Megan Mathias is a proud parent of three CPS students and serves as the Chair of the Belding Elementary Local School Council. The daughter of a union crane operator and a postal worker, she worked her way through college and law school and has volunteered her time representing survivors of domestic violence in court and advocated underserved communities with the YWCA of Metro Chicago. Fighting for Us. Fighting for What’s Right.
As Alderman, Megan will work to:
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Address the root causes of crime by reopening mental health centers and bringing economic opportunity to neighborhoods left behind.
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Bring back community policing, supporting police with mental health services and geting cops out of their cars, walking the beat, restoring trust with neighbors, and preventing crime.
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Expand access to reproductive healthcare in Chicago by making the city a safe haven for people in need and ensuring that reproductive healthcare is always a human right in Illinois.
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Stop the city from nickel-and-diming working people with taxes and fees and hold the line on new residential and small-business property taxes
PRIORITIES FOR THE 45TH WARD
Economic Revitalization and Impact for Working Families
Megan has a vision for the 45th ward to develop initiatives with a goal of revitalization for families, workers, constituents, and small businesses. Megan is a small business owner in the ward and an attorney for other small businesses. She understands how to negotiate and how to develop policy to reinvigorate the downtrodden business districts in the 45th ward. She understands the push/pull to support small businesses - the engine of the economy - in order to develop living wages for workers.
Megan will ensure community voices are heard in the development of policy. She will create an Economic Advisory Board to assist in attracting businesses and developing policy to revitalize the ward, as well as identifying policies that will have a positive impact for workers’ rights and fair wages. As a small business owner, she knows that businesses thrive when workers are treated well and paid fairly. She will utilize roundtables and other models of community voice to develop policy initiatives to increase the number of new businesses that open in our ward and support businesses and their workers. Megan also knows that affordable childcare is critical to the success of a working family with children.
If you are interested in participating in a community roundtable on this topic, please contact us at contact@meganfor45thward.com.
Public Health Responsiveness and Public Safety
It is one of the primary responsibilities of the Alderman to address public health and safety issues in the ward. As a community member and concerned resident, Megan distributed information to the community with information about COVID testing and registration. She formed a team of volunteers to register our residents for vaccinations and provided transportation to vaccination sites. Her leadership in this area is a key example of how she will interact with and support the community during these times of public health crisis.
Public safety is an important issue in the 45th ward, and residents bring up these concerns frequently. Megan will create roundtables to bring stakeholders together and develop initiatives to increase the trust between the police and the communities they serve. Megan knows that thinking outside the box can help bring people together and continue to find better ways to keep all of our residents safe.
If you are interested in participating in a community roundtable on this topic, please contact us at contact@meganfor45thward.com.
Leadership, Compassion, and Vision for the 45th Ward
Part of real leadership is understanding that, while we may not always agree, we share the same commitment to the betterment of our community. Megan understands that in order to get results for the community, residents need to know that their voice is heard and respected. The 45th ward deeply deserves leadership for every person. It is long overdue for our community to come together.
Leadership also includes responsive communication. Megan will utilize advisory boards and ward nights to continue to incorporate community voice into development of priorities for the office of the Alderman.
Leadership during difficult times requires a temperament that can hold steady and provide direction. Megan has demonstrated that trait as an attorney and a community leader. She will build on what brings the community together - the same approaches that allowed us to support each other through the pandemic challenges, and experiencing loss. Megan knows that we need to come together to find opportunities to strengthen our community.
If you are interested in participating in a community roundtable on this topic, please contact us at contact@meganfor45thward.com.
Support for Local Schools
Improvement of neighborhood schools is a priority for Megan. Megan has served as an elected Parent Representative for the Local School Council (LSC) for Belding Elementary School, and she serves as the Chair of the LSC which is the policy-making body of the school and has remained an important vehicle for participatory democracy (www.cps.edu/about/local-school-councils).
Part of Megan’s inspiration to run for Alderman is derived from her experience on the LSC and participating in the Continuous Improvement Planning for the school. Megan believes in development of policy to improve the services available for special needs children. During her time on the LSC, she has advocated for needs of the families and school with CPS and working with other elected officials. As a mother of a child with autism, Megan is passionate about advocating for children with special needs in our local schools. Building on that experience, Megan will continue to work with and advocate for the improvement of our schools.
If you are interested in participating in a community roundtable on this topic, please contact us at contact@meganfor45thward.com.
"I have spent many years working with and advocating for our community as an attorney, mom, elected Local School Council member, and a part of organizations that focus on topics such as public education, women’s empowerment, and domestic violence survivor advocacy. I learned the value of hard work at an early age and am proud that my work for our community has led to results. Together, we can find greater opportunities to make gains on issues that affect us every day- whether they are local neighborhood issues or city-wide.”
- Megan Mathias