Jeanette Taylor facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jeanette Taylor
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Taylor in 2020
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| Member of the Chicago City Council from the 20th Ward |
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| Assumed office May 20, 2019 |
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| Preceded by | Willie Cochran |
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| Born |
Jeanette Beatrice Taylor
May 15, 1975 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
Jeanette Beatrice Taylor (born May 16, 1975) is an American politician and a community organizer. A community organizer is someone who helps people in a neighborhood work together to solve problems. Jeanette Taylor is an alderman for Chicago, Illinois' 20th ward. An alderman is like a local representative who helps make decisions for a part of the city. She became a member of the Chicago City Council in May 2019. The City Council is a group of elected officials who make laws and decisions for the city. She won her election to take over from the previous alderman, Willie Cochran.
Early Life and Community Work
Jeanette Taylor was born in Chicago on May 15, 1975. Her mother worked for Chicago Public Schools, and her father was a taxi driver. She went to Dunbar Vocational High School.
When she was 19, Taylor was chosen to be part of the local school council for Mollison Elementary School. Her son attended that school. She worked on the school council for more than 20 years.
Taylor has also been an organizer for the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization. She is a member of other groups like People United for Action and United Working Families. In 2015, Taylor led a hunger strike. This was a protest where people refused to eat to make a point. Her protest helped stop the planned closure of Dyett High School.
Working in the City Council
Jeanette Taylor officially started her job on the Chicago City Council on May 20, 2019. In July 2019, Taylor and another alderman, Leslie Hairston, suggested a new rule. This rule was called a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA) ordinance. An ordinance is a local law. This CBA aimed to protect affordable housing near the planned Barack Obama Presidential Center.
Many aldermen supported this idea. However, in January 2020, the city's leader, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, supported a smaller version of the rule. Taylor did not agree with the smaller version. She continued to support the original CBA ordinance. In July 2020, they found a middle ground. Mayor Lightfoot's team, aldermen Taylor and Hairston, and community groups worked together. Taylor said this new agreement was a "step in the right direction." She also said more action was still needed.
In November 2019, Taylor was one of eleven aldermen who voted against Mayor Lori Lightfoot's first budget. A budget is a plan for how the city will spend its money. She and five other members of the Socialist Caucus wrote a letter to Mayor Lightfoot. They said the budget relied too much on property taxes. Property taxes are fees people pay based on the value of their homes. They also said the budget used "regressive funding models." This means the ways of getting money were harder on working-class people. They felt it was easier on wealthy people and large companies.
