12 CITY COUNCIL SELECTIONS
Today, we continue our endorsements in competitive aldermanic races in Chicago. We are publishing endorsements in order by ward. We’ll continue publishing them over the next few days. You can find out more about all the candidates and read our endorsements, including our pick for city treasurer, by going to our voting guide at elections.suntimes.com/voting-guide.
15th Ward: Near Southwest Side
The challengers in this race all have credible records of community service, but we endorse Raymond Lopez for re-election. He’s been a voice of good sense. Lopez makes no apologies for speaking harshly about gang members in his bid to rid the community of them. His opponents say he doesn’t do enough to unite the community or address the root causes of violence. One says Lopez should be more of a community organizer. But we’ll take a strong administrator. The challengers also criticize Lopez for having speed bumps and traffic circles installed on many streets. Lopez says the speed bumps have made the streets safer by reducing drive-by shootings. Lopez also has shored up some infrastructure in the ward, which includes Back of the Yards, Gage Park, Brighton Park and West Englewood. Also running are up-and-coming community organizer Berto Aguayo, community organizer and minister Otis Davis Jr., non-profit director Joseph G. Williams and police officer Rafael “Rafa” Yanez.
16th Ward: South Side
If you live in the 16th Ward, your choices for alderman are not the best. The incumbent, Toni Foulkes, hasn’t done much. Her most prominent opponent, Stephanie Coleman, declined to sit for an endorsement interview. A Coleman staffer said we should just read the candidate’s questionnaire and endorse her on that basis. But candidates don’t always fill out their own questionnaires. When Coleman sat for an interview four years ago — when she first ran for this job — it became clear she was unfamiliar with at least some of the responses in her own questionnaire. So, no, we can’t do that. Our endorsement goes to Englewood resident Eddie Johnson
III, an educator with the Chicago Public Schools. He’s personable and sincere in his desire to be a public servant. He has served as a community representative on a Local School Council, chaired a subcommittee of his local C.A.P.S. program, and overseen as a volunteer a small non-profit group that provides day care and senior services. Also running is Kenny Doss II, Latasha M. Sanders and Jeffrey L. Lewis.
17th Ward: Auburn Gresham, West Englewood
Four years ago, David Moore was one of three candidates for alderman in this South Side ward. We endorsed one of the other folks. Moore, who won that race, is our choice this time in a two-way race against challenger Raynetta Greenleaf, a first-time candidate. Moore has proven to be a capable, committed alderman with a really big independent streak. He’s worked to improve the relationship between police and his constituents and has brought some — though not enough — new businesses to the community. Moore’s “big idea” to boost economic development is a south suburban airport, but his enthusiasm for that dormant idea seems misplaced. His ward needs a more feasible and immediate shot in the arm right now.
18th Ward: Far Southwest Side
Ald. Derrick G. Curtis has been a disappointment. This ward, which includes Ashburn, Scottsdale, Wrightwood, and parts of Marquette Park and Auburn Gresham, needs a change. Voters are fortunate to have Chuks Onyezia, a patent attorney with the U.S. Department of Commerce, on the
ballot. Onyezia, whom we have endorsed in the past two elections, is not beholden to the usual suspects and brings innovative ideas to the race. As a former chief of staff to 7th Ward Ald. Greg Mitchell, Onyezia knows how city government works, and he would make a priority of using the ward’s transportation assets to lure new businesses to the ward, replacing those have moved away. He favors a Chicago casino, an elected school board and replacing lead water pipes.
19th Ward: Far Southwest Side
This race is an easy call. Matthew J. O’Shea is a popular alderman who has moved up to the important job of running the City Council’s Aviation Committee. The ward, which includes Beverly, Mount Greenwood, Morgan Park and Washington Heights, has seen a number of businesses move in, including the $18 million Morgan Park Sports Center, an indoor ice rink and gymnastics facility, on a site that had been vacant for years. O’Shea’s top priority for the next four years is public safety, and he wants to continue finding new money for schools in the ward, including Morgan Park High School. Also running is retirement financial adviser David A. Dewar.
21st Ward: Southwest Side
Four years ago, we did not endorse Howard B. Brookins Jr. for re-election because his chief of staff had been recently convicted of bribery. We wondered whether another shoe might drop, perhaps a shoe worn by Brookins. That did not happen and so, given the weakness of the candidate field again this year, we endorse Brookins now. We’ve always respected the way he battled to bring a Walmart to the 21st Ward. We agreed with the activists that Walmart should be a better employer, but we agreed with Brookins that the ward desperately needed jobs of any kind — and a place for folks to shop. Brookins has been too dependable a vote for the current mayor, and we encourage him to be more independent. Also running is Marvin McNeil, a retired city zoning code enforcer whom we endorsed last time; Joseph C. Ziegler Jr., a small business owner, and Patricia A. Foster.
