Raising Hell in Chicago with Tara Stamps

David Martin: This is the good government show.

Tara Stamps: I was appointed and I was appointed after, serving, as a, as a teacher for 25 years, which I loved. And being an administrator of the Chicago Teachers Union, which I love. And, having run for a local government. My philosophy is that I never lose. I either win or I learn. Good government is a government that listens and responds to the needs of the people in the most reasonable time, and does not allow the philosophy of can’t, not, don’t, and can’t afford to get in the way of improving the quality of people’s lives.

One of the reasons that people don’t engage in politics is because we talk to them in this other worldly way, make it makes sense to people, and I think people engage more. I think sometimes you need a good hell raiser.

David Martin: we see Democratic National Convention in Chicago this week. We thought it’d be good to check in with Chicago and Cook County. Get ready. You’re about to hear a very lively discussion. If there’s such a thing as Chicago royalty, Cook County Commissioner Tara Stamps. Well, she may well be that her mother was a very well known local activist.

So growing up, she meant all the city’s bigwigs. Then she became a teacher working in Chicago’s Cabrini Green neighborhood, which was once one of the roughest neighborhoods in Chicago. But it’s much improved today. And one of the new teachers she was helping was a young seventh grade social studies teacher. And guess what? She became a mentor teacher. And that young man became Chicago’s current mayor, Brandon Johnson.

And she’s very impressed with the mayor and what he’s become. We talk about a lot of issues, starting about her working with Commission President Tony Preckwinkle, and we’ve had Tony Preckwinkle on the Good Government Show in a past episode. And she’s a Chicago legend. We talk about how gun control is needed, but we also talk about how Chicago’s crime is truly on the decline.

And we talk about Chicago and the good government that Commissioner Stamps is working to help to improve her hometown. So join me as we check in on Chicago. This is the Chicago folks the convention may not see or hear about, but this is a real inside look at Cook County with a very engaging Tara Stamps. And you’re going to meet her after this.

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Welcome to the good Government show. I am very happy to have at long last Tara Stamp a county commissioner from Cook county, Chicago, Illinois. Thank you for letting me pursue you all day. And thanks for sitting down and talking to this.

Tara Stamps: Are very welcome. I’m happy to be here.

David Martin: Thank you. I’m happy to have you. I have talked to, Tony Preckwinkle, who is a county commissioner in Chicago. We talked.

Tara Stamps: She’s the county board.

David Martin: President and county board president. You’re right. Thank you for the correction. and a bit of a legend and a bit of a legend. A bit of a legend. Chicago. what’s it like to serve with her?

Tara Stamps: Let me let me tell you, first of all, when I arrived to the county board last, June, I was very well received. People had, you know, there were people there who knew me. There was also people there that knew my mother, like John Daly.

David Martin: Yeah.

Tara Stamps: and so I would I was sitting there and just kind of, like, otherworldly, very surreal moment looking up at my mom like, can you believe that? John Daly is like, oh, up here? Yes. but he was so loving and so warm in and in and shares so much, and what it’s like working for her. She so humble, like, as much as she is a legend, she’s also the person that calls you personally.

David Martin: Yes.

Tara Stamps: to ask you your thoughts on any kind of legislation that she’s trying to pass. She’s also the person that will call you personally to say thank you. She’s also the person who, never allows anybody to make her plate, and never allows you to, like, do this kind of, we call it staffing her in a way that makes one feel subservient to the other.

David Martin: Okay.

Tara Stamps: so she’s she’s very loved. She’s also this woman who loves young people and loves to pass out books as gifts. that’s something I’ve got my own heart and she’s willing to share her expertise and her insight, and always make sure that you have the resources that you need to be successful.

David Martin: And that’s got to help as a new.

Tara Stamps: Thing that has to help so much, because, you know, I’ve even said, you know, we kind of need a better onboarding process. And she was completely open to that. And because I was sharing with my experience had been and I’m like, there’s just a better way to do this, particularly since, you know, some people get appointed. Not all of it is just really, you know, like this four year terms and.

Right. Y’all come in. I was appointed.

David Martin: How did that happen?

Tara Stamps: We’re going to have, two more appointments that come after me this year.

