BY AMY WOOTENOut community activist and social worker James Cappleman is a busy man these days.
The openly gay candidate for the 46th Ward is trying to give long-time incumbent Alderman Helen Shiller a run for her money, although it turns out that the man challenging the five-term alderman shares the same values that are close to her heart. The only differences, he says, are the way they live out those values, and his plans for unifying and keeping in touch with the ward.
Some of his ideas are simple: Keep communication wide open with the residents by holding monthly community meetings and extending office hours. Others are more complicated, such as plans to heal a ward that Cappleman views as incredibly polarized.
Cappleman has been actively involved in the 46th Ward the seven years he's lived there with his longtime partner, Richard Thale. Until recently, he was president of the Uptown Chicago Commission, a non-profit neighborhood organization that strives to improve the quality of life for residents. He currently works as a social worker and family advocate at the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital.
Cappleman has also served as board president of Dignity Chicago, an LGBT Catholic organization, where he remains an active member. In addition, he has been very active in the HIV/AIDS community, having co-found a homeless shelter for people living with the disease in the late '80s. He has worked at Traveler's and Immigrants Aid ( now Heartland Alliance ) , spent two years on the HIV Planning and Prevention Group at Children's Memorial Hospital and served as chair of the Illinois' National Association of Social Workers' HIV Task Force for three years.
Cappleman spoke with Windy City Times about his big ideas for one of the city's most diverse wards.
Windy City Times: What was the inspiration behind running for alderman?
James Cappleman: I would have to say that I share many of the same values that Alderman Shiller has, and I've always admired them. What inspired me to run was this ward is incredibly polarized. There's this ongoing war between the 'haves' and 'have nots.' This is just not healthy for the community. So, I just wanted to help bridge and unite people with some common shared values that we hold. The other part is there are a lot of angry and frustrated people voicing that what needs to occur in the neighborhood just isn't happening.
WCT: Is one of those things the Wilson Yard [ a stretch of commercial property that remains vacant since a 1996 fire ] ?
JC: Part of it was the Wilson Yard, but it is also the response. [ Shiller ] said if people didn't agree with her [ the slow development of the property ] , they could move to Lincoln Park. To me, that was just throwing gas on a situation that was already heated. The other part was that I believe that we all want a vibrant, diverse, safe and welcoming retail, especially all along North Broadway. It wasn't happening. Part of the problem is a lot of people are doing a lot of their primary shopping outside the ward. So, we want to make it so it is more diverse along the independent stores, but make it so people will want to come to our ward to shop, rather than leave.
WCT: You talked about the polarization. What are some specific plans that you have to help strengthen and unite the community?
JC: First of all, I want to do something that Aldermen Tom Tunney, Mary Ann Smith and Eugene Schulter have done, and that is create a ward plan. The ward plan would identify the businesses, services and types of housing that are already present. It would also establish guidelines about urban planning. For instance, in areas that are pretty intensely urban, what can they do to promote more pedestrian-friendly stores? So, there would be standards on lighting, there would be standards on crosswalks, there would be standards on green space. Once that ward plan in established…then you have a ward and development committee—again, made up of representation, and they are involved in making sure the area is developed so that we protect the values that we have already stated in the ward plan. Values for diversity, values for making sure that we don't chase one group of people out.
I think part of it, too, is rather than focusing on our differences, a big part of what I firmly believe in, is we find some of the core values that we all share. Let's emphasize that.
WCT: You have mentioned that keeping the community informed is very important to you. Are the residents, in your experience, lacking proper communication? Is it a problem that has been going on for quite a while?
JC: Yes. The last newsletter that we received from the alderman was in spring 2003. Suddenly, in the last few months, we've had a rash of newsletters. That's been a pattern.
The other problem that concerned me is we don't have any community-wide meetings where people can come together and discuss what are some of the developments that are occurring, what are some of the possible problems that are occurring. Many aldermen have a monthly forum. The last forum was in September 2004. I think it needs to be on a monthly basis. This is a very diverse ward. This is a very polarized ward. There is a lot of healing that needs to occur. I think when you lay the groundwork and make sure the people understand that these are the values we hold dearly, that it can work well.
