Northwest Side
Ald. Anthony Napolitano is pretty new to the Chicago City Council, elected just four years ago, but he’s already an old hand at the oldest game in town: Blocking affordable housing anywhere close to home. Napolitano defeated a proposal for a development in his overwhelmingly white ward that would have included 30 lower-rent units. He said his concern was traffic congestion and school overcrowding. His many critics said his concern was the potential for more lower-income minority residents. Napolitano also opposed a development that included affordable housing in Jefferson Park, next door in the 45th Ward. Enough of that. We think the people of the 41st Ward are more enlightened than their alderman. We endorse Tim Heneghan, a retired suburban firefighter who once sounded more like Napolitano with respect to his views on affordable housing. But, he says, he’s become better “educated.” He says he would have supported the development in the 41st Ward and kept his nose out of the debate in the 45th. We strongly urge a vote for Heneghan.