David Martin: Okay. are you going to be nice to them on the way in?

Tara Stamps: I’m going to be spectacular on the way to that. I’m a teacher. I want people to learn. but I was appointed, and I was appointed after, serving, as a as a teacher for 25 years, which I loved, and being an administrator of the Chicago Teachers Union, which I love. And, having run for our local government as, Chicago alderwoman.

David Martin: Okay.

Tara Stamps: did not win.

David Martin: You did not prevail.

Tara Stamps: Did not prevail. But I however, I did not lose, right? No, that was two opportunities for real learning in real time. Okay. So so my philosophy is that I never lose. I either. Winter I.

David Martin: Learned Abraham Lincoln lost more while he lost more or less.

Tara Stamps: What I’m saying. So I learned a lot. And I learned my neighbors better.

David Martin: People call them constituents.

Tara Stamps: but I like to say neighbors. I think constituents makes it sound so transactional. And neighbors kind of just as a warmer feeling because I want for my neighbors what I want for myself. So having that, philosophy means that I organize and activate a little bit differently. And so at any rate, having said all of that, I, I was also worked really hard in our now mayor election brand.

And Johnson and I have these experiences. So my name was being floated around as a potential, you know, and then I have you.

David Martin: Have a background.

Tara Stamps: I got a background and I got to work ethic.

David Martin: And just beyond being a teacher’s union organizer. So, you mentioned that your mother, especially.

Tara Stamps: My mother, was a long time activist in the Cabrini-Green in North area. Her name was Marion Stamp. So she raised a lot of hell for a lot of years.

David Martin: Right.

Tara Stamps: I inherited some of that. Just sometimes you need a good hell raiser.

David Martin: Just. So,

Tara Stamps: You’re going to say some for now? I think there are others who would disagree, but, you know, they have not felt the full.

David Martin: They have. They have not the full force.

Tara Stamps: so you’re.

David Martin: Starting off slowly.

Tara Stamps: I am, we’re trying to warm them up so they know what to expect out.

David Martin: I believe.

Tara Stamps: And so, anyway, so I was, I was I prevailed in and out of six, candidates to be appointed and then I had to run in a special election where I won by 85%. All right. In a special.

David Martin: Lecture, everyone’s behind you, and you’re just.

Tara Stamps: I think they agreed with the appointment.

David Martin: All right, so what’s going on? And what’s going on in Cook County? What are you working on with the. Good. Okay, so I tell you.

Tara Stamps: What’s what’s so like important to me personally. And I’m kind of figuring out how do you build momentum around these things that are important. And I think this is important to everybody around this country if you’re looking at housing. Right. And so my, my thinking around housing is if you are unhoused, none of the other stuff really matters, like the housing insecurity impacts your ability to hold down a job, your ability to get clean.

If that’s the issue, your ability to be, to reenter communities of your formerly incarcerated to learn it, it it impacts negatively any other avenue. of success. Right. And so I’m looking at housing from our vulnerable seniors who, you know, are attacked in many ways and assessments are going up and houses been paid for for years. But now there’s an issue with the taxes to the issue of people just working class people every day.

that don’t have the benefit of a, of an elderly freeze or senior freeze or these other exemptions, but their property taxes and assessments are going up 40%, right? In a.

David Martin: Year. Yep.

Tara Stamps: two even young people who are wards of the state, and as soon as they are liberated from the state rolls, they become homeless almost instantly. So that’s my concern. And then, of course, being a classroom teacher, so what I’m doing about it. So just on Monday, it’s starting with the learning. I think everything start with an understanding of how it all works, because it’s so convoluted and it’s so bureaucratic and so, you know, you can have all the intentions in the world.

But if you don’t understand how each entity plays a role, it’s hard to convey that to your neighbors so that they can have any, agency.

David Martin: Is an education the best way out of a bad situation?

Tara Stamps: Yes, education is the best way out of a bad situation, but it’s not people being undereducated necessarily that’s impacting, their their ability to be able to afford their mortgage or pay their taxes. Right? So those are not mutually exclusive situations. Right? So I mean, I have three degrees and I, you know, I hate my tax bill to.

