Interview with Ald. James Cappleman
Reduce the Size of the Council and Get Alders Out From 311 Issues
Like Ald. Tom Tunney of the 44th Ward (and a few others), Ald. James Cappleman of the 46th Ward thinks the size of the City Council should be reduced. He told us that Houston, almost as large as Chicago, has 11 council members elected by district plus five elected at large. Los Angeles, which is much larger, has 15 council members.
But, while Ald. Tunney relishes the role that alders play as “mayors of small towns,” Ald. Cappleman would like to fix the systems for dealing with problems so that people wouldn’t need to call their alders to deal with such things as potholes. Certainly, in surrounding suburbs, people call the appropriate local government departments, with a call to an elected official being the last resort. Ald. Cappleman told League interviewer Chris Ruys that if the 311 system isn’t working, let’s fix it, rather than doing a work-around by having residents call their alderpersons.
Watch the full interview above or read on for more highlights:
Ald. Cappleman would also like to see a citywide master plan created for development. We should be looking at the effects of major projects not just on the immediate area, but also neighboring wards, as well as the entire city. The example he gave was whether a music venue in conjunction with the proposed casino might impact entertainment venues in Uptown.
Ald. Cappleman says he uses three criteria for determining whether to support a proposal: (1) is it fair; (2) do the positive repercussions outweigh the negative; and (3) is the proposal supported by evidence-based practice. If the League wants his support or wants to support one of his initiatives, the first step to take is meet with him.
The 46th Ward includes Uptown and parts of Lakeview. The ward is known for its many restaurants and entertainment venues, such as the Aragon, Double Door, and hopefully a soon-to-be-restored Uptown Theater.
While the ward has been known for violent crime since the 1950’s, over the last three years, the rate of these crimes has dropped dramatically. Homelessness is now one of the more pressing issues, even as the ward has more shelters than the rest of the north side put together. There are tent encampments under the viaducts at Lawrence and Wilson Avenues. These encampments raise the risk of propane tank explosions. Ald. Cappleman explained that well-meaning people give the homeless propane tanks to cook and keep warm, but the flames far too often cause tents to catch on fire that spread to nearby tanks, causing explosions.