Wendi Taylor Nations Presents Bold Plans at Lincoln Park Chamber 43rd Ward Forum
Echoing Daniel Burnham’s charge to “Make no little plans,” Wendi Taylor Nations presented bold plans at a forum for 43rd Ward candidates for Alderman sponsored by the Lincoln Park Chamber of Commerce. The forum was moderated by Greg Hinz of Crain’s Chicago Business.
Wendi Taylor Nations shared her powerful personal story of being sexually attacked at a CTA El stop. She then declared that “Police Superintendent David Brown needs to go. His strategies aren't working. Crime is still up since the time that Mayor Lightfoot took office. We need a Police Superintendent who pays attention to police morale.”
On the issue of property taxes, she called out Interim Alderman Timmy Knudsen for voting in favor of a property tax increase. Knudsen voted to tie the property tax rate to the Consumer Price Index. This is, in fact, a property tax increase. She added that “hard work needs to be done rather than tying the tax increase year by year to the CPI.” Nations said there is a need to examine all taxing districts that make up the property tax bills and find “cost savings and consolidation of services.”
Another bold action she will take is to build a new Lincoln Park High School. “We must plan now to build a new high school that will meet the needs of our kids,” said Nations.
“The first time I went toe to toe with the developer in this ward was in 2005, and he went to jail. It was a developer who needed a great amount of zoning relief, building two humongous houses next door to our modest townhouse on Dayton Street,” said Nations. “After many neighborhood meetings and meetings with the Ranch Planning Board, I said to the developer I want you to know that your profit needs should not impact my quality of life and my property value. And he walked up to me toe to toe, and he looked me straight in the eye and said I don't give an “F” about your property values. Subsequently, he spent five years at Club Fed. I believe in transparency and leadership when it comes to development. I don't believe that I, as Alderman, should be a “consensus builder” with developers.”
Nations believes that the voices of the 43rd Ward should be appropriately represented by the Alderman so that they can determine what development is going to look like in this ward.
One of the more interesting highlights of the forum was Interim Alderman Timmy Knudsen’s response to the question of who he is supporting for Mayor. “I'm going to be staying independent, (not) making any endorsements until I've been fully elected.”
Moderator Greg Hinz challenged him. “She appointed you,” said Hinz. “The two of you passed petitions together. This cycle. Are you seriously saying that you are not supporting Lori Lightfoot for Mayor?”
“I'm not making any endorsements for Mayor,” responded Timmy Knudsen. To which Hinz responded, “okey, dokey.”
Background
Wendi Taylor Nations is running for Alderman after living in the Ward and working with her neighbors to create a better community nearly 29 years ago. She is a marketing professional and has both headed up major international marketing organizations and partnered in a boutique marketing shop for the past 30 years in Chicago.
Previously, Nations served as the Chief Marketing Officer for World Business Chicago and helped bring thousands of new jobs to Chicago by recruiting LinkedIn, Google, SalesForce, Facebook, and many others.
Nations led the marketing launch of the Affordable Care Act in Illinois and spent nearly 20 years at Hill & Knowlton, Heidrick & Struggles, Advocate Health Care, and Porter Novelli, serving as the agency’s healthcare practice director and eventually served as managing director of the Chicago office.
She is proud of her decades of volunteer and community work in the 43rd Ward. Nations serves as a board member for the DuSable Museum of Black History, as a volunteer for various food insecurity and animal rescue organizations like Lasagna Love and Tree House Humane Society, and was a Maud Avenue organizer during COVID.
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