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Alderman Raymond Lopez would have made a great mayor
Chicago Ald. Raymond Lopez is running for re-election as alderman of the 15th Ward. He considered running for mayor but decided that he would step down from that candidacy to not weaken other candidates seeking to oust the incompetent and racist Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. Lopez put the city’s interests ahead of his own, which is why voters should support him for re-election as alderman. Chicago needs more like Ald. Lopez in the City Council
By Ray Hanania
Raymond Lopez, the alderman of Chicago’s 15th Ward, would have made a great mayor.
I know that because I have watched his activism and read his comments which have hit the nail on the head each and every time in dealing with what Chicago needs to stop crime, improve the schools and boost the economy.
Chicago’s important because the city’s problems spill over in the suburbs is whomever is elected Mayor of Chicago Feb. 28 will have a major impact on the lives of a lot of people who don’t live in Chicago.
It’s not only Lopez’ ideas that impress me, but his actions. Like when he announced he would withdraw from the wide-open contest and not run so that he didn’t weaken any of the other challengers who need to unseat the racist and ineffective Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Lopez put the interests of the city first above his own. How refreshing is that? You rarely see a Chicago politician put the interests of the city before their own. Lopez is one of those true exceptions.
He is courageous, too, standing up to the lies and exaggerations of Mayor Lightfoot, a despicable hypocrite who hides behind her “minority hat trick” (she’s a woman, African American and Lesbian) to falsely assert that she cares about minority rights.
Just ask any Arab who owns a business in Chicago about how Mayor Lightfoot targeted them and closed their stores. Singling out a race of people — Arab business owners — and shutting only their stores is outright racism that Lightfoot can;t defend.
Instead, Lightfoot has argued through sell-out quislings int he Arab community that she “cares” about the Arab community and her actions are misunderstood.
Tell that to the more than 50 Arab store owners whose businesses were closed between many weeks and three months, opened only when the American Arab Chamber of Commerce and the Arab American Democratic Club stood up and called the media’s attention to her actions.
The day the stories hit the media, Lightfoot shut that racist anti-Arab Task Force down and opened every store.
The Arab business owners still lost hundreds of millions. Hundreds of store employees — mostly African Americans and Hispanics from the local neighborhoods, lost their jobs and income during the closures.
Go to www.AACCUSA.org to read the press conference stories and listen to the store owner lambaste Lightfoot’s racist actions.
The Arab community would never have received so much attention had it not been for Alderman Lopez standing by their side defending stores in his 15th Ward that were closed and defending the rights of others.
Lopez is running for re-election as 15th Ward Alderman in the Feb. 28 election.
You can get more information on his achievements at www.The15thWard.org. Follow him on Twitter at @RLopez15thWard.
The next Mayor should make Lopez their floor leader if you want to cleanup that cesspool of selfish political narcissism.
THE POLITICAL GRAPEVINE: Mayor Lightfoot is attacking Dr. Willie Wilson because of his comments that if he were Chicago mayor he would encourage the police to chase criminals like rabbits, a direct criticism of Lightfoot’s policies of disengaging police from the criminals and focusing more on defending criminals who are arrested by police.
Lightfoot’s apologists want you to think Wilson is “racist” because he referred to the criminals as animals.
The criminals are animals of course, but more importantly, Wilson was using the term “rabbit” to characterize how he would have police immediately and quickly respond to crime. Lightfoot’s policy is to order police not to chase the criminals after the commit their crimes. Find the evidence instead, before arresting them.
The bigger issue is how the criminals perceive Lightfoot’s go-easy policies? If police can’t chase them, criminals will be emboldened to commit more crimes.
Just like States Attorney Kim Foxx who eased punishments that encourages criminals to steal more knowing the punishments will be far less painful.
Under Lightfoot and Foxx, the consequences for crimes are far less and encourage more crime.
Would you be upset if a criminal broke into your home, stole your possessions and beat you over the head injuring you or a family member? Then you learn Police were told not to pursue the criminals and to instead try to find the forensic evidence to put them away? While they are looking, the criminals will have more time to commit more burglaries, car jackings and violence.
That’s the City of Chicago under Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Chicago needs a mayor who will be tough on the criminals, and make the criminals fear being caught. Two of those candidates include Wilson and Paul Vallas.
(Ray Hanania is an award winning former Chicago City Hall reporter. A political analyst and CEO of Urban Strategies Group, Hanania’s opinion columns on mainstream issues are published in the Southwest News Newspaper Group in the Des Plaines Valley News, Southwest News-Herald, The Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers. His Middle East columns are published in the Arab News. For more information on Ray Hanania visit www.Hanania.com or email him at [email protected].)
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at [email protected].
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