When Brandon Johnson was elected Chicago mayor, it left a vacancy on the Cook County Board. County Democrats last year appointed former Chicago Public Schools teacher Tara Stamps to represent the 1st District, which includes a large portion of Chicago’s West Side and suburbs such as Oak Park, Maywood, Broadview and Bellwood.
Stamps now is running for election in her own right to the seat. She is opposed in the Democratic primary by Zerlina Smith-Members, a self-described “victim services advocate” from the Austin neighborhood of Chicago who has run twice for 29th Ward alderman and attempted unsuccessfully to unseat Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
The choice is stark. Stamps — the daughter of the late, legendary West Side housing activist Marion Stamps — is an unabashed supporter of Mayor Johnson, the Chicago Teachers Union and the progressive wing of Chicago’s Democratic Party. Smith-Members is a fierce critic of the current powers that be in City Hall and at the County Board and takes positions in many cases significantly to the right of Stamps, Preckwinkle and Johnson.
This page has not typically aligned itself with the politics of the CTU in particular and we have been no fans of many of the policies emanating to date from the mayor’s office. We have many points of agreement with Smith-Members on such matters as emphasizing public safety, to cite just one example and we admire her independent streak when it comes to the new Chicago machine.
But most of her campaign message has focused on the migrant influx, and it’s there we part ways.
Smith-Members has applauded Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for the busloads he’s sent to Chicago, since the city has framed itself as a “sanctuary city.” We believe Abbott’s willingness to score political points at the expense of the health and well-being of asylum-seekers is cynical, inhumane and worthy of condemnation, not commendation. Smith-Members tells us it’s her view that the city and county should “defund the migrants altogether” and those bused here in the future should be sent “back to their country” or somewhere else. We don’t think that’s a humane policy, and we find that disqualifying for an endorsement.
On the migrant issue, which Cook County recently committed another $70 million to manage, Stamps acknowledges that many people she represents are sympathetic with the views Smith-Members expresses. But, she says, “the people should be angry at the politics, not the migrants. This is a humanitarian issue.”
We agree.
On other issues, we’re not aligned with Stamps. Most of the CTU’s agenda, which Stamps endorses, won’t help the city at this juncture.
She isn’t inflexibly ideological, though. Stamps told us she would support looking at ways to provide property tax relief, a major issue in her district as significant numbers of longtime homeowners find themselves increasingly pressured to sell their homes because they can’t afford the rising tax bills. That’s not a priority in which Preckwinkle has shown interest. We believe all units of local government in the area should be paying greater heed not just to holding the line on property taxes but lowering them.
We would urge Stamps, should she retain the seat, to prod her fellow commissioners on tackling the property tax issue and more efficient delivery of county services. We are trusting her to be a moderate and independent voice in thrall to no external agenda.
Our endorsement goes to Tara Stamps.