Note: Corey Oliver was incorrectly referred to as Corey Owens during an appearance on “Chicago Tonight: Black Voices” on March 20, 2024. His name appears correctly in the article below.

With 20 city precincts and nearly 110,000 mail-in ballots still uncounted, the measure known as Bring Chicago Home is still too close to call following Tuesday’s election.

If passed, the ballot question would allow the Chicago City Council to hike the Real Estate Transfer Tax on property sales over $1 million to help fund efforts to fight homelessness.

The close race could point to some disagreement among Chicagoans over how to support the city’s unhoused.

Corey Oliver, a member of the Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance, said that although the “no” vote is ahead at the moment, the conversation around the issue isn’t over.

“I think we’re optimistic,” Oliver said. “But I mean, anybody who calls it a win, I think it’s not the right terminology, you know, because at the end of the day, we still have people in Chicago who need houses. We just need to figure out the way that is going to work best for Chicago to be able to provide it, and that’s what we want to do.”

Oliver said he feels finding a way to sustainably create new affordable housing in disinvested neighborhoods can be a step in the right direction for everyone.

Ald. William Hall (6th Ward) said the fight for Bring Chicago Home will continue with more awareness and discussion.

“This is really an opportunity for us to come back and expand more voices,” Hall said. “So many people did not know how important this movement was until yesterday. It’s not failure if you don’t try again, and so we will continue to try to bring more people into the conversation to economic parity.”

Hall added that the goal is to bring economic investment to neighborhoods in order to fight homelessness.