ENGLEWOOD — For the first time, five aldermen representing different parts of Englewood are coming together for a community-wide town hall at Kennedy-King College Tuesday.
Alds. Roderick Sawyer (6th), Raymond Lopez (15th), Stephanie Coleman (16th), David Moore (17th) and Jeanette Taylor (20th) are teaming up to hear residents’ concerns and share information and resources in an effort to jumpstart a longterm conversation about improving the South Side neighborhood.
The community-wide town hall is set for 6-8 p.m. Tuesday at Kennedy-King College, 6301 S. Halsted St.
Taylor, elected to replace former Ald. Willie Cochran who is currently serving a year in federal prison for wire fraud, is one of the area’s newest aldermen. She said Englewood’s aldermen haven’t worked together in the past.
“For so long, the aldermen of Englewood have not worked together. That doesn’t work for our city, or our constituents,” she said. “If we say we’re progressive, the progressive thing to do is to meet on, perhaps, a quarterly basis to make sure that all constituents are getting the services they need, and to hear different types of voices.”
Commissioner Maurice Cox from the Department of Planning and Development will also be on hand to talk about economic possibilities for the Southwest Side community. Cox went for ride-alongs with all five aldermen last year, talking to each about what they wanted to see.
One of the issues Taylor talked about during her campaign was the divided leadership in Englewood, and whether the community needed less aldermen.
While all of the aldermen may not agree politically, Taylor told Block Club they all share a common goal: making sure the people of Englewood are heard.
Taylor hopes that the town hall will allow residents to talk about public safety in a way that focuses less on “bashing police” and more on making sure the city does right by the community.
“This [meeting] is to reassure that people are at the table who actually come from Englewood …who were born and bred there, who know the issues and are ready to do the work,” Taylor said.
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