Citizens’ Agenda: Rogers Park Town Hall

Join WBEZ for a virtual town hall with Chicago Ald. Maria Hadden, State Rep. Kelly Cassidy and U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky.  We’ll hear about their plans to tackle issues that you care most about, and you’ll also have the opportunity to ask questions directly to your representatives.

This town hall event is part of the Citizens’ Agenda project, where WBEZ has been asking you what you want Illinois politicians to be talking about heading into November’s elections — and beyond. Our goal: to cover politics based on the issues that matter most to constituents, rather than covering politics like a game of thrones.

We heard from more than 2,100 of you, and your responses formed our main agenda — key focus areas for reporting stories and hosting events like this one.

This election season has many eyes glued to the presidential race — but many of the issues we heard about are within the purview of elected officials who aren’t up for election this year or may not be in competitive races. That’s why we’ve decided to host this town hall-style event. Elected officials should always be responsive to their constituents — regardless of whether they have a spot on the ballot.

For this town hall, we’ll be focusing on the top agenda items from respondents in the 9th Congressional District, which are:

• COVID-19: How are officials stopping the spread of COVID-19 and addressing the day-to-day financial obstacles families and individuals are facing?
• Police reform: What are officials doing to help Rogers Park residents feel safe from violence in all its forms — gun violence, robberies and police brutality?
• Racial equity: How are officials taking racial equity into account — and acknowledging Chicago’s historical structural inequalities — when making policy decisions?
• Education: What are officials doing to distribute school funding resources and educational opportunities equitably — from childcare to remote learning resources to higher education?

The town hall will be moderated by WBEZ city politics reporter, Becky Vevea. Community partners for this event include Syrian Community Network, Middle Eastern Immigrant and Refugee Alliance, and Centro Romero. Language translation for this event will be offered in Spanish, Arabic, Urdu, and Rohingya.