Vincent Rose, a resident of the 7th Ward, and also a police officer, said that when election time rolls around, people should vote for him because he is the right man to fill the role.
Ald. Sandi Jackson resigned from City Council last year, as federal investigators looked into her finances. After Mayor Rahm Emanuel created a panel to consider a replacement, Natashia Lynnette Holmes was selected.
With election time quickly approaching, Rose wants people to know that he can be trusted and will be there for them.
“I don’t think the leadership in the past was about the community and I’m about the community,” he said.
He volunteers, almost every weekend, with the Rainbow Push Coalition. Before becoming an officer with Cook County, Rose held a corporate job with General Motors. He also holds both a law and master’s degree.
Besides living in the 7th Ward, he said his job allows him to get to know people in the ward.
“While on the streets, I see all types of violence in the community, and I have the opportunity to talk to the ones committing the violent acts.”
Rose is assigned to a unit that deals with domestic violence. “My unit reduces some of that violence in the community with the enforcement,” he said.
Rose said he recognizes the key things the 7th Ward needs. Jobs. For some people, such as couples, the lack of resources brings issues into the home.
“Because people are frustrated with the inability to provide for their family, they argue about money issues and those things can often turn toxic,” he said.
Rose said that if elected, he will ensure that more job opportunities are created in the community and actually given to the residents. He has already begun meeting with people who can make that happen. He is meeting with contractors who are willing to provide technical training, grocery store owners, clothes manufactures and so on. His grassroots ties, mixed with his corporate experience allows him to represent the ward and bring the people what they need, he said.
“I’ve been working with entrepreneurs, those who want to put people to work,” Rose said. “We need to employ our own people in the 7th ward.”
Doing this will build up the sense of pride that Black communities once had, he added. Once that returns, the violence will decrease, he said. “People have to work to feel apart of the community,” Rose said.
The ward is experiencing the job crisis problem because of a combination of things, Rose said. Previous leadership hasn’t done enough and the people haven’t been demanding the change as much as they should have, he said.
“These things will continue to happen,” Rose said. “We need to hold leadership accountable, we have to ask, but we aren’t asking them to do anything.”
“We have lost hope in our communities and we’re just taking it, but we we don’t have to,” he said.
He is for change and said that the community is past due for one.
“The entire image of the community needs to be altered,” Rose said.
“It has to be someone new, it has to be someone who has not had anything attached to them in a negative sense and I consider myself to be the image change the ward needs.”
To contact his campaign office or to donate, visit his website.
The full candidate list for the Nov. 4, 2014 General Election will be available in September.
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