(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — While Chicago’s City Council works to find new revenue for the budget, advocates for the disabled are pushing Mayor Johnson to pay for a program he promised to support.
From her wheelchair Abla Gharib with the group Access Living said the snow makes it hard for her to get out to appointments.
“If it's not plowed, then I'm not really able to cross the road with a wheelchair.”
The disability group’s housing organizer Iliana Haven, whose electric wheel chair was struggling in the cold outside City Hall on Monday, called on Mayor Johnson and aldermen to find $1 million for the test run.
“I know it's incredibly difficult to balance this budget and I applaud you for doing what you can. But if you want disabled people to begin to trust you, when you say that you say our needs matter, you need to fund this pilot program,” Haven said.
First ward Alderman Daniel La Spata is on board.
This budget needs 25 votes. One of those votes is going to have to come from me and if it does, it's going to include funding for the sidewalks,” La Spata said.
The mayor’s office has said he still supports the program but is trying to balance wants and expectations amid a nearly one billion dollar budget deficit.
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | TikTok