Alexi's plan
Chicagoans demand strong leadership and an agenda that will move the city forward.
Alexi believes that government can be both effective and compassionate. Families are struggling with increasing housing costs, property taxes, and childcare. Too many Chicagoans are concerned about crime and unsteady leadership from the Mayor’s Office.
Alexi knows effective leadership requires bringing people together—rather than governing through division—and focusing on getting real results for residents.
These priorities are just the beginning. In the weeks and months ahead, we’ll share the additional details of our plan, and show how we’ll deliver on them alongside the growing coalition of neighbors, advocates, labor, business and community leaders standing with this campaign.
But the best ideas for Chicago won’t come from one office. They’ll come from you. If you have a suggestion for making our city work better, we want to hear it. Share your ideas using the form below.
More Money in Your Pockets
Chicago has become increasingly unaffordable for its residents, making it harder for families to stay in the city. Property taxes are up 17% in the last round of assessments, and renters have been hit by the fastest rent growth in the country. At the same time, grocery prices are up 30% since 2020, and childcare now costs more than $1,700 per month. As Mayor, Alexi will pull every lever he can to make Chicago more affordable, and help wages keep up with rising costs.
Raise Wages for Workers
Build More Housing
Alexi will build 50,000 more homes by 2032 to make housing more affordable by:
- Reforming the zoning code to allow duplexes, 2-flats, and 3-flats to be built more easily throughout the city.
- Working with alders to make zoning changes to allow for more homebuilding in commercial corridors to allow for mixed-use streets where residents can walk to the amenities they need.
- Launching a new Chicago Starter Home initiative to expand homeownership by building affordable new homes for sale on the roughly 10,000 city-owned vacant lots and 30,000 privately-owned vacant lots. As part of this initiative, Alexi will establish a new office to focus on quickly acquiring and building on vacant lots.
- Building more housing near transit. Today, about one-quarter of land within a half mile of an L station is zoned to only allow low-density residential development. Alexi will work to reform the zoning code to make it easier to build multi-family housing where it’s needed most. He’ll also prioritize infrastructure investments in areas near transit that are zoned to allow more housing. That will make it easier to accommodate new residents, and ensure our infrastructure dollars are spent as efficiently as possible.
- Speeding up the permitting processes by adopting the latest technology to review architectural plans and applications, increasing transparency about where homebuilders are in the process, and establishing a “shot clock” to hold City Hall accountable for timely approvals
- Implementing common-sense reforms like allowing for pre-approved architectural plans that homebuilders can adopt for expedited approval
- Partnering with the City Council to adopt a single citywide standard for the intake of housing-related zoning change requests, with set timelines for public meetings, community feedback, and a decision from the alder.
- Making better use of current housing funding by eliminating costly city requirements for government-funded affordable homes. Currently, the city spends $700,000 per affordable home, well above what the State of Illinois pays for Chicago affordable homes
- Preserving the affordable homes that we have now by providing capital for repairs and building acquisition to landlords who commit to maintaining affordable units.
Lower Utility Costs by Appointing the First-Ever Ratepayer Advocate
Alexi will appoint a senior leader to focus on holding utilities accountable and shielding residents from excessive utility rate increases. The Ratepayer Advocate will work with the Illinois Attorney General and consumer watchdogs to challenge rate increases at the Illinois Commerce Commission.
Establish a New Affordability Office to Streamline Access to Key Programs
The Giannoulias Administration will create a one-stop-shop to help residents access the dozens of programs that exist today, spread across city agencies and nonprofits, to help Chicagoans make ends meet. These are programs that help families make down payments, get relief on their utility bills, access health care federal benefits find affordable housing, and more. Alexi has a track record of streamlining access for residents: as Secretary of State, he created a One-Stop-Shop for all DMV services by cross-training staff and working more efficiently.
Hold the Line on Property Taxes
Alexi will keep the City of Chicago’s property tax levy flat and focus on growing the Chicago economy, reducing city spending, and ensuring that the wealthy pay a bigger share of taxes. As a candidate, Mayor Brandon Johnson promised to oppose property tax increases but in 2024 proposed a $300 million property tax increase.
Expand Access to Affordable Groceries
Alexi will attract more affordable grocery stores by offering targeted tax incentives, applying for State of Illinois funding that Mayor Johnson failed to seek, and speeding up permitting times for stores opening in food deserts.
