Chicago is a big news city, and 2023 was no exception. One news story — and editorial — after another tackled the city’s high-profile political corruption trials, municipal elections, public transit problems, tragic deaths of four firefighters, end of cash bail ... the list goes on.
But the biggest story of the year, in our view — and it’s shaping up to perhaps be the biggest of 2024, too — was the influx of thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers sent here mostly by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. With each new busload of migrants, it became clearer that Abbott’s mission in life is to play political games with the lives of desperate people, rather than work toward a humane solution that would benefit Texas as well as the cities he’s sought to embarrass.
We urge Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration, which wisely put a stop to the idea of a migrant tent camp on contaminated land in Brighton Park, to stay involved with the crisis here. Illinois can’t afford to let its biggest city flounder.
And Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration has to be ready to make hard choices of its own, as New York City Mayor Eric Adams did last week when he put time limits on arrivals of buses carrying migrants. Something else that has to be on the table, and here’s where federal coordination would help: providing migrants — should they request them — plane tickets to other cities willing to welcome them, as New York has also done.
The city also must keep working with nonprofits and the owners of buildings with unused space to provide housing and migrant services.
Ultimately, immigration is a federal issue. Eventually, Congress must craft reforms that reject hard-line, anti-immigrant xenophobia; follow international rules regarding refugees seeking asylum; respect the integrity of our southern border; and ramp up the processing of asylum claims.
Chicago should remain a welcoming city. The key is to be smart about what we can, and cannot, accomplish.
Too many children victimized by guns
The good news about gun violence in 2023 is that homicides are down in Chicago and have declined nationwide. And in January, the governor signed the state’s historic ban on assault weapons.
But gun violence overall is still a scourge, even more so when the victim is a child, as we noted in several editorials. In 2023, 61 children — those 17 and under — were killed in gun violence in Chicago. The victims included 9-year-old Serabi Medina, whom an angry neighbor allegedly shot in the head because she was making too much noise. More children were shot but survived, like 11-year-old Daejah Blizzard, struck by a bullet while sitting in her home.
A major study from 2023 showed that firearm deaths of children soared 87% between 2011 and 2022. Shame on adults who have the power to do something — champion tighter gun restrictions, advocate for more trauma services for families and kids — but fail to take action.
That includes voters. In 2024, every candidate should face this question: What would you do, even in a small way, to end the scourge of gun violence, especially among children?
Respect the history of Century and Consumers buildings
There was no shortage of stories on development and architecture in 2023, including the sale of the Thompson Center to Google, the Red Line expansion and the need to save historic houses of worship. But since 2022, one story has repeatedly held our attention, and that of readers, too: preserving the Loop’s Century and Consumers buildings from a potential federal wrecking ball.
Kudos to the city’s landmarks commission for granting the buildings preliminary landmark status. That’s not the final verdict, but we hope it helps save the buildings — either as a result of the ongoing federal historic building review of the structures or because the feds stand down.
If the skyscrapers are saved, it’s incumbent on the city to come up with a viable redevelopment plan for them. One idea: The feds are offering funding to help cities and states transform empty office space into housing. The city, if it hasn’t already, should take the hint and apply.
An easy move: Plant more trees
The Johnson administration deserves credit for making climate change and the environment a priority, for one, by bringing back the city’s Department of Environment.
Here’s a simple move the city can make in 2024: a ramped-up program — maybe staffed with some of the young people City Hall is rightly eager to provide with summer jobs — to plant trees all over Chicago, especially in lower-income neighborhoods that lack adequate tree cover.
Chicago’s urban tree canopy lags behind that of other cities. More trees would go a long way toward cleaning our air, cooling “heat islands,” preventing flooding and helping Chicago live up to its motto “Urbs in Horto” — City in a Garden.
Make a decision already on Chicago’s elected school board
Sooner or later in 2024, state legislators will have to tackle the thorny issue of deciding the nuts and bolts of running Chicago’s first-ever school board elections. They should make the smart move and pass a bill that gives Chicago a fully elected board in 2024.
And while they’re at it, forget about pleasing every parent group by redrawing voting districts over and over. Yes, Black and Latino parents deserve fair representation on the board. But it’s impossible to please everyone when school enrollment doesn’t match the city’s demographics.
Proponents have been clamoring for a fully elected school board. Legislators gave it to them. Now it’s time to see if it works for kids — or not.
Send letters to letters@suntimes.com
