation to these programs. That is the only way we are going to comprehensively combat crime in any neighborhood.
The next mayor will choose a new CEO for the Chicago Public Schools. Do you think the CEO needs to have education experience? Should the new mayor continue the Renaissance 2010 program of shutting down failing schools and creating new ones? Should the new mayor continue Ron Huberman's "culture of calm" effort, which aims to improve the culture of the toughest schools and provides mentors and extra support for kids at greatest risk of being shot? What should CPS do to improve neighborhood schools that are struggling to educate the large numbers of students left behind, the students that don't make it into test-based, charters or other specialized schools?
Ideally, I think the CEO Should have education experience. I believe that schools should only be shut down if every effort has been made to improve them and there are no other viable options. Renaissance 2010, like any education plan, has elements of the plan that have thrived and other aspects where it could be improved upon. The foundation of the initiative is that parents now have a choice. One hundred schools have opened over the past six years, providing new education options to underserved communities.
Do you support one or more casinos for Chicago? If so, where would you like to see casinos located?
I think Chicago should repeal its ban on video gambling. I would support casinos in the city, especially if they were located in adaptively re-used buildings (like the post office), providing more jobs for the residents of Chicago. We would have to be careful not to overload regulators, to ensure that gambling activity would be monitored properly. I would also propose that some of the revenue generated from the casinos go back into social services that may be affected by opening a casino. I would also need to be assured that safeguards would be put into place to prevent illegal activities.
Aldermen have considerable influence over TIF, zoning and other decisions, both large and small, related to development and services in their ward. Do aldermen have too much influence?
No response
If elected alderman, do you plan to maintain an outside job? Would you pledge not to hold any job that represents a conflict of interest, including those that involve spending public dollars?
No, I do not currently have an outside job, nor would I have one if I was re-elected. I absolutely pledge not to hold any job that represents a conflict of interest.
Would you accept campaign contributions or gifts from your employees? Would you pledge not to hire relatives on your staff?
I would not accept contributions or gifts from my employees. I currently do have my daughter, Maya, on my staff. She has the credentials and experience to back up her position. Under City of Chicago law, it is legal to hire family members on your staff.
Does the City need to change the way it hands out contracts? Should aldermen reclaim oversight of City contracts? If so, contracts above what dollar amount?
The City has a competitive bid process for awarding city contracts. State law requires contracts to be competitively bid. Alderman currently have the power to oversee city contracts, and they may hold hearings if there is a perceived problem with any contract or contractor. I do not believe that alderman should award city contracts because a competitive bid process produces the best result for the City.
Do you support an inspector general just for the City Council? Would you support giving the city's existing inspector general power to investigate aldermen and their staffs, including subpoena power?
I do not see a problem in having an independent inspector general for City Council. I do not believe that these responsibilities should fall under the purview of the City's Inspector General, who must oversee all city departments, but it should be an independent position.
Should there be new limits on who can lobby City Hall officials, including aldermen? Should former City Hall employees be prohibited from doing business with the city after their departure? If so, for how long?
Yes. I am a proponent of an ordinance to prohibit convicted felons to lobby on any matter to any elected official. I am also in favor of prohibiting any city employee (including Aldermen) from lobbying any city department for at least 2 years after they complete their employment with the city.
What's the best book ever written about Chicago? Why?
I think Devil in the White City is the best book written about Chicago because it tells the story of the good and bad of Chicago and one of the most interesting times in its history, during the World's Columbian Exposition, in an entertaining novel.
Please list your educational background
I attended Providence fo St. Mel's High School from 1964-1968 and the University of Illinois at Chicago from 1970-1974.
Please list civic, professional, fraternal or other organizations to which you belong
No response
Have you held elective or appointive political office or been employed by any branch of government?
I have been Alderman of the 25th Ward of Chicago since being appointed in 1996.
Please list jobs or contracts you, members of your immediate family or business partners have had with government
None.
Name your five biggest campaign contributors and the amount they contributed
No response
Please paste a brief biography here
Chicago Alderman Danny Solis is a key figure in Chicago's political landscape. In October 2009, Solis was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Zoning. An ally of Mayor Richard M. Daley, in 2001 Solis was appointed President Pro Tempore of the City Council, where he oversaw council proceedings in the Mayor's absence.
Prior to becoming Alderman and President Pro Tempore, Ald. Solis served in various leadership positions in Chicago, as a dedicated teacher, founder and Executive Director of Latino Youth Alternative High School and as the first Latino Executive Director of the Pilsen Neighbors Community Council. In addition, he served on the Board of Directors for the Eighteen Street Development Corporation and Gads Hill Center.
However, it was his leadership as Co-founder and Executive Director of the United Neighborhood Organization (UNO) that led to Solis' greatest triumphs. Ald. Solis created and led the most significant and successful grassroots and policy campaigns within Chicago's communities in history, including the 1986 IRCA campaign that allowed thousands of undocumented immigrants to seek amnesty as U.S. Residents, and the historic 1992 naturalization campaign that eventually assisted well over 50,000 immigrants in applying for U.S. Citizenship. These successes became model programs not only in Chicago, but also on a national level.
In 1995 Solis was appointed as Chairman of Mayor Daley's Citizenship Assistance Council which oversaw the naturalization for over 70,000 immigrants from around the world.
As leader of the 25th Ward, Ald. Solis continues to represent Pilsen, the largest Mexican-American community in the country, the University Village community encompassing the prestigious University of Illinois' Chicago campus, and Chicago's fast-growing Chinatown community, which sits at the heart of the Chicago 2016 Olympics Bid. Ald. Solis recently served as the Illinois Chairman of the Hillary Clinton for President Campaign, and is recognized as a leading political voice in Chicago and nationally.