David Martin: Oh, you know when I say taxes I.

Tara Stamps: Was stunned too. Yeah. So I don’t want to say like, you know, as much as I am certainly an advocate for education and I do believe that education, education is the pathway to make substantial difference in the quality of your life. There are people who are well educated that are still feeling the brunt of, what I deem is a, inequitable tax assessment situation in the city of Chicago and Cook County that is causing housing insecurity for marginalized communities across the board.

so on Monday, this past Monday, I had a roundtable. I co-hosted a roundtable with Mayor Nathaniel Booker, and we brought in all of the folks from county that have anything to do with taxes and assessments and properties, from the Treasurer’s office to clerk’s office, the land bank office, the assessor’s office, the Board of Review, some mayors, some alders.

And I said, I don’t want this to be adversarial. I want this to be a conversation, and I want it to be a rooted in education and understanding about what’s at stake. and it was it yielded some pretty good answers. And so now the next step is really, digging and deep on the state level and with the assessor’s office to see what relief can be brought to people in real time.

David Martin: When I spoke with, President Tony Preckwinkle, we talked about guns. And she was, very adamant and strident in her desire to get the guns. Are we going to get the guns?

Tara Stamps: I believe that. I believe that my president and the mayor of the city of Chicago and hundreds of thousands of city of Chicago, Cook County residents want the guns off the street. But we cannot do this work alone. We have to have the federal government to pass some common sense legislation around gun reform.

David Martin: Right.

Tara Stamps: and so that’s hard. It’s been very difficult because, you know, they feel beholden to some people who love guns. Yes. even as they are used to, to go into elementary schools and kill children. Right. And educators and people at the grocery store and on the mall and people on the street. And so I don’t, I think that the mental health crisis that we are experiencing in our country has not, eluded, some of our lawmakers.

I think they themselves to suffer from some form of mental illness where they cannot, pass legislation that’s for the good of the country as a whole. And it doesn’t mean that you can’t have that’s, you know, your, your, your rifle to go shoot some harmless animals if that’s your thing. But we want to save children and we want to save lives.

And so it’s going to take a lot of people who are well intentioned and moral, have a moral compass that points towards justice to do so.

David Martin: Are there things that you can do at the local level?

Tara Stamps: I mean, there are things that we’ve tried at the local level. I’m not sure how successful those have been. Right. They’re all kind of programs to Cook County about turning the guns in. And yeah, you know, all of these other efforts that I’ve been made aware of, and I don’t want to speak out of turn about what my capacity is at this time.

Right. to get the guns off the street. Because to be quite frank with you, that’s just not anything that I like have delved into. Right? Right. And I’m not the person we like. Oh, yeah. Let’s, you know. No. Yeah. I’m not sure how we attack this, but I know that the local municipalities and local government are trying and they’re trying and and not experiencing as much success as we want, even though homicides are down and all of the stats are down.

But the feeling.

David Martin: Right.

Tara Stamps: Is not is not safety. Even though, just last week, Chicago was voted like the second best city in the country. Right. So there’s also this tale of two cities about how we market Chicago. Right? So yes, we market is like, oh my God, bang bang, gang gang. There’s guns everywhere and people are dying the street. Oh, and it’s the best place to live ever.

So yo, what’s the whole truth down there. So I also believe. But this is Tara. Yeah, completely. Tara, that violence is also a tool to force people out much in a place right in the hands of gentrification. It plays right in the hands of other things and other tools that are used to scare harm people, to push them out, while those communities get bought up.

Not 20 years ago, Humble Park was this so, oh my God, it’s so dangerous to go to Humble Park now. It’s like this wonderful community. Why? Because they gentrified the hell out of it and then didn’t put any money into it until they gentrified it. So what would happen? So I want to push back on the people about this.

Like what would happen if we actually invested in our communities and we had investment without displacement? Could we then turn the tide on what we’re seeing in our communities because people would actually feel safe, our schools would be better performing, our streets would be nicer. We have grocery stores and these green spaces and all these other things that make a community feel good and be safe.

Can we do that and still have black people there? Yeah, I’m just asking.

David Martin: Yeah.

Tara Stamps: I’m just throwing it out there.

