Quote From the Chicago Tribune Article:

Here is the Tribune Editorial Board’s sixth installment of endorsements in contested races for aldermanic seats in Chicago’s Feb. 28 municipal election.

This is one of the city’s most competitive aldermanic races. The incumbent, Tim Knudsen, was appointed by Mayor Lori Lightfoot to replace Michele Smith, who stepped down after 11 years of capable, committed leadership of this Lincoln Park ward. Knudsen faces five opponents: small business owner Steve Botsford, consultant Brian Comer, retired lawyer Rebecca Janowitz, businessman Steven McClellan and Wendi Taylor Nations, former chief marketing officer for World Business Chicago.

Two candidates stood out. Botsford says the best way that Chicago can tackle ever-rising violence is to focus on crimes involving shootings. That means improving the Police Department’s dismal clearance rates for solving fatal and nonfatal shootings by hiring more detectives. He says studies show that “the more officers you assign to investigate murders, the higher likelihood you have of solving the crime.”

Comer’s approach entails redeploying officers to “bring more officers out from behind the desk and onto the streets to serve and protect,” along with a heavier reliance on security cameras in crime-ravaged neighborhoods “to see more of what’s happening.” To address CPD’s understaffing problems, he proposes a pilot program with DePaul University in which graduates who commit to joining the Police Department for a four-year stretch would get a reimbursement for one year’s tuition. “You have to dangle a carrot to make (policing) an attractive career again,” Comer says.

One issue that uniquely affects the 43rd Ward is the ongoing construction of the Lincoln Yards mega-development. The project will produce a massive amount of jobs, housing and economic activity for North Side communities, but it also will dramatically ramp up the density and traffic in those neighborhoods. As president of the Sheffield Neighborhood Association, Comer says he speaks regularly with Lincoln Yards’ main developer, Sterling Bay, on traffic impact, as well as to ensure what the developer builds “doesn’t cannibalize what we have over here.”

It’s a strong field, and our endorsement goes to Comer.