Politics & Government

2011 Election Issues: Arthur Wiggins Jr., First Ward Alderman Candidate

As a follow-up to our initial and more-biographical questionnaire, we asked candidates to answer issue-specific questions.

What would you consider the biggest issue facing the First Ward? How would you handle that issue, if elected?

I cannot narrow the problems 1st Ward faces down to one single issue. I can offer my opinion that has been formed by speaking with residents, and my own perception.  

The issues are:

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  1. Unemployment and under-employment
  2. The decreasing value of homes
  3. Random gun fire in the spring through early fall every year
  4. Open air drug market
  5. Loitering
  6. Littering  

This area is so depressed because of the job market that some people through desperation have lost what we know as common courtesy, and some were never taught common courtesy from the beginning. I believe that an employed person view his or her life with more responsibility than a person that has suffered long and continuous periods of unemployment. A great percentage of the listed issues above will be eliminated by employment.  

Our City Council has failed us in its efforts to bring employment to Chicago Heights. Bragging about grocery stores, gas stations, and anything remotely similar is appalling. These are high school jobs at best, and will never support the American Dream. In Chicago Heights, primarily in two of it's Wards, the residents are blue collar workers. The average person in 1st Ward does not have a college education and blue collar work is a necessity to survive. I know this because I came from a blue collar family. I see 1st Ward residents primarily as decent people who desire nothing more than an opportunity to live a decent life. This desire cannot happen if they cannot support themselves, start a family, or feed the family the have already started.  

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Two additional stand-outs that city City Council has failed in, how they direct resources. 1) The recent vote to pay $27,000 for fireworks on the 4th of July effectively made good use of  the phrase "up in smoke". This could have been a significant portion of a new hires yearly salary. 2) The F.I.N.E. program, a program that paid individuals after they bought a home in foreclosure. This program should be an insult to every citizen. The program did not save anyone from losing a home. It was a legalized bride to get people to buy a home in Chicago Heights, something people not only were doing any way, but something potential residents would  have done more if City Council spent the same amount money on REAL economic development.    

America can become a manufacturing global leader again, however, it will not happen in production of goods made in the past 25 years. We can lead the world in the production of renewable energy, in the production of energy efficient products, and products made from recycled materials. Chicago Heights has everything needed to do this; we have the land, we have the transportation routes, and we have the work force. What is missing is the leadership to get us there.

I do have a workable plan to bring employment to Chicago Heights. Employment that people can count on to allow them to live the American Dream. I will not vote yes on anything that is wasteful spending. I will not vote yes on recreational spending when the city is in the red.

If you are an election candidate, and would like to have your position on the issues presented on Chicago Heights Patch, send an email to christopher.paicely@patch.com.


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