The 2024 Agenda: Five Fights That Will Define Our Ward — And Why Your Voice Matters
Photo by Photo by Valery Tenevoy on Unsplash on Unsplash
Every year brings new opportunities to move the needle on the issues that matter most to the people of this ward. In 2024, Alderman Moreno is not simply managing the status quo — this office is actively pushing for structural changes that will improve daily life for working families, renters, small business owners, seniors, and young people alike. These five priorities did not emerge from a policy memo. They came from you: from town halls, from constituent calls, from conversations at community events, and from the hard realities residents have described at our ward office door.
Here is where we stand, what we are doing, and — crucially — how you can help us get it done.
1. Expanding Affordable Housing and Tenant Protections
Why It Matters
The housing affordability crisis is not abstract in this ward. Residents are being priced out of neighborhoods where they have lived for decades. Longtime renters are receiving non-renewal notices without cause. Families are making impossible choices between rent and groceries. The displacement of lower- and middle-income residents does not just harm individuals — it erodes the social fabric of entire communities.
What We Are Doing
Alderman Moreno is co-sponsoring legislation to strengthen just-cause eviction protections, which would require landlords to provide documented justification before terminating a tenancy. This office is also advocating for increased funding in the city's Affordable Requirements Ordinance to ensure that new residential developments include a meaningful percentage of units priced for working families, not just market-rate buyers.
How You Can Help
Attend our upcoming housing town hall to share your story. Personal testimony from residents is among the most powerful tools in any legislative fight. You can also sign our ward petition at aldermanmoreno.com and submit written comments ahead of the next City Council housing committee hearing. If you have experienced housing instability firsthand, our office wants to hear from you — your experience can directly inform the legislation we champion.
2. Reinvesting in Public Safety Through Community-Centered Solutions
Why It Matters
Public safety is not a partisan issue — it is a human one. Residents across this ward have made clear that they want to feel safe in their homes, on their streets, and in their neighborhood parks. At the same time, our community understands that safety cannot be achieved through enforcement alone. Long-term public safety requires investment in mental health services, youth programming, conflict resolution infrastructure, and economic opportunity.
What We Are Doing
Alderman Moreno is advocating for the expansion of the city's Crisis Assistance Response and Engagement program, which dispatches mental health professionals alongside first responders for non-violent emergencies. This office is also pushing for increased ward funding for youth employment initiatives, which research consistently shows reduces involvement in street violence.
How You Can Help
Join our Public Safety Working Group, which meets monthly and includes residents, community organizations, and representatives from local schools. Your input shapes the recommendations we bring to the full City Council. You can also contact your state representatives to support funding for community-based violence interruption programs — our office can provide a template letter to get you started.
3. Supporting Small Businesses and the Local Economy
Why It Matters
Small businesses are the economic backbone of this ward. They employ our neighbors, anchor our commercial corridors, and give our community its distinctive character. Yet many of these businesses are struggling under the weight of rising commercial rents, burdensome permitting processes, and insufficient access to capital — challenges that intensified during the pandemic and have not fully resolved.
What We Are Doing
This office is working to streamline the city's business licensing and permitting process, which currently requires small business owners to navigate multiple departments for what should be straightforward approvals. Alderman Moreno is also advocating for the expansion of the city's Small Business Improvement Fund grants and for targeted outreach to minority-owned and women-owned businesses that have historically been underserved by existing programs.
How You Can Help
Shop local — deliberately and consistently. Attend our Small Business Showcase this spring, where local entrepreneurs can connect with resources, customers, and one another. If you own or operate a business in the ward and have encountered regulatory obstacles, contact our office. Your firsthand account of bureaucratic barriers is exactly the kind of evidence that strengthens our case for reform at the council level.
4. Modernizing Infrastructure and Advancing Environmental Justice
Why It Matters
Crumbling sidewalks, aging water infrastructure, and a lack of green space are not merely inconveniences — they are equity issues. The neighborhoods that have historically received the least infrastructure investment are often those with the highest concentrations of lower-income residents and communities of color. Meanwhile, the effects of climate change — from extreme heat to flooding — are felt most acutely in communities that lack the resources to adapt.
What We Are Doing
Alderman Moreno secured funding in last year's capital budget for sidewalk repairs on several high-priority blocks and is now pushing for the ward's inclusion in the city's expanded green infrastructure initiative, which installs permeable pavement and bioswales to reduce stormwater runoff. This office is also advocating for the planting of additional tree canopy in areas that currently experience urban heat island effects.
How You Can Help
Report infrastructure issues through 311 and notify our office so we can track patterns and build the data case for investment. Attend the city's public comment sessions on the upcoming capital budget — your presence sends a message that this ward is watching and engaged. You can find dates and registration links on our website.
5. Strengthening Education and Youth Opportunity
Why It Matters
The future of this community depends on whether we invest meaningfully in the young people who live here today. From underfunded school libraries to a shortage of after-school programming, too many of our children are navigating a system that asks a great deal of them while providing insufficient support. This is not acceptable — and it is not inevitable.
What We Are Doing
Alderman Moreno is working with local school councils to identify gaps in programming and advocate for equitable resource allocation in the district budget. This office is also supporting the expansion of mentorship programs that connect young people with professional opportunities in fields ranging from technology to the trades.
How You Can Help
Volunteer with a local school or youth organization — even a few hours per month makes a measurable difference. Attend your local school council meetings and make your voice heard on budget priorities. And if you are a professional willing to serve as a mentor, contact our office. We are actively building a network of community mentors and would welcome your participation.
The Common Thread
These five priorities share a unifying premise: that government works best when it works in genuine partnership with the people it serves. Alderman Moreno does not view this agenda as a list of tasks to complete in isolation — it is a set of commitments made to this community, and fulfilling them requires your engagement at every step. Show up. Speak up. Stay informed. Together, we will make 2024 a year of real, lasting progress for this ward.
