Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Vote Early, Your Vote Counts, Election March 18th, Re-Elect "Toni" Berrios, Housing Matters, LV Community Meeting, YouTube

            
VOTE EARLY: The Democratic Primary Election is Tuesday, March 18, 2014. Early voting began March 3-15 at 51 Chicago sites. All sites are open Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information call the Chicago Board of Elections at 312/269-7900.
           RE-ELECT: State Representative Maria Antonia “Toni” Berrios [D-39th District] is seeking re-election in the March 18, 2014 Primary Democratic election. She is serving her sixth term in the Illinois General Assembly as the 39th District State Representative. Her district, on the North side of Chicago, includes parts of the Avondale, Belmont, Cragin, Hermosa, Logan Square and Portage Park neighborhoods.        
          
Center: State Rep. Toni Berrios surrounded by friends.

              REPRESENTATIVE TONI BERRIOS continues to serve as a full-time legislator with a proven record of advocating for issues that are important to the residents of the 39th District. Representative Berrios is very aware and involved with education issues in Illinois. She has fought for many after school programs and for better wages for teachers. She has worked hard on House Bill 3872, H.B. 3027, H.B. 3718 and H.B. 4420.
           REPRESENTATIVE Berrios co-sponsored House Bill 3872, which was initiated by a mother whose special needs child was abused and assaulted by his bus driver and aide. In an attempt to prevent this horrific incidence from reoccurring and find liability of those responsible, HB3872 will require recording devices, both visual and audio, on public school buses that transport special needs children. This bill will protect children.
           REP. BERRIOS supported the efforts of protecting the health of adolescents provided by HB 3027. This bill requires that if a public school offers sexual health education in grades 6-12, then the curriculum must be medically-accurate and age-appropriate. She also sponsored the Minimum Wage Law, House Bill 3718, which would raise the minimum wage for workers across the state this year. “It is a disservice to our society when thousands of workers are working full-time hours, are still living below the poverty line,” said Berrios. If passed, the proposed bill will steadily increase the minimum wage incrementally to $9.25 per hour on October 1, 2014, $10 per hour on July 1, 2015, and $10.65 per hour on July 1, 2016.
           STATE REP. “Toni” Berrios filed legislation House Bill 4420 allowing all workers to access paid sick days. The law would require employers with 20 or more employees to offer paid sick time to their employees regardless of their full-time or part-time work status. This legislation proposes that for every 40 hours an employee works, their employer must grant them a minimum of one hour of paid sick time, with a minimum of 2 sick days per calendar year.
                       ENDORSEMENTS: Rep. Berrios is endorsed by the Democratic Party, State AFL-CIO, Hispanic American Labor Council. Give Maria Antonia “Toni” Berrios your VOTE!          

LV COMMUNITY MEETING: A Little Village Community meeting was held Thursday, Feb. 27, 2014 at Epiphany Church hall. More than 100 residents of Little Village attended the meeting, which was hosted by the Little Village Community Council and H.O.P.E.
           THIS WAS the fifth [5th] Little Village community meeting that Ald. Ricardo Munoz [22nd Ward] has missed. Munoz has been invited to speak on the Public Housing Project on 26th St. & Kostner Ave. which he wants to build. Not only does Munoz refuse to attend the community meetings; but he fails to give a reason why he won’t attend the meetings.
           A DOZEN speakers at the Epiphany meeting expressed their complaints against Ald. Munoz. The complaints range from not answering phone calls, never in his office, ignores the needs of the residents, to being inaccessible and difficult to get an appointment with. “We have to vote him out of office,” said a resident. The people cheered. The residents in Little Village opposed the public housing project.
           MUNOZ’S PUBLIC housing is of no benefit to the Little Village neighborhood. The following is what Little Village needs on 26th St. and Kostner Ave.:
[1] Youth Center.
[2] Senior Social Club.
[3] State of the Art park.
[4] Soccer Field.
[5] Mexican Cultural Center.
[6] Mexican Museum
[7] Military Museum
[8] Vocational Trade School 
 [9] Strip Mall with retail stores or service establishments. 
 [10] Cinema Theater         
            ANOTHER COMMUNITY meeting is being planned in Little Village for the month of March.  Click on YouTube: Stop LV Public Housing Project.