This morning, I joined LGBTQ leaders to call on Paul Vallas to stop misinforming Chicagoans on his record on LGBTQ issues & bring attention to his 25+ yr pattern of anti-LGBTQ actions. When Vallas has been in a powerful position, he's used that power to harm the LGBTQ community: While Paul Vallas and his campaign claim he “has a track record of significant contributions to the LGBTQ+ civil rights movement,” Paul Vallas has a quarter-century-long record of anti-LGBTQ decisions:

A 🧵 for progressive/liberal Chicago voters considering a strategic vote:

I worked on Chuy's 2015 runoff campaign. Here are two reasons Chuy lost –

1. He's a bad public speaker/debater (he performed very poorly on the runoff debate stage).

2. He's terrible with Black voters. A Chuy - Vallas runoff would create an opening for Vallas that wouldn't be there with Lori or Brandon. Chuy is the weakest candidate we could send to the runoff.

2021 is coming to an end. This year has been a whirlwind of activity in our @35th_Ward, in part (and in spite of) the on-going COVID-19 pandemic. As we wrap up this year, here are just some of the things we’ve accomplished together in 2021: Our 35th Ward Office organized COVID mobile testing sites, and mobile vaccination clinics throughout the year. We also continued our pandemic outreach to seniors - helping hundreds of ward seniors sign up for their first dose of the COVID vaccine via our phone banking operation.

I'm in Peru with @DemSocialists and @ProgIntl to serve as an international observer of the June 6 presidential runoff election.

Peruvians will choose between leftist @PedroCastilloTe, an educator and union leader, and rightwing @KeikoFujimori, daughter of the former dictator. Yesterday, our delegation met with leaders from Peru's:

(1) Rondas Campesinas (Indigenous & peasant self-management),

(2) Mesa de Abogados por la Democracia (Table of Lawyers for Democracy), and

(3) Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (National Human Rights Coordinator)

As we celebrate the end of this difficult year and welcome 2021, I’d like to take an opportunity to review the past year in our 35th Ward. Thread🧵👇🏽 We started this year by passing our 606 demolition moratorium, which has helped preserve our built environment, promote environmentally sustainable building practices, and protect affordable two- and three-flat apartment buildings near the 606 trail. chicago.curbed.com/2020/1/7/21054…

Chicago Police Superintendent Brown is before the City Council Budget Committee today to testify on CPD's 2021 budget. Under Mayor Lightfoot's #Chi2021budget proposal, CPD takes a greater percentage of the corporate fund, increasing from 37% in 2020 to 39% in 2021. #DefundCPD From 2014 (the year Laquan McDonald was killed) to 2019, CPD's budget increased by $300 million. During that same time period, mental health services only saw a $3 million increase. #DefundCPD

Gov. Pritzker announced IL's COVID-19 metrics and regulations months ago. Mayor Lightfoot knew that if cases continued to rise the state's metrics and regulations would close restaurants to indoor dining. Despite this, she opened bars to indoor partying. blockclubchicago.org/2020/10/28/lig… As reported by NPR in August: "Public health experts and top health officials, including the Dr. Tony Fauci, say the evidence is abundantly clear: When bars open, infections tend to follow." npr.org/sections/healt…

Two unarmed protesters were shot while attempting to disarm a white supremacist gunman in Kenosha. They were shot while protecting their community from white supremacist violence, during protests against state-sanctioned white supremacist violence. In the US we call them "race riots," hiding the truth that we have a long history of white supremacist vigilantes working with white supremacist police to commit white supremacist violence and terrorism. It happened in Rhode Island in 1824, in Chicago in 1919, in Tulsa in 1921.

Here's a Biden supporter, or an account claiming to be one, arguing that Biden's homophobic comments makes Biden more electable. I would file this comment under homophobic harrassment. But here's the thing: this comment won't lead me to vote for Trump if Biden is the Dem nominee. Why? Because I have no idea who is behind the account. Because a nasty comment from someone claiming to be a "supporter" of any given candidate should not matter when I decide who I want to be my president. You know what should matter? The candidate's track record and positions.

A thread: In my four years on the Chicago City Council I’ve faced anti-immigrant, anti-Latinx, and homophobic harassment from some of my colleagues. Until now I’ve remained quiet about the harassment I’ve received because it’s not about me, it’s about us, and I've felt there are much bigger systemic issues that require our energy and attention.