The activist who successfully fought filmmaker George Lucas' plan for a futuristic museum on Chicago's lakefront has a new target: high property taxes for homeowners.
Juanita Irizarry led Chicago's Friends of the Parks group back in 2014 when Lucas and his wife, Chicago investment banker Mellody Hobson, joined then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel to announce a billion-dollar museum to replace the south parking lot at Soldier Field.
"Everyone told me to back down," said Irizarry Monday morning in the Loop as she announced her candidacy for one of three seats on the Cook County Board of Review. "Well, they didn't know me."
Irizarry's group sued, arguing that the privately-owned and funded project violated long-standing bans on construction east of DuSable Lake Shore Drive. The group faced backlash ... Irizarry even said she had to change her appearance and her commute to avoid potential threats ... but the Lucases eventually dropped their plan.
"Sometimes you have to stand up to power, even when it's scary," she said during her announcement across the Chicago River from Trump International Hotel and Tower.
Now, she's running to unseat former Chicago alderman George Cardenas on the Cook County Board of Review, which has the power to lower property tax assessments. She claimed the board's members have shifted $2 billion in property value from businesses to homeowners, through appeals filed by expensive lawyers who contribute to political campaigns.
"That's not representation," she said, "that's self-preservation."
Irizarry said she won't take donations from those lawyers, and pledged to make it easier for homeowners to fight their assessments without breaking the bank.
She also suggested that the Lucas Museum battle and her plan to advocate for working-class homeowners over big business are part of the same fight.
The primary election is set for March 17th. We've asked Cardenas' political office for comment.