A lifelong supporter of the arts, Alderman Shiller has been a great friend to live theater and arts organizations, both citywide and in the 46th Ward.

Her persistence and attention to detail led to legislative solutions for dozens of small theaters throughout the city – many of which were in danger of closing had city ordinances not been changed.

By creating partnerships between arts & theater organizations and neighborhood schools, Alderman Shiller has helped foster an appreciation for the arts in our community's youth.

Alderman Shiller's commitment to ensuring a quality education for all of our children and youth predates her public life. Shiller was active at Stockton School in the mid 1970s, and was a leader in a citywide parent group that addressed curriculum issues in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

As alderman, one of the first pieces of legislation that Alderman Shiller introduced was a budget amendment that would have funded a full-time nurse at each of the 250 Chicago Public Schools with the highest absenteeism rate in the city, along with funding 50 Chicago Police Officers to act as security coordinators for public schools. "The first step in education is ensuring a safe and healthy environment," Shiller said.

In the 46th Ward, Alderman Shiller was instrumental in creating a series of innovative youth programs throughout the ward. In one instance — the Youth on Youth Program — a program that began in 1992 as a summer school program was the seed that eventually became the city's most successful Renaissance 2010 School — The Uplift Community High School.

"I always feel re-energized whenever I go to Uplift," said Shiller. "There is a real energy and excitement at the school, and it was born out in the amazing test scores their first year." Uplift's seventh and eighth graders on whole scored higher than almost all other open enrollment schools, and scored higher than half of the city's exclusive enrollment schools. "It is truly gratifying to see a group of young men and women that grew up in Uptown now being the leaders of the community and teaching the next generation."

Alderman Shiller has sought and obtained private resources to supplement the budget of the Ward's public schools. Shiller has also fostered several successful relationships between the schools themselves, resulting in unique bridge programs between the schools and area colleges.

Over the next four years, Shiller will continue to work for resources for all of the Ward's schools and educational institutions. Shiller will continue to foster relationships between the area's schools and area's colleges.

Often when elected officials talk about affordability they are concentrating on issues such as housing and health care. Affordability is a much broader issue that encompasses government efficiency and hidden taxes.

"It is not enough for us to ensure that people have affordable options for health care, housing and education," said Alderman Shiller during the 1987 Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization endorsement debate.

"Progressive politics and Independent politics should be about prioritizing budget issues and eliminating corruption and waste so that city governments reduce the hidden taxes and fees that are far more regressive than the known taxes such as property taxes and sales taxes. For instance this city has a hidden parking tax in the form of insufficient parking and an onerous parking ticket system that is much harder on the regular working person than on people who can afford private parking lots. There are numerous other hidden taxes such as the city sticker, utility taxes and surcharges, and others that all work to make the city more unaffordable for low and moderate income families. All of these issues have to be the focus of making our communities more affordable."

When Helen Shiller first became Alderman she detailed a vision for the Ward that included bringing in more government services, attracting more private investment, and improving the commercial opportunities for area residents, all while maintaining the ward's affordability and diversity.

Twenty years later, the 46th Ward has become a model of balanced development.

Enforcement, Prevention and Alternatives have worked

Letter from Alderman Shiller

When I first ran for alderman, our community was in the grips of the highest crime rate in its history. At the time, I argued that crime could be reduced with a three-pronged attacked. I argued that we needed to focus on enforcement, prevention and alternatives.

This is exactly what we have done, and the results can be seen in the crime statistics. In truth, crime has gone down nationwide since the early 1990s. But the crime rate in the City of Chicago has fallen farther over the last decade than the rest of the county. And in the 46th Ward, crime has fallen much farther, much faster than anywhere else in the city. During the 1980s, the crime rate in the two police districts that serve our Ward was about average for the city as a whole. For the last four years, the crime rate in these two districts have been among the lowest in the city.

This is not to say that there is not still work to be done. One violent act is one violent act too many. And, our community still suffers from sporadic incidents of crime and violence. Our focus, and our strategy has worked, however. And it is for this reason, that I believe it will continue to work.

Enforcement

I have continually met with the 20th and 23rd District Commanders, as they have identified hot-spots, targeted those hot-spots and eliminated criminal activity in those hot-spots. This is not to say that I advocate broad-brush actions that often result from knee-jerk reactions to incidents of violence. In fact, I believe that broad-brush actions are often counter-productive and inefficient. I constantly stress to the District Commanders my belief that profiling is an ineffective form of crime enforcement. The most effective form is identifying specific individuals and targeting those specific individuals.

Alternatives

As soon as I became Alderman I began working with the Chicago Alliance for Neighborhood Safety to promote community policing. We brought CAPS to the 46th Ward six months prior to the rest of the city. Unfortunately, in recent years CAPS participation has dwindled. If CAPS is going to continue to be a truly effective tool, all members of the community must participate.

Prevention

I have worked with various community organizations, local schools and local parks to increase the education and recreation opportunities for our area's young people. Currently, several of our area public schools now remain open to as late as 7 p.m. with after school programs. The Uplift Campus (formerly Arai), Gill Park, and Clarendon Park all now have additional afternoon and evening program that did not exist before.

