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

26th Ward

The 606 recreational trail wends its way through this ward, which includes parts of Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Belmont Cragin and Hermosa. Opened in 2015, The 606 has spurred gentrification that is pricing out longtime Hispanic families, and creating a glaring need for more affordable housing. Rents have been going up, and property taxes have also been skyrocketing.

“We’re losing a lot of residents because of the taxes,” says Julian Perez, a well-known DJ and small business owner. He says a good place to start would be to rescind Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s yearly inflation-tied, automatic property tax increases. He supports using TIF money to ramp up affordable housing, and believes an emphasis on community policing and youth mentoring services are two strategies needed to combat rising violent crime.

Another strong candidate in the race is Jessica “Jessie” Fuentes. Her resume includes work as the policy and youth advocacy director for the Puerto Rican Cultural Center in Humboldt Park, where she oversaw the creation of a $4 million violence prevention program for the Humboldt Park and Hermosa communities. We like Fuentes’ energy and commitment to the ward, but we disagree with her opposition to the state’s ban on rent control.

Also in the race is Angee Gonzalez Rodriguez, the ward’s committee person. It’s a close call between Perez and Fuentes in this race to replace outgoing incumbent Roberto Maldonado, who opted not to run again. But our nod goes to Perez.

29th Ward

Ald. Chris Taliaferro is the clear choice in this ward, which includes the West Side’s Austin neighborhood. His leadership has produced results, including two full-service grocery stores, a performing arts venue, a community center and a workforce innovation center. He holds regular meetings with ward residents and his experience as a former Chicago police sergeant makes him a strong resource on public safety issues. His opponents are Corey Dooley, a 25-year-old gun violence survivor and community activist, and CB Johnson.

We endorsed Taliaferro in 2019, and we endorse him again.

30th Ward

When Jessica Gutierrez knocks on doors, residents don’t tell her they want fewer cops — they tell her they want a better relationship with police. For Gutierrez, that means demanding accountability from the Chicago Police Department and its officers. “It is time that we not only call for police accountability,” she tells us, “but equally restore the faith back into our police officers.”

Gutierrez, the daughter of former U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, opposes the latest pay raise aldermen approved for themselves, and says she will not take a pay hike if elected. She also wants to see more transparency and accountability from the troubled CTA and will call for the transit agency’s president, Dorval Carter, to report to the City Council on a quarterly basis.

Also on the ballot are Ruth Cruz, an assistant admissions director at Roosevelt University, community organizer Warren Williams, and JuanPablo Prieto, director of diversity programs at the CTA. In this Northwest Side ward, which includes parts of the Old Irving Park, Belmont Cragin and Avondale neighborhoods, our endorsement goes to Gutierrez.

31st Ward

This Northwest Side ward that includes parts of Belmont Cragin, Hermosa and Portage Park features a two-way race between incumbent Felix Cardona Jr. and Esteban Burgoa Ontañon, a real estate businessman. Cardona stresses the importance of supporting small businesses, and suggests using TIF money to help small business owners purchase their own storefronts. Ontañon is a war veteran who doesn’t take campaign donations and who says he would donate his salary back to the community if elected. Cardona Jr. is endorsed.

33rd Ward

This North Side ward features a competitive race between incumbent Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez, Samie Martinez, a Chicago planning department project coordinator, and affordable housing developer Laith Shaaban.

Rodriguez Sanchez has been a strong progressive voice on the City Council in her first term. We like her energy, but we cannot agree with her contention that, as she tells us, “the requests that led to the 2019 (Chicago Teachers Union) strike were valid and necessary to ensure quality public education.” The strike needlessly kept children out of classes, and entailed demands about affordable housing, rent control and other CTU social agenda items that had nothing to do with teachers’ wages, benefits and classroom environments. Both Rodriguez Sanchez and Martinez want to make riding on the CTA free, an untenable idea given the transit agency’s struggles to generate revenue.

Shaaban’s vision of the CTA involves much more transparency from the agency as well as the creation of rapid bus transit lanes, an idea we believe should be a long term CTA goal. He also correctly says that it’s high time that City Hall weans itself off of its reliance on ever-rising property taxes by finding new revenue streams. “Too many residents of my ward are overburdened with property taxes, which is driving seniors out of their homes and pushing up rents,” he tells us. Shaaban gets our endorsement.

34th Ward

The city’s latest remap produced this new ward, which includes a large section of the Loop, Greektown, Fulton Market and a part of the Near West Side. The new alderman here will have a weighty task — ensuring the vitality of a section of the downtown where many blocks are still struggling to recover from the pandemic.

The two candidates seeking this ward seat are Bill Conway, a solar development company co-manager and a former Cook County prosecutor, and Jim Ascot, a commercial real estate broker and former president of the Chicago Association of Realtors.

Both candidates have made tackling violent crime — both downtown and across the city — a priority. Conway says Chicago needs to embrace the kind of community policing template that Charlie Beck applied to Los Angeles when he was that city’s police chief. Beck, who later served as interim Chicago police superintendent following the firing of Eddie Johnson, sought to bolster neighborhood trust in police by strict adherence to the consent decree that mandates a slew police reforms, a strong reliance on violence prevention and street outreach programs, and having officers intensify their connections with the beats they cover.

We liked Beck’s point of view when he explained it to us in 2019, and we think Conway’s right to adopt that approach. To combat rising crime downtown, Ascot told us he would push for “foot patrols that are visible, and walk the major arteries of the whole ward. That would be a deterrent.”

Conway also says the downtown will have to evolve to reflect the new-post pandemic dynamic that every major American city is encountering. That includes incentivizing developers and companies looking to invest in the downtown. “Every city in the world is rethinking its central business district,” Conway told us. “I believe in a free market. But if someone is ready to invest despite the challenges, I want to make it easy for them to do that.”

Ascot says the downtown’s recovery must include making CTA buses and trains safer, cleaner and on-time. “There should be uniformed officers on trains and buses,” he told us. “They should ride the train and be on the platform.”

Both Conway and Ascot laid out strong, viable plans for running the ward. But we believe Conway has the better approach. He is endorsed.

36th Ward

Since 2015, Ald. Gilbert Villegas has capably represented this ward, which includes the West Town, Montclare and Ukrainian Village neighborhoods. He’s a pragmatist who has taken stances we admire, such as calling for Navy Pier Inc., a recipient of tax dollars, to open its books. He also pushed for taking down the garish “T-R-U-M-P” sign off the Trump International Hotel & Tower, sponsoring an ordinance that would ban “any person convicted of treason, sedition or subversive actions from doing business with the city, including having a sign permit.”

One of Villegas’ opponents, financial consultant David Herrera, gave us good ideas on a variety of issues — from South and West side disinvestment to public safety. Also on the ballot are Leonor “Lori” Torres Whitt, a Chicago Public Schools teacher, and Jacqueline “Jackie” Baez, a community activist and businesswoman.

We think 36th Ward residents would be best served by another Villegas term. He is endorsed.

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