Violence in Chicago at forefront of latest mayoral forum between Lightfoot, Preckwinkle

CHICAGO (FOX 32) - Chicago’s bloody street violence was one dominant topic Wednesday night at a mayoral forum. 

Runoff rivals Lori Lightfoot and Toni Preckwinkle said it's a big reason hundreds of thousands of residents have left Chicago. Both candidates linked the epidemic of gun violence in parts of the South Side and West Side to all the other troubles they face.

“Businesses are not going to invest,” said Lightfoot. “We're going to have a difficult time rebuilding our neighborhood school system. We're going to have challenges in rebuilding the social safety net to make sure that we're eliminating the medical, the food, the pharmacy, the mental health deserts.”

“If we don't invest in our neighborhoods, we're not going to be able to have a world-class city,” said Preckwinkle. “We need to hold our police accountable. We have to end the code of silence in the police department and the racism that permeates it.”

Neither candidate provided a direct answer when asked about raising taxes to cope with huge debts for public employee pensions. 

When asked about a solution for homelessness, Lightfoot said she would raise up to $60 million with a new tax.

“We have proposed a graduated real estate transfer tax, that will give relief for people whose homes are valued at $500,000 or less, but will increase that amount going up,” said Lightfoot.

Another forum airs Tuesday night at 6 p.m. on FOX 32. It will also stream on FOX32Chicago.com and the FOX 32 Chicago Facebook page.