My proudest collaboration is the collaboration I engaged in with a group of high-school and college students in the early 1990s. Those Uptown born and raised students created a series of education and recreation programs throughout the community. One of those programs--the Youth on Youth summer school program, began in 1992 at Truman College. Twelve college students from the area worked with 30 high school students from the area to hold summer school classes for 120 middle school students. The next year, Youth on Youth moved over to Arai Middle School. Last summer, Youth on Youth celebrated its 15th Anniversary--with a completely different group of college and high school students doing the teaching. Of those original 12 organizers of the first Youth on Youth, nine have gone on to become teachers, and six currently work at the Uplift Community School, either as teachers or administrators.

Finally, I believe that one of the most important steps we have taken towards prevention is by completely changing both the mind-set of the Chicago Police Department, and the process when the police deal with domestic violence. As I said nearly twenty years ago, when I first introduced the sweeping changes, "We will not be able to address the problem of violence on the street until we address the problem of violence in the home." As long as our society continued to silently condone violence in the home, we had to expect that those youth witnessing that violence would take it to the street. I truly believe that the strides our city took during the 1990s in overhauling the way we dealt with domestic violence has had an ancillary affect on youth and gang violence.

Again, everything is not perfect. But, we have come along way with this multi-pronged approach. We all deserve credit. And, I believe over the next few years we will continue to see the fruits of this approach.

Protecting Our Environment

From The Desk Of Alderman Helen Shiller

I have always believed that protecting our environment is both a moral imperative as well the natural consequence of applying innovative strategies to rapidly improving technologies. I have been at the forefront of many environmental issues. Now, more than ever, however, it is important to treat our environment not as a political hot potato to be debated, but as an issue where there is a common goal that can be achieved through the application of technology and the will-power to accomplish that goal.

Here, in the 46th Ward, we are one of seven wards that are part of the Blue Cart pilot program for recycling for single family homes and small-unit residential buildings. The Blue Carts are picked up every other week and the 46th Ward has great results to date. The 46th Ward is also taking the lead on a voluntary pilot program for multi-unit residential building recycling. Condos, Coops and other multi-unit residential buildings that have a recycling program are eligible to receive a refuse reimbursement, sometimes called the refuse or scavenger rebate, from the city.

In addition to recycling, the Wilson Yard development is a completely green development, with green roofs, and the largest rental building of its kind with a built-in recycling process. And every developer looking to build in the 46th Ward is encouraged to include a plan for recycling, consider energy efficient technologies and other green technologies.

For my last four elections I have shown my commitment to the environment by using recycled paper in my literature and by standing by my pledge to not allow campaign workers to post literature or posters on public property.

Protecting the environment, however, means more than each of us individually pledging to do what is right. Protecting the environment means that as a community and a city we have to come together to make sure that economically feasible innovative means of protecting the environment are created and implemented on a wide scale. It is an ongoing process that I look forward to continuing with all of you.

Got a question or comment about recycling or sustainability in the 46th Ward?  Email recycle@aldermanshiller.com.

Helen Shiller believes that the number one moral obligation of every community is to ensure the well-being and safety of its senior citizens. Helen's record on senior citizen issues is incomparable.

She has advocated on behalf of senior citizens by:

• Creating more than 300 units of senior housing

• Creating two different innovative health programs

• Regularly holding senior fairs

• Forcing the CTA to build bus shelters by senior buildings

• Streamlining the senior citizen sewer rebate process

Her ward service office has found housing for hundreds of individual seniors

And She fostered a relationship between Truman College, the Chicago Department of Aging and the YMCA to open a senior satelite center at Truman College in early 2007. Services will include access to the College's computer lab, swimming pool, fitness classes and more.

Contact the 46th Ward Community Service Office:

By Mail or in person: 4544 N Broadway, Chicago IL 60640
By Email: ward46@cityofchicago.org
By Phone: 773.878.4646
By Fax: 773.878.4920

Office Hours:
Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 7pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Alderman Shiller's 46th Ward Community Service Office is also open the first Saturday of each month from 9am to 11am.

From the Desk of Alderman Shiller

Dear 46th Ward Resident:

It is with great excitement that we announce that the development at Wilson Yard has actually begun. This project will have a dramatic impact on the 46th Ward, as well as on the city’s North Lakefront area, bringing needed retail space, new jobs, senior and rental housing. And I am confident this development will spur future commercial and retail development in the Uptown area of the ward.

Wilson Yard was an extraordinarily complicated venture involving many city departments and state agencies, all of whom worked closely with one another, as well as hundreds of community residents to ensure its success.

The project, to be completed in 2010, will:

• Open a 180,000 square foot new Target store
  
• Include a new streetscape on Broadway and new area infrastructure improvements
  
• Open many smaller retail stores and offices
  
• Provide greenspace in the form of a school campus for Stewart School as well as innovative green technology used in the development
  
• Build a new senior housing complex
  
• Construct a new rental building with a built-in recycling process
  
• Develop a new Aldi grocery store, which opened in May 2007