My campaign website iswww.cadeforcook.com. While I do not have a housing-specific website, I am committed to prioritizing pro-growth policies.
Yes. The City of Chicago and the State of Illinois are both facing substantial housing shortages, and the 8th District of Cook County is no different. There is a particularly sharp deficit in affordable rental units, leaving those with lower incomes the most hard-hit by the shortage.
While I have not previously worked directly on pro-housing policies, I was proud to serve on the Board of Volunteers of America Illinois, which has developed multiple high-quality, affordable options for families in need of housing (with a particular focus on support services and for Veterans). VOA Illinois’s efforts prioritize housing and re-housing for those struggling with homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness, and seeks to address the significant cost burden borne by low income families, in particular. I am proud of VOA Illinois’ work and I look forward to building on my experience working with that organization to advance pro-housing policies at a broader level.
The County Board can lower housing costs by expanding funding for affordable housing. . Bringing down costs requires both building more housing and eliminating the barriers that make development expensive. The County is already doing this work, but must continue scaling its efforts.
In order for us to achieve this I support: increasing investment in affordable housing projects through collaboration with other branches of local government including the city and the state.
Supporting small businesses, particularly women entrepreneurs of color, whose success strengthens local economies and stabilizes neighborhoods affected by high housing costs.
Growing the Housing Authority’s rental assistance and mobility programs, which help families access high-opportunity neighborhoods without overburdening their budgets.
The County Board has a responsibility to use every tool available to lower costs for both subsidized and market-rate housing and strengthening the Cook County Land Bank is a key opportunity to build affordable housing and market rate housing in disinvested neighborhoods. The Land Bank should adopt clear standards that prioritize affordable housing development and homeownership over nonresidential uses (no more parking lots!). Because many of the Land Bank properties are located in historically disinvested Black and Brown communities, the County should look to successful models like Chicago’s “missing middle” initiative, which turns vacant lots into new housing that repairs the urban fabric and strengthens the tax base. To make development appealing, the Land Bank should seek to proactively upzone lots from single-family to multifamily before sale, reducing red tape, attracting more developers, and cutting costs that slow down housing production. These reforms would help expand housing options and ensure that growth benefits longtime residents. Cook County also owns vacant property that should be sold and developed into housing. I will push for any and all vacant county property in the 8th District to be developed into housing with affordability front and center.
I also believe that investing in eviction prevention is critical in supporting renters. As previously mentioned, the budget amendment I cosponsored for the 2026 Cook County budget would allow for $5.8 million in funds to be dedicated to renter assistance for tenants facing eviction in our courts. More specifically, through the County’s rental-assistance program, tenants can apply for emergency rental payments for past due rent, apply for up to $700 for court costs, and up to two months’ future rent to prevent housing displacement. I am also supportive of the Cook County Legal Aid for Housing and Debt initiative which provides mediation and legal services free of charge to homeowners facing foreclosure and renters facing eviction. These services are available to County residents in multiple languages, regardless of immigration status.
Lastly, we cannot ignore that property tax increases are often passed down to renters. Our property tax system is incredibly regressive. We must find alternative sources of revenue and cap property tax increase so that families are not displaced. More detailed information under question 11.
7) The Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act (AHPAA) is a state law that requires every Illinois municipality whose housing stock is less than 10% affordable to develop plans to increase the amount of affordable housing in the community. Fourteen of the 44 municipalities subject to the law are in Cook County and of those 14 communities, only eight submitted plans before the deadline—only three of which were deemed compliant.
Given these struggles of attaining and enforcing compliance, what would you do to ensure Cook County’s most affluent communities are planning for and building their fair share of affordable housing?
Cook County should work with State officials to explore adding a “builder’s remedy” provision to the AHPAA like the state of California. To promote affordable housing, the remedy should include a designated percentage of affordable housing units for multi-family housing in non-compliant municipalities. We know from the Impact for Equity report that many Chicago suburbs (some that are in Cook County) are not building affordable housing units and a builder’s remedy can cut the red tape so that affordable housing can be built.
I believe Cook County should rezone unincorporated land near transit for equitable transit-oriented development and dense mixed-use development.
The County must make it easier for developers to take over vacant lots and to develop housing options on them. The Cook County Land Bank Authority is one existing resource that the County could use to make vacant lots available to responsible developers.
Local, community-based developers and nonprofit organizations, in particular, should be enabled and empowered to participate in the bidding process for vacant lots. Through my own involvement as a Board member of Volunteers of America Illinois I saw firsthand the remarkable impact that nonprofits can have in building and maintaining dignified, affordable housing to members of the community at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness, and in creating a positive economic impact in an underserved community at the same time.
Effective oversight of any program to sell vacant lots should evaluate baseline criteria like the number of vacant properties sold, the number of properties successfully developed, jobs created, and local economic impact. Yet the program should also track community perceptions of neighborhood revitalization, the number of local, reputable developers participating in acquisition and rehabilitation projects, and turnaround timelines. Accelerating the time from sale to development, while ensuring alignment with the broader goals of affordable housing expansion and economic growth, will be key to the success of such a program.
10) A top concern for Cook County residents is high property taxes, which increase the cost of living for both homeowners and renters. Future pension obligations, among other obligations and services, will require increasing revenue for both the County and its municipalities. How can the County responsibly mitigate individual property tax burdens?
As noted above, an increase in housing stock is key to many of the challenges facing Cook County. This is true for our unsustainable and unbearable individual property tax burdens. Our property tax system needs to be reformed to create a simpler, more transparent, and more reliable assessment process. The County Board can also mitigate individual property tax burdens by promoting policies that will yield an increase in housing and attracting new residents to Cook County in order to expand the tax base. All options should be on the table for increasing housing stock. Ultimately, stable revenue for the City of Chicago and Cook County will come from diversified sources, a growing population, and growth-oriented policies, but should not rely on property tax rate increases as a solution.
