By Lizz Giordano and Sarah Kramer<\/p>\n
Candidates for Chicago\u2019s 10th<\/sup> Ward aldermanic seat called for more jobs and more police presence\u00a0for the economically depressed Southeast Side at an open forum in Hegewisch.<\/p>\n Five of the seven candidates running in the upcoming citywide elections <\/a>on February 24 appeared Thursday night before an audience of activists, residents and supporters. The contenders voiced frustration with City Hall and the current Ald. John Pope while calling for greater transparency in municipal politics.<\/p>\n Pope and candidate Juan Huizar did not attend the forum,\u00a0 sponsored by Hegewisch Opportunities for Positive Enrichment<\/a>, a neighborhood nonprofit. Pope\u2019s campaign said he was unable to attend due to a previous commitment.<\/p>\n Candidate Susan Sadlowski Garza called for a complete ban of petcoke due to the unacceptable conditions created by the 30-foot pet coke piles<\/a> along the Calumet River.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not by accident that the pet coke company came to the 10th<\/sup> ward, instead of the richer, shinier wards on the North Side,” Garza said during the forum. \u201cIt\u2019s not by accident that smells of Agri-Fine plants surround our neighborhoods and turn our stomachs with the smell.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Public safety, economic development and environmental concerns were at the forefront of the debate. Some candidates blamed Pope for allowing the storage petroleum coke, a byproduct of crude oil refining, to continue despite outcry from community members and environmentalists. Several candidates called for the outright ban of the material, commonly called pet coke.<\/p>\n Olga Bautista, an activist with the Southeast Side Coalition Against Petcoke, criticized Pope for allowing the tax incremental financing program to divert property taxes to fund private development.<\/p>\n