Food with Attitude: January 2011

- Enrique for 2nd Ward Alderman
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  My Ten Point Plan to Help 2nd Ward Residents Find Jobs and to Promote Job Growth in the 2nd Ward
  
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  1) Hold regular job fairs - This goes after the “low hanging fruit” by bringing job seekers to jobs that are currently available.
  
  2) Turn part of my office into an information exchange/employment center - Because of the nature of the office, an alderman is uniquely positioned to know about job opportunities that are available in the ward and beyond.
  
  3) Work with specific businesses to locate/expand/hire in the ward - By working through existing channels, such as chambers of commerce, City departments, and businesses inquiring about locating/expanding in the ward, an alderman can help to bring more jobs that are local.
  
  4) Refer residents in need of work to available services - Both the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago have offices/departments that are in a position to lend assistance to job seekers.
  
  5) Advocate for financial and regulatory stability at City Hall - The City’s finances are a mess, and its regulatory climate is not the most business friendly. This discourages job creation by discouraging businesses from locating or expanding in Chicago. As alderman I will push strongly for greater financial and regulatory stability at City Hall.
  
  6) Improve the public transportation system in Chicago. As alderman, I will advocate for repairing and improving the CTA. With a properly funded and well-operated public transportation system, residents who currently live in undeserved neighborhoods would have an easier time getting to jobs that might already be available but very inconvenient to get to.
  
  7) Promote and expand the use of trade schools - For whatever reason, not everyone is going to go to college. A trade school is an alternate choice to consider. While this might mean a formalized program that a student gets into after high school or at some point later in life as a career change, more thought needs to be given to having a trade school component available at the high school level. As alderman, I would work directly with the administrations of all the high schools in the 2nd Ward to see where/how a “trades” program could be implemented.
  
  8) Partner specific schools with specific businesses to implement a cooperative education or internship program - I would look at doing this at the high school level. Also, I would explore a modified “work study” program at the high school level similar in principle to what is used at the college level. Both this point and the point above would go a long way towards beginning to address the high chronic unemployment rate among teenagers and young adults.
  
  9) Create a long-term plan for developing those areas of the ward (and the City) that are currently undeveloped vacant lots. This brings into consideration the zoning process, community plans, potential businesses that can open up shop, and a need for more transparency around this process. As for “potential businesses,” I would like to see commercial and light manufacturing businesses open shop in the 2nd Ward as well as retail. There are over 800 city-owned lots in the 2nd Ward, so many job and development opportunities already exist. What is needed is the political leadership to make this happen.
  
  10) Expand the use of “Enterprise Zones” in the ward

TO BE A GREAT LEADER YOU MUST BE A GREAT FOLLOWERS!

Two important things a great leader must have are:

1. "Double vision" - Great leaders have a "vision" of what being a great leader means for them -they know what it looks like and feel like and they act accordingly by practicing good leadership skills. It also means having "vision" In this case I mean the ability to talk about the future as if it were already here. Steve Jobs often does this. He creates a clear picture in people's minds of how a new product will change the world -- before it's even launched. He gets people excited about the future he sees in his mind. That's an innate talent. Stepping out on a limb like that comes much more naturally to some people than to others. But if you haven't got that skill, you can develop it. It's not so much about your own technical expertise as it is about inspiring other people to be better at what they.

2. The ability to be a great follower. Along with the skill of vision and leading comes the skill of "ability to follow". What I mean by this is the ability to identify and follow the patterns of success within your organization-follow the footsteps of others who are "great leaders". Here is what other great minds say about this concept.

In Reinventing Leadership, Warren Bennis wrote, "Good leaders should also be good followers. If you're coming up within an organization, you must be a good follower or you're not going to get very far. Leaders and followers share certain characteristics such as listening, collaborating, and working out competitive issues with peers