Promote Housing Justice
As Trustee, I will ensure that Skokie creates and implements housing policies centered on the people who live, work, and study here. We have a duty to help alleviate the Village's serious shortage of housing for those with the fewest options, and to ensure that fair housing laws are enforced so everyone has an equal chance to access the housing of their choice.
Right now, over a third of our households – 8,000 – are paying more than 30 percent of their incomes on their own housing, which means they are living in crisis. Within this group, more than half of Skokie renters are paying more than they can afford in rent, according to the Village of Skokie's own 2023 Skokie Community Health Assessment.
The Village needs more than the lip service it has devoted to date to sustain mixed-income housing. The Village should be providing incentives and subsidies not for luxury development where it is least needed, but to accommodate the lower- and modest-income people whom the private market is leaving behind.
I helped to organize the grassroots campaign Skokie Neighbors for Housing Justice in 2022 to push the Village in this direction. The centerpiece of our platform is our Skokie Housing Needs and Recommended Solutions.
As Trustee, I will push for:
A comprehensive study of housing needs, trends and opportunities in Skokie that is updated at least annually by a bonafide Housing Commission.
An effective inclusionary housing policy that mandates that all new development serves people at the full gamut of income levels and abilities. The Village should also make it easier for developers to include or preserve below-market-rate units.
An affordable housing trust fund similar to Chicago’s that provides landlord subsidies for renting to low-income individuals or families.
Rigorous landlord education and enforcement of fair housing laws.
An equity audit and an analysis of all Skokie codes, policies and how they are implemented (“customer service”) with an eye to disparate impacts against legally protected classes of people, intended or not.
A robust rental inspection department that ensures that no tenant is living in substandard housing.
The removal of barriers to home improvements and accessibility modifications.
A Community Land Trust to own and control in perpetuity a supply of housing for low- and moderate income people throughout the Village.
An evolution away from a housing monoculture to promote diverse housing options including creative and adaptive-living arrangements such as intergenerational and co-housing.
Housing that is designed to incorporate public spaces that seamlessly integrate with the neighborhood rather than serve as a gated bubble.