Expand Access to Quality Childcare
Alexi will work with the State of Illinois to expand access to free, full-day preschool for families with 3- and 4-year-old children. He supports a mixed-delivery approach that meets families where they are with both school-based and community-based options.
Safer Streets
Every Chicagoan deserves to feel safe in their neighborhood, and Alexi will improve public safety through a comprehensive plan that includes investing in both communities and law enforcement. While Chicago has followed the national trend of declining violence, Chicago’s murder rate is still more than double Los Angeles’ and four times higher than New York’s.
Focus on Prevention
Get Police Reform Done
Alexi will improve the quality of policing and increase community trust by completing the job of police reform under the court-ordered reform plan. He will fully staff the office responsible for police reform after Mayor Johnson tried to cut its budget.
Modernize the Police Force to Better Solve Crimes
The Giannoulias Administration will adopt the latest technology to better solve cases, bring back gunshot detection technology, and consolidate data systems to reduce time-consuming paperwork for police officers.
Increase Community-Oriented Policing
Alexi will stop the steady loss of police officers and add 1,000 new officers to walk the beat in communities by reforming the hiring process and moving more cops out from behind their desks.
Take Safety on the Chicago Transit Authority Seriously
Alexi will increase the police presence on CTA rail by 100 officers, or 50% from current levels, and make sure they’re patrolling trains and not just standing around on platforms. A stronger, more engaged police presence will help address quality-of-life issues like smoking on the train. Alexi also supports the modernization of fare gates to reduce fare evasion. And he will partner with the CTA to expand the presence of community violence intervention teams to help prevent and de-escalate violence on the CTA.
Prioritize Domestic Violence Prevention
Alexi will improve coordination between the City of Chicago and Cook County by appointing a senior leader in the Mayor’s Office focused on domestic violence prevention and enforcement, and improve victim services.
Prevent Unsafe Teen Takeovers
Alexi will keep teens safe by providing alternative opportunities for youth, while also giving police the authority to establish snap curfews and break up dangerous activity.
Go after New, More Lethal Guns
Alexi will focus on the heightened lethality of guns easily modified with switches and other machine gun conversion devices by supporting legislation in Springfield to outlaw easily-modified models, taking manufacturers to court, and prioritizing investigations and prosecutions involving switches and other conversion devices.
Invest in Mental Health
Police are too often called upon to deal with mental health emergencies, where de-escalation and treatment are more appropriate than enforcement. Under Mayor Johnson, the Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement (CARE) program, which deploys emergency response teams to address behavioral health crisis calls, has struggled to meet program objectives. Alexi will improve collaboration between city agencies and ensure teams are available when they’re needed the most.
A City Hall that Works
Today, too many Chicago residents are losing faith in City Hall as they watch Mayor Johnson fail to work with City Council to address our biggest challenges. Alexi will turn things around by building coalitions with City Council, Springfield, business, labor, and faith and community leaders to take on Chicago’s biggest challenges. As Secretary of State, Alexi reformed one of the nation’s largest state offices by modernizing outdated technology, slashing wait times at the DMV while expanding online services, improving customer service, protecting civil rights, and increasing public safety. He will do the same as mayor.
Grow the Economy
In recent years, Chicago has been just about last in economic growth among the top 25 metros. Alexi will get the Chicago economy moving again by restoring steady leadership to the 5th floor, improving the business climate in Chicago by making it easier to do business with City Hall, and investing TIF and other resources to better support economic development, modernize our schools and public infrastructure, and build more housing.
Modernize City Services
Alexi will make reforms and adopt the latest technology to improve city services like pothole repairs and graffiti removal, make it easier for residents and businesses to access city services, and simplify the process for obtaining permit and architectural plan approvals.
Tighten Belts at City Hall through Smart Reforms
Alexi will reduce spending by reducing duplicative middle management and functions, centralizing city contracting to benefit from our bulk buying power, and reducing the size of the city vehicle fleet. As Secretary of State, Alexi streamlined services by establishing a One-Stop-Shop and received an award for modernizing the agency’s contracting.
Reform the City’s Pensions
Alexi will pursue reforms like consolidating the city’s four pension funds, offering voluntary buyouts for employees similar to the successful state program, and codifying the advanced pension payment policy where the city makes an additional payment on top of what it’s legally required to make. These reforms will restore confidence in the city’s financial leadership and help lower our borrowing costs.
