AustinTalks (http://austintalks.org/tag/dwayne-truss/)
About 50 people gathered at La Follette Park Friday before marching to Chicago Board of Education member Dwayne Truss’ residence. They were protesting the contract between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Police Department, and calling on Truss to vote against the contract at CPS’ Aug. 26th meeting.
Half of Austin’s public schools are categorized as underutilized in a recently released report. Another report gave two of Austin’s 13 Austin elementary and high schools a higher rating than the year before, while four schools saw a drop in their ratings.
The first-term alderman won another four years on the Chicago City Council, beating Dwayne Truss and Zerlina A. Smith. Incumbents Emma Mitts (37th) and Jason Ervin (28th) also easily won re-election.
Voters in the 29th Ward have three aldermanic candidates to choose from: Ald. Chris Taliaferro, Dwayne Truss and Zerlina A. Smith. There are 14 mayoral candidates, including two who have strong West Side ties: Austin Chamber of Commerce Amara Enyia and state Rep. La Shawn Ford.
Three weeks before the Feb. 26th election, the three aldermanic candidates answered questions about a number of issues at an event organized by Austin Coming Together and South Austin Neighborhood Association.
The three candidates running for alderman – Zerlina Smith, Chris Taliaferro and Dwayne Truss – will answer questions at the nonpartisan event, which will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 5th at Michele Clark High School. The South Central Neighbors Association, Chicago Westside Branch of the NAACP and Austin Coming Together are co-sponsors.
Residents in the 29th Ward will have three candidates to choose from when early voting begins this week. First-term Ald. Chris Taliaferro is being challenged by Dwayne Truss and Zerlina A. Smith. A fourth candidate was knocked off the Feb. 26th ballot.
Michele Clark Principal Charles Anderson Jr. said many students who attend elementary school in Austin leave the community for high schools that offer an IB program, especially if they were already enrolled in the program. The hope is that having a high school program in Austin would keep some of those students in Austin.
Dwayne Truss hopes to raise at least $100,000 for his campaign. The incumbent, Ald. Chris Taliaferro, plans to seek reelection in February 2019.
Later this year, Austin Polytechnical Academy and Austin Entrepreneurship and Business Academy will close, while VOISE Academy will remain open.