Mayoral candidate unveils her Growth Plan, vows to halve timelines for housing construction, launch workforce training, and invest in every neighborhood
CHICAGO, IL, October 28, 2026 – Mayoral candidate Susana Mendoza today unveiled her Growth Plan in an address to the City Club of Chicago and committed to making rapid housing construction a defining measure of her administration. Mendoza said her Growth Plan is designed to improve the perception of Chicago and reset City Hall’s relationship with business.
Mendoza, who declined reelection as Illinois State Comptroller to go “All In” for Chicago, committed to five measurable outcomes: reducing the cost of living in Chicago, building housing rapidly, growing the City’s population, workforce development in every neighborhood, and leading in key emerging industries.
“Within four years – my first term – sustained housing construction and population growth will be underway in Chicago,” said Mendoza to a room of business and civic leaders. “We will cut housing construction approval and permitting timelines in half. I will make the construction crane the official bird of Chicago. I will get cranes flying everywhere in our city.”
Accelerating housing construction
Mendoza said Chicago, the slowest major metro in the country for housing permits, could learn from how San Francisco and San Diego reduced permit timelines. “Chicago is a city of Builders. We need to get back to the core of our DNA,” she said. “Building housing, businesses, and growing our population are key to making Chicago more affordable and lowering property taxes.”
She put City Hall’s housing record on notice: the Department of Housing has spent $795,789 per affordable unit – nearly double the Illinois Housing Development Authority’s benchmark of $383,060 – and takes 18 months or more from award to closing. She said a Mendoza administration will cut those figures, move faster and get the job done for less money.
Emerging Industries
Mendoza cited opportunities – and a three-year window – for Chicago to gain leadership in emerging industries shaping the next economy. Highlighting a range of competitive-edge assets in the Chicago region, such as a burgeoning tech ecosystem, the candidate said she is aiming to establish Chicago as a national leader in industries like robotics, logistics and digital health.
“We cannot take our advantages for granted. They are positions we will lose if City Hall continues to treat them like press releases instead of priorities,” said Mendoza.
Workforce Development: The Mendoza Moonshot
Mendoza set an eight-year commitment to transform workforce development and spark job creation that reaches all 77 Chicago neighborhoods. Her Growth Plan connects training directly to employer needs and measures success by jobs filled, careers secured, and businesses built and saved.
“Work is the primary gateway to safer communities,” Mendoza told the gathering. “Work is the promise of a better life. This City has neglected that promise in too many neighborhoods and for too many Chicagoans for far too long.”
Black Unemployment a Top Priority
“Black unemployment in Chicago is unacceptably high and we don’t talk about it enough,” she said. “Addressing it will be one of my top priorities.”
Mendoza argued that public safety and employment gaps on the South and West Sides are the outcomes of chronic disinvestment, and that workforce development must be delivered intentionally at the neighborhood level to reach every Chicagoan. She pledged to recruit business leaders “to be with me on the front lines of this initiative”.
Investing in every neighborhood
Mendoza vowed to pursue ways to reduce the fees, fines, and permitting burdens that are pushing small businesses out of the City while making neighborhoods safer and helping local shops open, grow, and create jobs. Her growth plan pairs the Mayor’s office with Chicago’s legendary neighborhood organizations to help scale local business access to capital, mentorship and networking.
Mendoza said her plans for public safety integrate throughout her Growth Plan. “We cannot change the perception of Chicago by cherry-picking data points as success. The goal of my public safety plan is that every neighborhood feels safer. Then every neighborhood can be part of our growth.”
Fiscal crisis management experience
Mendoza cited the City’s low credit rating – just above junk bond status – and rating agency downgrades as more proof points in the crisis of confidence. She read from a ratings agency report on Chicago: “Internal political conflicts around taxing, spending, and other issues have produced gridlock resulting in suboptimal fiscal outcomes.”
She contrasted those missteps with her record as Comptroller: $17 billion bill backlog eliminated, Rainy Day Fund restored, 12 consecutive credit rating upgrades secured.
“Those credit upgrades were confidence upgrades – earned from the same rating agencies that gave this City Hall a negative outlook,” she said. “I’m the only candidate in the race for mayor with this experience and proof points.”
Mendoza closed her address with a Day One commitment: after her first full day at City Hall, she will fly to New York and meet with credit rating agencies the next morning.
“I will visit every credit rating agency on Wall Street with this message: Chicago is back.”
About Susana Mendoza
Susana Mendoza is the Illinois State Comptroller and a candidate for Mayor of Chicago. An experienced legislator, Chicago City Clerk, and fiscal crisis manager, Mendoza brings a trifecta of proven leadership, a record of accomplishments, and experience leading the most significant fiscal turnaround in Illinois history. As Comptroller, she eliminated a $17 billion bill backlog and worked with the governor and General Assembly to earn 12 consecutive state credit rating upgrades and restore the state’s Rainy Day Fund. Born in Little Village, Mendoza is running for Mayor with plans to improve affordability and safety in every neighborhood with the theme Progress Is Greater Than Promises.
