Ballot Initiative On Obama Center

Ballot Initiative On Obama Center

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Chicago’s city council has already approved the construction of the Obama Presidential Center in Jackson Park. But some South Side community organizations still have concerns that the 500 million dollar development with lead to higher housing prices and rents in the area. On February 26th…during the municipal election…voters in Woodlawn and Washington Park will weigh in on a non-binding ballot initiative that proposes a community benefits agreement. That’s a legal document that would force the city to preserve affordable housing near the Obama Center. The CBA calls for 30 percent of new or rehabilitated housing in the area to be set aside for low and middle income Chicagoans. We were joined by activists who helped put the community benefits agreement on the ballot. Alex Goldenberg is the director of Southside Together Organizing for Power, or STOP. And Devondrick Jeffers is a housing organizer who also works with STOP.