Educational reformer and mayoral candidate Troy LaRaviere spoke with Hard Lens Media on Saturday, June 23rd. After a well-publicized battle with the mayor’s office regarding his political activities, the former principal of Blaine Elementary School and current president of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association has decided to expand his personal crusade for educational reform into a wider movement for change in Chicago politics.

As Mr. LaRaviere sees it, he is running because the position is open. Under Rahm Emmanuel, Chicago doesn’t really have a mayor.

I decided to run for mayor of Chicago because Chicago does not have a

mayor. The corporate CEOs have a mayor. The real estate developers, they

have a mayor… but everyday people, people who work years for a decent

retirement and health care benefits and then have seen that retirement stolen from them, they don’t have a mayor.

A city without a mayor ends up having projects without a purpose or real beneficiary. Under Rahm Emmanuel, the mayor’s office has responded to complex social challenges with expensive construction projects.

As Mr. LaRaviere points out, when the Department of Justice issued ninety-nine reforms to ensure civil rights are being protected by the Chicago Police Department, it was not primarily concerned with building new training facilities, of which they are already many in the city. In spite of the obvious reality of what is really needed for reform — a new curriculum for training

officers and holding them accountable — the mayor’s office has used the DOJ report as a flimsy justification for its planned $95 million police academy.

In a city without a mayor, we build fancy new buildings instead of reforming the real corruption of our institutions.

Mr. LaRaviere was also critical of the recently announced partnership between City Hall and Elon Musk’s Boring Company to build an underground express train from O’Hare airport directly to downtown. The route would simply duplicate the route already served by the CTA’s Blue Line and would mainly operate for the wealthy business traveler looking to quickly enter and leave the city.

It clearly identifies his priorities. I can’t think of anything that he’s done up to this point that shows just how blind this man is to the needs of everyday

working people in this city.

In a city without a mayor, the wealthy can enjoy extravagances while the regular transportation needs of everyday people are subject to austerity. The CTA faces budget cuts and fare hikes while the mayor’s office seems to have abandoned the real project of public transportation entirely.

You can read more about Mr. LaRaviere’s unique path towards political engagement and his campaign to give Chicago a mayor at his campaign website, Troy for Chicago.

Written by George Saad

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