Ald. Lopez says Mayor Lightfoot's failures empower street gangs S3E7
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Alderman Lopez says Mayor Lightfoot's failures empower street gangs
Special Column/Podcast Tuesday, Aug. 17, 2021
Season 3, Episode 7
15th Ward Alderman Raymond Lopez in an interview this week told me that Mayor Lori Lightfoot has not only failed to confront street gangs but has empowered them with her rhetoric and failed policies. Coupled with States Attorney Kim Foxx's failed policies, street gangs are emboldened and the Chicago Police have been weakened. Ald. Lopez said that must change.
By Ray Hanania Chicago Alderman Raymond Lopez said that Mayor Lori Lightfoot sudden concern to confront street gangs is driven by politics, not by a concern for the or its citizens.
One of several City Council members who have challenged Lightfoot’s failure in confronting street gang violence and the COVID pandemic, Lopez said Monday “anything is possible” when asked if he might run for mayor.
Lopez entered public service in 1996 as a volunteer in the 23rd Ward organization of then Democratic Committeeman and Congressman Bill Lipinski, one of Chicago’s most powerful political organizations and then moved to the 15th Ward where he won office in 2012 at Committeeman and alderman in 2015.
He was not hesitant to criticize Lightfoot accusing her policies of undermining the police noting that during her first two years in office empowered the street gangs which he called “the central issue” facing the city.
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