David Martin: Just just an idea.

Tara Stamps: Just an idea.

David Martin: Now, your county commissioner, this.

Tara Stamps: Is my point. And so wherever I go and whatever I can be a part of, I’m, I’m development without displacement. I believe that we can invest in our communities, like, on the West side, and that the people who have been there and have experienced the harm can also experience the healing.

David Martin: This sounds a lot like the government. Yes, she said. She shrugged and smiled and said, yes. Yes. She nodded. She nodded. I understand that, you have a relationship with the, current mayor. Brandon Johnson, new mayor of Chicago. Get that.

Tara Stamps: From.

David Martin: I you know, we talked.

Tara Stamps: As it turns.

David Martin: Out.

Tara Stamps: Funny enough, I do. Funny thing happened.

David Martin: Yes.

Tara Stamps: No, I actually had the the very unique pleasure of being his mentor teacher when, now, mayor Brandon Johnson was just a lowly seventh grade social studies teacher with dreadlocks down his back to his waist.

David Martin: he was a seventh grade teacher.

Tara Stamps: He was a seventh grade social studies teacher at Jenner Academy of the Arts.

David Martin: Right.

Tara Stamps: in Cabrini Green, USA.

David Martin: And for folks who don’t know, summarize Cabrini Green briefly.

Tara Stamps: So Cabrini Green, as Mary Archer, it was one of the largest housing development, public housing developments in the country. and it also produced some amazing, amazing people, like Curtis Mayfield, like Ramsey Lewis, like Mary Ann Stamps and Tower stamps, although my mother came from Jackson, Mississippi. So I don’t know if that’s quite to say how.

So whenever, I was, the, the most senior middle school teacher in the chair of the middle school department when Mayor Johnson sought a job there. And so I sat in on his interview. I voted to hire him and then spent the next, about seven years, maybe those first three just kind of coaching me. And so from that, he strengthened my activism in union labor and in unionism.

And I helped him as a classroom teacher. And he’s gone on to do amazing things. And our union has grown and really built up our political arm and have successfully placed.

David Martin: Are you still mentoring him now that he’s mayor?

Tara Stamps: I am no, I’m, I tried to like, you know, I was.

David Martin: Able to talk. I think he blocked me. Do you.

Tara Stamps: Think? I think I’m on this list.

David Martin: I can’t believe that you. Who would do that to you?

Tara Stamps: Because I kept sending, like, these little text messages like. Commissioner, don’t text like everything I’ve been before you. but no, we do, we do talk. and when I inherited the the office, when I inherited the city.

David Martin: You must have done something right.

Tara Stamps: I think so, yeah, right. I think, you know, I think it was said it’s always the right time to be on the right side, to do the right thing. And, if that’s all I got, that I’m good with that. And, and I think this mayor is trying to do the exact same thing. Of course, it’s been difficult, but I believe that ultimately he will he will be remembered as a great, great man because he is a great man.

And I think it’s hard to be great in a city that’s not used to great people. I think it’s hard to be, great in a city that’s not used to compassion and thoughtfulness and kindness. I think it’s hard to be great in a in a city that doesn’t, hasn’t always prioritized young people and who has not always been unashamed to, to to lead and their faith and in their blackness and in his being a father in, and, and a husband, I think it’s difficult, for a black man to occupy that kind of space in that seat of power.

But I think he’s doing an amazing job against all odds. And I think he’ll continue to be great. And and history will bear that out.

David Martin: You are the second teacher I’ve talked to today who has gone on to becoming county commissioner. What is it about that job that sets you up to be a county commissioner.

Tara Stamps: Prepares you for everything. You should hire a teacher to run the country. We know how to budget. Yes, we know how to negotiate relationships. We know how to get the best out of the lease.

David Martin: Are you announcing you run for president? You know, not quite.

Tara Stamps: Not today. But I’m saying if this country wanted to get itself on the right foot and have you.

David Martin: Promise, are you over 30?

Tara Stamps: And have the promise of the America that we talked about, right. The promise of the America that we’ve dreamt about, the promise of the America, that’s in all of our national songs, then I think you start by hiring, you know, electing a teacher. But because teachers lead from their heart with wisdom and sound understanding, and we don’t mind asking tough questions and raising our hand.

