Chicago mayor candidates answer questions, call each other out about key topics at Women's Forum
CHICAGO (WLS) -- Eight of the nine candidates vying for Chicago's mayor took to the stage Saturday for a two-hour Women's Mayoral Forum at the Chicago Temple.
The forum got heated at times as the candidates stuck to the topics but without passing up the opportunity to call one another out.
"It was a very interesting, worthwhile, contrasting experience," said Sandy Gartler, who attended the event.
The candidates answered questions surrounding public safety, education, housing and reproductive rights.
"Do you remember how you felt when you heard about that draft decision? It was like a punch in the gut," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said while calling out Paul Vallas on the issue of abortion rights. "All of us were up in arms. All of us took to social media. All of us were doing everything that we could, except for Paul Vallas, who has been silent on us for seven months until today at this forum."
"Lori likes to reinvent new facts to suit her narrative. That dog doesn't hunt in this game," Vallas, who is the former CPS CEO, responded. "As mayor, I pledge to work tirelessly to ensure that Chicago is a reproductive safe haven."
"Shame on you, Paul, for not talking about women's rights until today," Lightfoot added.
Alderwoman Sophia King also commented on the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
"As women, we also need to take responsibility as well. We have power. We control votes -- to some extent, our men. We don't use that power actually," King said. "We are in this situation because of decisions women made years ago to put Trump - I hate to say his name - in office. But we need to empower each other."
"We will ensure and continue the work being done in making sure that those that are out of state in areas that have more restrictive laws will have a safe space to get that same care here in Chicago," Ald. Roderick Sawyer added to the discussion.
Another major issue top of mind for Chicago voters is crime.
The challengers shared their personal experiences and their solutions.
"We've had to change windows in our home from bullets that have come through our home. We've had to cover our children countless times as gunshots have broken out outside of our home. This is not news, this is something that actually exists right outside our door," said District 1 Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson, who lives on the West Side.
"Crime is personal to me. I had a 20-year-old son shot and killed," Dr. Willie Wilson said. "I would probably approach it a little differently. I would take the handcuffs off the police and onto the people who actually did it."
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Incumbent Lori Lightfoot running for a second term in office against a field of eight challengers. All of which are calling for a holistic approach to violence prevention.
King even criticized Lightfoot for not using all of the city's violence prevention funds to help curb the issue.
"Violence is the number one issue, and two and three. But having $85 million at your disposal and not spending that is a problem. And only appropriating 5 million, I don't even know if it's 5 million quite frankly, so that's a problem. Same thing for mental health," she said.
Schools were also a hot topic.
"The costs are continuing to escalate in Chicago public schools over the last three years, I think the costs have escalated over 60%, at the same time while enrollments decreased 9%. That's a recipe that's always destined to fail. We have to work out that inequity," Sawyer said.
The candidate, however, who may pose the greatest threat to Lightfoot's reelection bid seems to be Congressman Jesus Chuy Garcia.
Recent polls suggest he may be the front-runner.
"I'm the only person on stage who has worked to make schools the center of communities; opening them up for after-school hours for all kinds of activities for children, parents, and other members of the community," Garcia said. "This reduces the incidents of violence in schools."
"We have somebody here at the table at every level of government in the state. And somehow, when they say that they have urgency, I don't see it," said neighborhood advocate and entrepreneur Ja'mal Green. "We do not see the collaboration and the work coming down to Chicago Public Schools."
State Representative Kam Buckner could not attend at the last minute.
The mayoral election is on February 28. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a runoff election will be held on April 4.
