"The lack of engagement with stakeholders outside of existing power structures is disappointing, as 40.8% of Niles’ population was born outside the United States and therefore has varying degrees of ability to participate in electoral politics. Only 45% of U.S. immigrants are naturalized citizens and therefore able to vote (Budiman, n.d.). A similar ratio would mean nearly one in five of Niles residents was unable to have a voice in planning the Milwaukee Line due to their inability to elect the local officials participating in the Corridor Advisory Group. This lack of ability to affect electoral politics can be seen in non-planning matters, such as the 2021 Niles Library District board elections that brought to power anti-immigrant candidates seeking to eliminate non-English library book purchases (Jensen, 2021). Therefore, even the inclusion of local power elites could constitute a lower rung in Arnstein’s ladder of participation than Informing would indicate as these elites are only representative of those residents able to exercise voting power."