Last week, Cappleman joined 8 other aldermen in standing against the allocation of TIF funds to the development of Lincoln Yards, citing his concern for ‘the very poor’ throughout his career.
No matter where Cappleman stands on Lincoln Yards, he’s no advocate for affordable housing. While representing the 46th Ward, he has allowed thousands of affordable housing units be eliminated in Uptown while actively supporting the real estate developers who contribute thousands of dollars to his campaign — a major piece of why OPC is working hard to get him out of office.
James Cappleman, while representing the 46th Ward, has:
- Pushed homeless residents of the ward out of the closed Stewart Elementary School, then again from the Wilson and Lawrence viaducts,
- Allowed thousands of affordable housing units be eliminated in Uptown, going so far as to introduce legislation to close 250 units of affordable housing in Uptown, and an additional 450 citywide.
- Supported real estate developers who contribute thousands of dollars to his campaign,
- Used Aldermanic prerogative to give out at least 9 zoning changes and $15.8 million in TIFs from 2015 to 2017, receiving campaign donations from interested parties (ie, real estate developers and the people that worked for them) for all of those changes. This created 1200 unit of luxury apartments in Uptown, which increase local rents & property taxes and are directly linked to the loss of affordable housing.
- Stood by as SROs serving people experiencing homelessness, like Lawrence House and Wilson Men’s Hotel, were shut down, and replaced with luxury condos renting for 3-4 times more.
Don’t let James Cappleman change his story on affordable housing: the very poor of Uptown can’t afford another term of his ‘concern’.
Help ONE People’s Campaign clear out Cappleman, and all of his luxury developer friends: sign up to canvass today.