John Kelly
Candidate for Mayor, Chicago, on the ballot February 23, 2027
AI summary
The platform
Safety: Safe streets come first, through well-resourced police working with neighborhoods and violence prevention programs that have shown results.
Property taxes: Bring bills down by filling empty offices and attracting employers so more payers share the load, not by spending cuts alone.
Schools: Refocus CPS on reading, writing, and math. Kelly says Chicago Teachers Union leadership has drifted from the classroom and that teachers are not the problem.
City Hall: A CTA that is safe at every hour, and a city charter, a local constitution Chicago lacks, so ethics and spending rules can be enforced.
Next to the other candidates
Only Kelly: A city charter as a central plank, and the "Safety Tax", what riders spend on ride-shares when the CTA feels unsafe at night.
Taxes: Mendoza, Kelly, and Brewer say relief comes from a bigger tax base. Holberg and Wilson promise lower taxes, and Carlisle proposes a new income tax tied to pension reform.
Transit: Mendoza and Cardenas would put police on the CTA, and Kelly wants it safe at every hour. Carlisle and Su would run trains and buses more often.
Not covered: Housing, which most other candidates address.
the more perfect platform
Imported from johnkellyforchi.com
- safe streets: Chicago’s residents don’t feel safe. That is the reality, and no set of statistics changes what people experience on their own blocks, at their train stations, and on the way home from work. Carjackings in broad…
- Stabilize property taxes by Growing the Tax Base: Property taxes in Chicago have risen sharply and residents are rightly frustrated and angry. Worried how they are going to afford to pay their monthly mortgage when the taxes just went up $500 a month. Residential…
- Kids Who Can Read: Every child in Chicago deserves a school where they can learn to read, do math, build confidence, and prepare for a real future. That is the basic promise public education makes to every family. Right now Chicago is not…
- Reliable transit: For many Chicagoans, the CTA isn’t working. Buses and trains that don’t run on time, stations that feel unsafe, and a system that too many residents have simply stopped trusting. The problem is worse after dark. Many…
- A Modern City Charter and Accountable Government: Chicago’s outgoing Inspector General concluded that the city “operates at a deficit of legitimacy.”. Most Chicagoans would agree. City Hall spends too much time on national politics and not enough on potholes, snow…