MY DADDY - MONT GARDNER @WTPMTV

Uploaded July 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

My daddy… Mont Gardner.
A true Revolutionary. A man who feared no one.
They called him Fire Eater…and if you knew him, you knew exactly why.

He was a Robin Hood type. He didn’t just speak on injustice…he took real action. He kicked the doors in - literally. Took risks. Made noise. Protected people.

By any means necessary, he fought the system and made sure the forgotten weren’t left behind.

He loved to dance. He made plum wine. He traveled the world, played basketball overseas, and was earning his Master’s degree when gun violence took him - at just 29 years old.

But in those short years, he lived loud, fearless, and full of purpose.

He is and always will be my heart… my hero.

And I fight the way I do today because of him.
That fire in me? That refusal to be silent, to accept injustice, to back down? That’s Mont Gardner’s legacy. And I carry it forward every single day.

My Uncle Kirby sent me this photo today and my heart lit up.

That light is still with me.
And I’ll keep shining it for us both.

Rest in power, Daddy.
Mont Gardner 🖤

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$🙏 GRATITUDE, RECORD, AND REALITY: WHO SHOWED UP FOR PROPERTY TAX RELIEF 🙏 GRATITUDE, RECORD, AND REALITY: WHO SHOWED UP FOR PROPERTY TAX RELIEF This clip is for the people who showed up, wrote in, and stood on the side of urgency. First, thank you...sincerely...to every resident who came in person to speak in support of the Evanston Property Tax Circuit Breaker Program. You showed courage, clarity, and care for your neighbors. You used your voices to demand relief for longtime residents who are being squeezed by rising property taxes...and that matters. I also want to acknowledge and thank the many residents who submitted written public comments that night...comments the committee did not acknowledge aloud, but that are part of the public record and deserve respect. And special thanks to the leaders and experts who formally supported this program: Robyn Gabel, who sent a letter of support Laura Fine, who sent a letter of support Sam Steele, who sent a letter of support Brakeyshia Samms, Senior Analyst at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, who spoke virtually about the proven benefits of local circuit breaker programs for residents These women did not posture. They did not delay. They spoke with urgency because people need help now. What happened next is why this clip matters. During the same meeting, Councilmember Shawn Iles dismissed the need for local action by saying this program should wait for the state...while simultaneously acknowledging that Representatives Gabel and Fine are “fine legislators.” The contradiction was unmistakable. The tone was condescending. And the message was clear...wait. But here’s the reality everyone in the room knows... State-level circuit breaker efforts take years. Cook County has been working on this for a long time. Sending residents who are hurting right now to “wait for the state” is not a solution...it’s a delay. Despite written support from state and county leadership and expert testimony, Councilmembers Bobby Burns, Shawn Iles, and Juan Geracaris disregarded that support and continued with a strategy that delayed and blocked this program from receiving funding. That strategy escalated when Councilmember Bobby Burns stated he would not support the Circuit Breaker unless the Strategic Housing Plan moved forward with it...an ultimatum that attempted to hold immediate relief hostage to a separate process. Let’s be clear about the record. The Strategic Housing Plan did not include property tax relief at all...not during drafting, not during months of delay. Property tax relief was added on January 20, 2026, the very night this meeting took place—after the Circuit Breaker gained momentum and support. That speaks volumes. This should never have been framed as a competition. Evanston’s Affordable Housing Fund sits at over $5 million. The Circuit Breaker asked for $500,000...a fraction...to deliver direct relief with no middleman. And there’s still an unanswered question hanging over this process: $330,000 in federal Affordable Housing grant funds were documented as received by the City. Where that money went has not been publicly accounted for. Councilmember Bobby Burns stated he does not know what happened to it. No one seems to know. And no one appears to be urgently looking. So when a request for $500,000 to help residents immediately is delayed, blocked, or conditioned, residents are entitled to ask: why? And to ask whether the same fate awaits these funds. To the people who showed up...thank you. You did what democracy requires. You stood up for neighbors. You put people before process. And you reminded this city what urgency looks like. 👉 I encourage residents to watch more in the previous video from the January 20, 2026 Housing & Community Development Committee meeting and see for themselves. The record speaks. This has been a year in the making. The support is real. The need is urgent. And the truth deserves daylight. #Evanston #PropertyTaxRelief #CircuitBreaker #HousingJustice #KeepEvanstonHome #FollowTheMoney #NoMiddleman #DirectRelief #GovernmentTransparency #PublicAccountability Do Something! - Michelle Obama$