And I think what I see happening in, in so many of our, governmental spaces is that we don’t ask a lot of tough questions, and we don’t ask people to show their work. We, they, they want to give us the answer. Do you remember that? Do you remember being in school?

David Martin: Sure.

Tara Stamps: And you’ll go to your teacher.

David Martin: And you’ll say, you have to show you work. You, you, you, you.

Tara Stamps: You say, well, here, but this is the answer. And your teachers say, no, I want to see your work.

David Martin: Yes. Right.

Tara Stamps: Yes. And so I think that’s the moment that we’re living in, in this country. Everyone needs to show their work, not the answer.

David Martin: All right, well, now we’re going to get into.

Tara Stamps: there’s.

David Martin: More. There’s more. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We’re just getting. We’re just getting warmed up. All right. We’re going to come back and we’re going to we’re going to get to your philosophy of government.

David Martin: After you get done with this episode, hear more good government stories with our friends at How to Really Run a City. Former mayors Kasim Reed of Atlanta and Michael Nutter, a Philadelphia, and their co-host, journalist and author Larry Platt talk with guests and other mayors about how to really get stuff done in cities around the nation. Check them out where you’re listening now or through their nonprofit news site, The Philadelphia Citizen.

Dot org slash podcasts.

Now this is this is the Good Government show questionnaire. Oh, you have been an activist. You’ve been a teacher. you have, run for office and learn things. but more importantly, now that you’re a county commissioner to find good government.

Tara Stamps: Good government is a government that listens and responds to the needs of the people in the most reasonable time and does not allow the philosophy of can’t, not, don’t, and can’t afford to get in the way of improving the quality of people’s lives.

David Martin: But sometimes you can’t afford.

Tara Stamps: Sometimes you cannot. But you know what? What? When your mother couldn’t afford something, she understood a budget. And we have a budget, and a budget is a moral document. And so you have to look at the document and say what is important to me? Where am I spending my money?

David Martin: Okay.

Tara Stamps: Right. Yeah. And so I think that if you can live with yourself, knowing that you spent your money on the things that you said is important to you and things that, you know, that’s going to change and improve the quality of people’s lives, then it’s okay if you don’t always have the money for everything, but you sure as hell cannot have money to continue to fund incarceration and things that lead to incarceration.

But you cannot afford reentry and redemption. You can afford to penalize children, but you can’t afford to educate them. You can afford to not house people, but you can’t afford to look at your money and say, where can we actually be able to participate in the rescue of thousands of families that just needs a little assistance? I’ve looked at some budgets.

Tara Stamps: I know that you can write. Yeah, I’ve looked at my own budget in my house. You make decisions all the time. Sure. You know, I’m a I’m a single. I was a single mom for many, many, many years. Everything is a budget question. Everything is a priority. This is why you need to hire a teacher. Because we are the least and the most innovative and the most creative with the little that we have.

David Martin: That is a good summary of teachers. Yes. All right. that was really the first question. Oh my word. Set up. All right. How do you now that you’re a county commissioner, how do you judge your success? How do you know if you’re doing a good job?

Tara Stamps: You know what I judge my success by? When I’m standing in a grocery store and some elder comes up to me and she say, you know what? I came to your office. And when I came to your office, Commissioner Stamps, you had those people there, and I got my tax freezes and I got a rebate of $1,000, or when there’s a single mom in my office with tears in her eyes and she says, I have lost my job.

And when I came in here, based on the fact that you provided this resource, I now will be getting a check for $6,000. That’s how I judge my effectiveness. And when young people whom I love more than anything vote me one of the 50 coolest people in Chicago, that’s how I vote.

David Martin: Wait a minute. Hold on. Stop right there. You’re one of the 50.

Tara Stamps: I want.

David Martin: Chicago.

Tara Stamps: Coolest people in Chicago. You know what my ward was?

David Martin: I can’t imagine.

Tara Stamps: A pair of fresh new ones that I was able to get customized by, like a local street artist. Isn’t that, like, the best?