22nd Ward: Far West Side
To replace Ald. Ricardo Munoz, who is not running for re-election, we endorse Democratic committeeman Michael D. Rodriguez.
A lifelong resident of Little Village, Rodriguez wants to slow the flow of guns into his ward and boost community policing. He believes violent crime is the city’s top problem. He opposes a city-owned casino, but favors an elected school board and a graduated income tax. He says the debate over legalizing and taxing recreational marijuana should be over, and Illinois should get on board, putting a significant share of the money into funding pensions. Before becoming an executive officer of the Cook County medical examiner’s office, he was a community organizer, executive director of the nonprofit Enlace Chicago (where he started out as director of violence prevention), and a youth mentor. Also running are nonprofit organizer Lisette “Liz” Lopez, health center administrator Richard Juarez and former police officer and small business owner Neftalie Gonzalez.
23rd Ward: Southwest Side
The voters here have two undistinguished choices. Our pick is incumbent Silvana
Tabares, a former state representative who was appointed last year to represent this ward that includes Clearing, Garfield Ridge, Midway Airport, West Elsdon and West Lawn. Tabares has little track record to speak of in either elected office. That’s the problem. But she understands the need to work with others and the importance of two ward-specific issues related to Midway: revitalizing Cicero Avenue so that it’s more inviting to travelers leaving the airport and pressing the city to replace defective soundproof windows in homes nearby. She is endorsed over Paulino Villareal Jr., a private detective whose overbearing temperament really gets in his way.
24th Ward: West Side
For a freshman alderman, Michael Scott Jr. has accomplished quite a bit. He has brought more than 350 units of additional affordable housing to his ward, including housing for low-income elderly people. By pushing through zoning changes, he made possible the sale of the last piece of the ward’s old Sears & Roebuck property, setting the stage for redevelopment. He played a part in securing $2 million in renovations for the Douglass Park Library. He built a boxing ring in Franklin Park. All in all, Scott has been one of Chicago’s more engaged aldermen. He has earned your vote. Scott is opposed by Traci “Treasure” Johnson, a community activist and part owner of a family pest control business; Creative Scott, a salon owner and former chairman of The Greater Lawndale Black Chamber of Commerce; and dog trainer Toriano A. Sanzone.
25th Ward: Pilsen, Chinatown
This seat is being vacated by disgraced Ald. Danny Solis, who has represented the ward since 1996. Five earnest young people are running to replace him. Our endorsement goes to community organizer and former teacher Hilario Dominguez. The son of Mexican immigrants, he is protective of working-class people in the ward. He could bring a thoughtful approach to the rapid development that continues to gentrify Pilsen. “First and foremost, I think it’s necessary to have a communitydriven zoning and development process where the people can hold developers directly accountable,” he says, “where they can ask questions like, ‘What are you going to do about parking? What are you going to do about public green space? What are you going to give back to our schools? What are you going to do about affordable housing?’” We’re not on board with his push for rent control, which is gaining traction with Chicagoans worried about skyrocketing rents in neighborhoods like Pilsen and Logan Square. Also running are pediatric nurse Alexander “Alex” Acevedo, executive architect Troy Antonio Hernandez, researcher Byron Sigcho-Lopez and management consultant Aida Flores.
26th Ward: Humboldt Park, West Town, Logan Square
Ald. Roberto Maldonado is endorsed for re-election over entrepreneurs Theresa Siaw and David Herrera with hopes that he will stay true to progressive values, especially when it comes to housing. Besides safety and keeping up schools, Maldonado says securing and preserving affordable housing in his ward is a top priority. That has become a more pressing issue since the 606 trail opened four years ago. Communities along the 606 are rapidly gentrifying, raising property values — which many residents welcome — but also forcing out many other longtime residents. Part of the trail runs through this ward, in Humboldt Park. Maldonado got behind a pilot program last year to give some homeowners along the 606 up to $25,000 in grants to fix up the exteriors of their homes, a measure to help people stay in their homes as property taxes rise. Last year, he also proposed an ordinance in the City Council to make it easier for some building owners to convert unused garden-level space to apartments that could be accessible to people with disabilities.