1) The "Master Plan", the city's development plan for downtown Waukegan, outlines how the city is going to gentrify the area. This plan is available on the city's website.

2) The OMC headquarters, a whopping 60 acres, was sold to real estate developers for only 130$.

3) The mayor stated, "We're going to have 10,000 to 12,000 people living along the lake here... and somewhere, we're going to have a new shopping center... I know people who have condos on the lakefront in Kenosha who are going to move here when we have condos."

4) Luxury suites are being built on Washington and Sheridan, across from some of the poorest apartments in the city. The property was sold to real estate developers for only a dollar.

5) The 500$ towing fee unfairly targets the poor and minorities in Waukegan and punishes us for not being able to afford insurance. This is one way that the city cracks down on us to make room for the rich.

6) 287g, a bill which has already scared many immigrants out of Waukegan, is an unnecessary law to scare out our large Hispanic population. 287g gives regular Waukegan police officers the training to recognize and deport illegal immigrants.

7) The Genessee Theatre, which cost us millions of our tax dollars, serves nothing but to bring the rich in. Though we paid for it with our money, we can rarely afford to see shows in our own city.

8) The Fiesta Palace, a symbol of Latino culture, was conveniently burned down by accident. This building was located between the Genessee Theatre and the Genessee parking garage. No more than a week later, the city replaced the lot with a new 'green' park.

9) The city has attempted to establish 'economic free enterprise' zones in the city, which would give tax breaks and incentives to new businesses in key areas. Unsuprisingly, these areas are the ones set to be gentrified.

10) The new 'community' garden downtown is advertised as being eco-friendly; these are magnets for yuppies. Nevermind the buildings around it being torn down to make room for more buildings, nevermind the damage done to the environment by increased yuppie traffic or residential condos along the lakefront!

11) The city council has declared abandoned buildings to be a blight on the city. They advocate immediate demolition. We see this as a way to rid the city of 'unsightly' poor buildings.

12) In a move that shocked the state, the city of Waukegan turned down 23 million dollars to clean our lakefront. The reason? The state wants to effectively clean the harbor, and the city wants to clean the harbor AND restrict all industrial traffic in the lake. The Environmental Protection Agency called this unnecessarry and refused to pay the money to the city. Under the state's plan, the harbor would be dredged and lakefront industry would continue to thrive. Under the mayor's plan, a cap would be placed on the bottom of the lake, making it more shallow and unable to support industry, to make room for more condominiums. Nevermind that the EPA stated that current industry has not contributed significantly to lakefront pollution; most of this can be attributed to OMC. The city turned down millions of dollars and put our environment and safe drinking water at risk for the sake of gentrification.