David Martin: There’s two baseball teams, a football team, a hockey team, a basketball team. How do you crack the top 50? Well, I got to ask, are you never water till you the top ten?

Tara Stamps: I don’t think I did it like said fortunately.

David Martin: Good. So you’re just.

Tara Stamps: In good company. It was like 50 of the coolest people in Chicago, and I was one of them.

David Martin: All right. How many other cool people are friends with you?

Tara Stamps: It was a good. It was probably like a good 12.

David Martin: Really? Yeah. So you you’re hanging out with.

Tara Stamps: The right crowd like the mayor was one.

David Martin: Good.

Tara Stamps: CPC was one.

David Martin: Okay.

Tara Stamps: his, chief of staff was one. All right. one of the local rap artists was one. A couple of the local pastors was one. I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Slim Coleman, but his daughter, Tanya Coleman, who’s the pastor of, healthy, who’s. Well, she’s a I can’t remember the name of her church, but she runs this program called Healthy Hoods.

She was one.

David Martin: So there’s a little pressure on you to keep to keep at this, you know?

Tara Stamps: You know what? It’s not pressure. You know why?

David Martin: Why? Because you can. Hardly.

Tara Stamps: Because I get to show up as myself everywhere I go.

David Martin: All right, so if people don’t think you’re cool and you’re doing a good job, what should they do? If they don’t like what they’re seeing in government, what should they.

Tara Stamps: Talk to me and get involved? You know what, people stand on the sidelines and complain.

David Martin: Yeah.

Tara Stamps: But those are also the people that they complain. And then they say, but you know, I don’t really follow politics. And you know what? I tell those people? Politics is personal.

David Martin: Okay.

Tara Stamps: And then I connect the dots between policy and personal choice. And I think when we make it personal, people get involved. People engage. When you say to them, oh, so you know, there’s this, you’re 18, you can work, you can go to the armed forces, right? You can join the Army and all of this. You can vote.

David Martin: Yep.

Tara Stamps: But you can’t have a drink until you’re 21. And when you, like, illustrate some of these arbitrary lines of, like, adulthood or power, and you make it make sense to people, then they engage. One of the reasons that people don’t engage in politics is because we talk to them in this other worldly way, make it make sense to people, and I think people engage more.

And so, in a very, very near future, we’re going to be doing a podcast called Politics Is Personal, and I’m going to be just drawn lines between like how people live, what they’re experiencing every day and the policies that make it so, and arming them with the information to say, if you disagree with the policy, this is how you get involved and this is how you participate in your own rescue.

When people don’t always know that either, because we bury the lead, right? I was at this when I had my roundtable Monday. I said, okay, so why is it that you get this ridiculous tax bill? And your answer to the 75 year old woman is, oh, but did you apply for your, exemption? Did you apply for this?

Tara Stamps: Why can’t we just include that in the tax bill? You know, they old enough to get it. Why we. Yeah. Why are we hiding the resources and the rescue from the people who need it most?

David Martin: Okay, so now that you’re on the county commission, what would you like people to know about how government works from the inside?

Tara Stamps: What I would like, I want people to know that a the 17 people, at least in Cook County, that sitting on that board and making decisions are just that people. They are not wizards. They’re not witches. They’re not they’re they’re they’re people just like you.

David Martin: Any of them as cool as you look now?

Tara Stamps: Now you want to get it right. Now you want my business, not you. In my business, I did.

David Martin: I did a business, I did. You know, you’re perpetual overstep.

Tara Stamps: Okay. So. And I want them to know a they’re people be they’re accessible. See that the money that we are making this budget on that’s taxpayers money. Get involved. You can come down. Everything is open to the public. You can come and participate in the open meetings. You can get a copy of the budget. You can be you can be alongside us in this process, towards the government.

David Martin: and.

Tara Stamps: We don’t always get it. Right.

David Martin: Right. Yeah.

Tara Stamps: We don’t always get it right. But guess what? Sometimes we do like when we use some of that Arpa money to eradicate medical debt. Sometimes we do.

David Martin: Right? Yep.

Tara Stamps: When you when we use some of that Arpa money for housing initiatives, sometimes we do. So there are things when we use some of that Arpa money, and when we use some of our general fund money to make sure that we’re funding reentry programs and that we’re funding, you know, we have $44 million dedicated to behavioral health and mental health supports in a city that close all the mental health facilities.

