Yarif Vhora: 2nd Ward Primary Candidate questionnaire responses

Ahead of the February 28 primary, we submitted a questionnaire to 2nd and 3rd Ward candidates.

Questions were determined based on concerns residents’ raised to our newsroom over the past year.

For those who responded, we’ve posted their answers in the order in which they were received and are not edited in any way.

Here’s how 2nd Ward candidate Yarif Vhora responded to our questions.

The Harvey World Herald does not issue political endorsements, accept money from politicians or lobby organizations, nor do we participate in lobbying practices.

What motivated you to run for alderperson and what is your overall vision to create a more thriving, inclusive Harvey?

As I was enjoying the evening with my family at my home with our usual tea and cookies, we all were thrown off by a few bullets zipping through our living room and through my daughter’s bedroom. That made me decide that our city needs attention from a serious leader to shepherd our city to any livable city in America. I asked our city to let us know what the plan is to get our city there. What I got was the sound of crickets.

The lack of transparency and communication in the city of Harvey motivated me to run for Alderperson. My overall vision is to create a strong communication plan in which I will make sure that the agenda is published on the official City of Harvey social media sites and my official social media sites as well.

Map out your infrastructure agenda for Harvey residents.

Solar credit – We need to get more solar credit to our citizens so we can produce and consume more green energy. All CTA buses need to be moved to all green energy Work with Comed our utility provider to move towards more green energy production. Leverage the Infrastructure bill to get more dollars allocated to repair and lay down new roads across our city.

Detail how you would collaborate with county and state leadership to address the south suburban climate crisis.

I will continue to establish closer relationships with county and state-level leadership to make sure that we are heard. The way to get their attention is through strong leadership and showcasing the green energy movement that I am planning to champion for our city. Thought leadership can be achieved by partnering with local climate activists and working in our younger generation to hear and bubble up creative ideas that can be implemented in our city. Implementing creative ideas sparks interest within the county and state leadership.

Residents often complain about how city government is inaccessible and overly bureaucratic. How often will you hold ward meetings, and how will you communicate and engage with your residents? With young people?

Town Hall meetings – I will conduct monthly town hall meetings with residents. I will make sure that I bring to them the changes that will be discussed at the city hall meetings and get their feedback so that our resident ideas are being considered as part of all city hall decisions.

Youth of Harvey – Our youth are the future. I will set up a youth council as part of my team where they bring ideas and concerns to my attention. I will make sure that they are also involved in solving our residents’ concerns so that I can present them to our city council. I am a servant leader. The best way for me to exhibit this is by showing that to Harvey youth’s involvement in our city’s decision-making process.

What will you do to promote and preserve affordable housing in Harvey? Detail your larger housing policy agenda.

I will promote and preserve affordable housing in our city. I want to make sure that our own first responders can live in our own city. When we enable that our city starts to get safer and more prosperous. I will work with our Alderpersons that enable infrastructures that can be used to attract more people to move into our city.

Homicides in Harvey outpace every other community in Cook County, only second to Chicago, according to county data. Police are reactive, in that they respond to crime after it has already happened. What are policies or initiatives—not including policing—that you advocate for and/or implement to address root causes of crime and violence, preventative measures that create a safer Harvey for all?

Neighborhood watch – I will champion more neighborhood watch programs by partnering with our local police and fire teams.

Mental Health programs – I will work on getting funding from the county and state levels to focus on mental health programs for our residents. There are so many ways of therapies that are provided by leveraging technology that will help our residents in need to come out of various types of abuses.

What are structural and or institutional reforms you would advocate for and work to implement to hold Harvey Police Department officers accountable?

We have a good police force in our city. Like any other arm of the government, we can always continue to improve. I will partner with our Police Department on implementing additional culture-based, unbiased training and add additional technologies that can help improve our officer’s accountability.

In what ways will you implement new or build upon existing ethics reform ordinances?

I will work on enabling an unbiased third-party review of all our ethic-based ordinances. This is where I would encourage our youth of Harvey to be part of creating new or building on our existing ethical ordinances.

Black and Brown businesses disproportionately shouldered the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. How would you support small business development, sustainability, and job growth in your ward?

I totally agree that black and brown businesses have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Education/Training Programs – I would like to work with various not-for-profit organizations that help with training and education to make sure we can train and create the workforce our local small business need and expect.

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, throwing abortion rights in the balance. How will you work to affirm reproductive rights and access in Harvey and across the south suburbs?

Healthcare is a Human right!! I will work on making sure unbiased care is provided to everyone. It is important that residents get easy access to healthcare in our city.

COVID-19 is still ripping through communities, paving the way for a long-term, disability crisis with a healthcare system ill-equipped to keep up. Detail your healthcare policy platform with aims to improve healthcare outcomes for Harvey residents.

Environment of Access – As mentioned earlier, I will work hard on making sure that healthcare is accessible to every resident of Harvey.

Provider diversity index – I will work on making sure that we have a diverse provider based on the population of Harvey demographics. It is very important to get access to healthcare, but it is even more important to get the right care so that residents remain healthy.

Research and Development – I will work on getting the city of Harvey a place where healthcare organizations want to set up their research and development facilities.