12th District Council Agenda

Leonardo Quintero – Chair

An organizer around youth and family issues such as schools, jails, and funding, Leonardo is a lifelong resident of Pilsen neighborhood. He has been a substance abuse counselor, street outreach counselor, youth court advocate, and program consultant. Quintero has been responsible for citywide programming ranging from talent shows to intensive outpatient treatment and life-readiness development programs. He says he has “kept his grassroots approach to organizing as a staple to his work to ensure he’s aware of community members’ concerns regarding public safety.”

In the public safety sphere, Quintero has been a volunteer violence interrupter and helped establish treaties between local fractions to ensure peaceful summer events. He co-founded the Peace In Pilsen initiative, which was recognized in 2022 by the Chicago Department of Public Health as Trauma Informed Champions and named Best Youth Initiative by South Side Weekly. He has worked alongside leading restorative justice practitioners and professors across the city to establish new approaches to the current justice and educational systems.

Quintero says, “By prioritizing both police accountability and restorative justice, it is possible to create a more just and equitable criminal justice system that promotes public safety and helps to build stronger, more trusting relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve.”

He is running on a slate with Chloe Vitale and Michelle Page.

State senators Celina Villanueva and Javier Cervantes, the Independent Voters of Illinois–IPO, and Run for Something have endorsed. Quintero received a Badge of Courage from the Empowered Communities Voter Guide.

• Is CPD adequately funded? Yes: funding should be reduced.

• CPD reform: The police need significant reform.

What do you consider the primary role of a police district councilor to be?

Establishing civilian control of the police department

Other: “Building programming to increase public safety”

Why are you running for Police District Council?

Police accountability ensures that officers are held to high standards of professionalism and integrity, and that they are held accountable for their actions if they fail to meet these standards. Restorative justice programs, on the other hand, focus on repairing the harm caused by crime and addressing the underlying causes of that harm. By prioritizing both police accountability and restorative justice, it is possible to create a more just and equitable criminal justice system that promotes public safety and helps to build stronger, more trusting relationships between law enforcement and the communities they serve.

Michelle D. Page

CPS teacher assistant, Page has worked with the Community Renewal Society, a faith-based organization that addresses racism and poverty and helped work to get the ECPS ordinance passed. “I know all too well how Black and Brown people are treated, or shall I say mistreated,” she says. “This is an opportunity to change some of the wrongs that have been going on for so long.” She is running on a slate with Leonardo Quintero and Chloe Vitale.

• Is CPD adequately funded? Yes: funding should be reduced.

• CPD reform: The police need significant reform.

What do you consider the primary role of a police district councilor to be?

Other: “Working with the community around police issues and public safety issues.”

Why are you running for Police District Council?

I’ve worked very hard and a long time to get ECPS passed. I know all to well how Black and Brown people are treated, or shall I say mistreated. This is an opportunity to change some of the wrongs that has been going on for so long. I’ve in my community all my life. No one is better able to represent it than me. Someone who’s lived, worked, worship, and advocates for this community already.

Chloe Vitale

A journalist who has worked with City Bureau’s Documenters program, Vitale is also a member of the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 21. She is running on a slate with Leonardo Quintero and Michelle Page.

“I marched for the ECPS ordinance when it was #CPACnow,” Vitale says. “I have also participated in rallies to release people convicted of nonviolent crimes during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. I also joined Ja’Mal Green to close down Chase Bank branches until they decided to answer for their massive disinvestment on Chicago’s south and west sides. ”

• Is CPD adequately funded? Yes: funding should be reduced.

• CPD reform: The police should be defunded or abolished.

What do you consider the primary role of a police district councilor to be?

Establishing civilian control of the police department

Why are you running for Police District Council?

This is a historic election, the first opportunity for democratic oversight of the police. There is an opportunity to set this off on the right foot and bolster it as this is the first of its kind. But there is also an opportunity for obstruction by the Fraternal Order of Police. It is very important to me that the police district council be a fair and impartial body of community members, as it was written.

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#TogetherWeCan.