Just 2 to 2 mayors that go right.

David Martin: Yeah.

Tara Stamps: So sometimes we do get it right. And that’s what I want them to know as well.

David Martin: What’s the best part of the job?

Tara Stamps: The best part of the job is that I get to be on the front seat of it and be a part of improving the quality of people’s lives. Like, I got a real say and a real voice, and that I can agitate and organize and and collaborate. And at the end of all of that, people’s lives are better.

David Martin: What’s the hardest part of the job?

Tara Stamps: Hardest part is when that doesn’t happen.

David Martin: And you you still agitate and you’ve.

Tara Stamps: Agitated and organized and did all of that. And they still say, but you still got to put your tax bill in 30 days. That’s the hardest part of it.

David Martin: So now you’re making news. Do you read about yourself and where do you what do you get your news from?

Tara Stamps: No, I don’t read about myself, but I got I got all kind of tidbits Politico and the Daily News and all kind of things that come to my wire every day to kind of like, make me abreast. And now I have to get up even earlier so that I can like, download all that information before I even start my day.

David Martin: Who is your political hero? Who inspires you today and who inspired you to do this?

Tara Stamps: Well, I’m going to say my mother is my chief inspiration.

David Martin: Yeah.

Tara Stamps: and the person who I admire most is actually not a politician. She’s a queen maker, and that’s Stacy Davis Gates, the president of Chicago Teachers Union.

David Martin: Okay. is your mom still around?

Tara Stamps: No, my mom passed quite a bit ago.

David Martin: Okay.

Tara Stamps: But, you know, she lives on in me and my four other sisters.

David Martin: And so you have this background. You had an activist mother. Did you envision doing this kind of work?

Tara Stamps: I did not, I thought I was going to be teaching, and retiring from teaching, you know, for the rest of my.

David Martin: Life to retire.

Tara Stamps: I know it’s for what you can do. So many other ways to reinvent yourself. And I love that I get this opportunity right. After having been in the classroom for so many years, I get to have this whole other chapter of my life, which I just see as an extension of service.

David Martin: Okay.

Tara Stamps: And of servant leadership in a different way, a wider capacity, if you will.

David Martin: So the next time I come to Chicago, I’m going to find you, because now at.

Tara Stamps: Least.

David Martin: I’ve got a job I want I want to ask you a couple of days, what do you put on your hot dog or thick pizza? And what’s your favorite Chicago dish?

Tara Stamps: Oh my word, favorite Chicago dish?

David Martin: Yes.

Tara Stamps: Pizza. No no no no no no no I get back. All right. Italian beef dipped.

David Martin: Okay.

Tara Stamps: Mao sauce on the fries. Okay.

David Martin: Gotcha.

Tara Stamps: I prefer deep dish.

David Martin: Okay.

Tara Stamps: And, I used to love Giordano’s.

David Martin: Yes.

Tara Stamps: And what was the. Oh, what do I put on my hotdog? Yes. I’m not a big wiener fan.

David Martin: But however.

Tara Stamps: However. Mustard, relish, little onion.

David Martin: That’s it. That’s it. The Chicago I was Chicago.

Tara Stamps: It’s the Shah.

David Martin: it’s the Shah. All right, so this is a good government show, and you always bring it back to a good government story. Tell me about a good government project. You’re excited about that you’re working on.

Tara Stamps: Oh, my God, this is such a wonderful question. So thank you. So, you know, I’ve said time and time again, I’m a I’m a teacher, so I’m a teacher in my heart. Right. All right. And I’m very concerned about the mental health of, of our young people, particularly young black boys. And the suicide rate from 2019 has gone around 60% and black boys between the ages of 12 and 24.

And so to address that, I started my own initiative called Shop Talk Sharing Hope and Overcoming Pressure. So I’ve partnered with barbers, barbershops on the west side of Chicago and in my district. They opened up for me on Sunday, and on Sunday they offer free haircuts. One Sunday it’s 12 to 16, another Sunday at 17 to 24. I bring in food, usually chicken and pizza and, I call them trusted adults.

