Tax the rich? Chicago mayoral hopefuls debate city budget
WJXT
CHICAGO Ken Kunz used to know everyone in the North Side Chicago neighborhood where he's lived for more than 40 years. But crossing paths with old friends is rare these days because longtime residents have been pushed out by new development and soaring property taxes.
When they do meet, the 64-year-old says, they exchange the same greeting: I'm so glad you're still here.
Chicago has grown unaffordable for many working- and middle-class people like Kunz who have been run over by development," as he put it. That's why he voted both in the February mayoral election and the upcoming runoff for Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and union organizer who has called for $800 million in new taxes on "the ultrarich."
It seems like he is at least willing to represent someone who makes as much money as I do, said Kunz, who operates his own delivery business and manages the property where he lives, which helps make rent manageable. I just want as much representation as the developer who's building million-dollar condos around the corner from my house.