Just really good guys from the community.

David Martin: Faith.

Tara Stamps: Faith leaders that I trust and behavioral health specialist. And so they have these in conversations just about their mental health and other things that’s impacting them. And if they have the desire to want to follow up and get some, in more intensive mental health supports, there’s a warm handoff and somebody there to receive them.

David Martin: That is good government. That was your idea. That was.

Tara Stamps: My idea.

David Martin: Well done. I hope to.

Tara Stamps: Bring it back next year because I just started in, since, Mental Health Month in May, but so far we’re up to eight. Barbershop. And then in August, we’re gonna pivot and we’ve partnered with three barber schools. And so my mental health specialists, who are all licensed psychologists, are going to be training the barbers on how to ask questions during doing a haircut that will flag an intervention.

David Martin: I am so glad I chased you down today, Tara Stamps. It has been an absolute pleasure meeting you and talking with you. Thank you so much.

Tara Stamps: You’re so very welcome.

David Martin: Thank you. And, good luck. And I want to I want to come back and talk to you in about four years time when you’re when your first term is over. And we’ll compare your thoughts on government then. All right. Deal? Deal done. Done. Thank you. Where do you get your news from? Where do you get your state and local government news from.

Because that’s getting harder and harder. And it’s essential to stay updated with your community. And it’s becoming increasingly important to know what’s going on in other cities and states, because they’re likely facing challenges that you’re grappling with, too, or you’re going to face eventually. That’s why we’d like to welcome our new partner, route 50, to the show. Route 50 is a leading online publication covering state and local governments across the country.

They’ve written about states protecting themselves against the rise in cyber attacks, counties using AI to better support citizens services, local responses to crumbling infrastructure and extreme weather, and much, much more. There’s a lot there. It’s a one stop shop for issues affecting state and local governments and their residents. That’s you. That’s all of us. Do yourself a favor and go to route 50.com to see the topics and solutions they cover, and learn what other people in government are doing.

They also deliver a daily newsletter called route 50 today. I see it in my inbox every morning. I check it out and you should too. Thanks again. Route 50. We’re excited to have you on board and being a partner here at the Good Government Show.

What is it the county government does? That’s the question county commissioners get asked the most. And the simple answer is everything on the good Government show. We’re so lucky to have talked with so many county commissioners and other county officials that have shown us how effective county government is. County government dates back to get this 1634, making it one of the oldest forms of government in the United States.

Think about it. Roads. Highways. Hospitals. Schools. Recycling. Law enforcement. Water. Sewers, and most of the county. Those services are maintained by the county that’s county government. The National Association of Counties represents all 3069 counties across the USA. Naco helps county government work better together through things like sharing best practices. When county government works well, well, that’s just good government.

Another teacher turned elected official, so a few things stood out about the conversation. She talked about how she would help new commissioners. She said, I’m a teacher. I want people to learn. That’s an excellent philosophy, especially for now. Elected official. Here’s another thing she said. I thought it was kind of cool. I didn’t lose, I never lose. What an excellent outlook, especially for someone who’s running for office to improve the place where she lives.

To me, this means Tara Stamps is never going to stop learning herself, no matter if that means learning to be a better county commissioner, learning to be a better mentor for future elected leaders are learning how to help reduce both crime and the perception of crime. Well, I hope you enjoyed hearing from Tara Stamps as much as I did.

And yes, she’s a hell raiser. I learned all that in my brief time talking with her. She’s definitely one to watch. Well, that’s our show. Thanks for listening. Please like us and share this with your friends and review us right here where you’re listening right now, where you’re listening. Check out our website Good Government show.com for some extras and join us again for another episode right here.

I’m Dave Martin and this is the Good Government show.

The Good Government show is a Valley Park production. Jim Ludlow, Dave Martin, that’s me and David Snyder are the executive producers. Our show is edited and produced by Jason Stershic. Please subscribe, then share and like us and review us. That’s the best way to make sure we’re able to keep telling these stories of our government working for all of us.

Then listen to the next episode of The Good Government Show.

**This transcription was created using digital tools and has not been edited by a live person. We apologize for any discrepancies or errors.