WCT: Let's talk a little bit about your background. How do you think your experience as a licensed social worker will help you if elected to office?
JC: As a social worker, I've not only advocated for families, I've advocated for a change in system when the system did not promote family-centered care. So as a social worker, I've learned how to work with very complex organizations to help increase and enhance their communication in their system so that things go better.
WCT: You were also, until very recently, president of the Uptown Chicago Commission. Can you tell me some of your achievements during your time there, and what you learned and hope to carry on or address in office as a result?
JC: The Uptown Chicago Commission is an umbrella group for a lot of organizations, especially the block clubs. …As a public safety chair and the board president, we looked at what we could do to make Uptown a better place for everyone. There were a couple of areas that really stood out. One was the amount of public drinking that was going on in some parts of the ward. Residents and business were really frustrated because there were a lot of intoxicated people drinking in front of their stores openly and urinating. The families didn't like it because their children were observing adults urinating on the sidewalks. People were angry that people were publicly drinking. What we decided to do as an organization, and a big part of this was from my background in social work—you don't go after the drinker. You go after the system in place that causes the problem. So, we went after the stores that sold liquor. We said, let's all work together and make a decision about what we can do to make this ward a better place. They…all came to a common agreement about what they would do to stop that.
We also addressed a lot of the aggressive panhandling. People who are panhandling—they want to get by, and I certainly understand that. I've given money to panhandlers. The problem was some of these certain panhandlers get very aggressive. Actually, my partner was pushed out into the street by an aggressive panhandler and was almost hit by a car. Also, aggressive panhandlers were targeting the school children. Again, instead of going after the panhandlers, what we decided to do was work with the parents and the police and businesses, and…some of the social services, and said, 'What can we do to discourage this?' We decided to create a poster that educated the community about better alternatives to giving to people who are panhandling. ...We targeted social services that work with families and children, and social services that work with the gay and lesbian community, and social services that work with meth. We said, 'Here are the places to give. Give your money there so people can get case management and people won't need to be panhandling.' We distributed these posters to the entire community, and we educated these business owners. That was successful.
The other thing we did was the Uptown neighborhood has a higher number of sex offenders. …The problem was we had 30 child sex offenders living within 500 feet of schools, play lots and playgrounds, and what we found was there was no mechanism set up to identify that this was occurring. So, my partner and I scoured the whole area and looked at all the different playgrounds, plat lots, schools and daycare centers, identified them, then looked through the entire list of sex offenders and identified 30 of them who lived within 500 feet. We gave that information to the police, and then police enforced it in a way that was compassionate.
WCT: So, it sounds like you're very used to working with multiple organizations to get something done.
JC: Yes, that was the key. When I won the Dr. Martin Luther King Humanitarian Award from University of Chicago, it was for a lifetime achievement of advocating for others without a voice. I won $1,000. I used that money to encourage block clubs to work with their local schools, social services, businesses and places of worship to work together to clean up the community.
WCT: The Uptown area has one of the largest number of GLBT residents in the city. As an openly gay man, if elected, what specifically would you try to do for the GLBT community, not only in your ward, but citywide?
JC: I have been in a relationship with my partner for 15 years, and I've certainly worked the state reps to really push for same-sex legal unions. I my work with the HIV/AIDS community, I've seen—I ran into this one guy. His partner died, and his partner was still in bed and his body was still warm and the sister of the person who died immediately froze the bank account. That person was left without a dime. I certainly want to work in that regard. I also have done a lot of work as a social worker with the transgender community. There is a lot of ignorance when it comes to how to best work with people who are transgender and getting healthcare. When I was with the National Association of Social Workers, I was the HIV/AIDS coordinator. We created a pamphlet to educate physicians and nurses and healthcare workers about how to work with people who are transgender. I want to do a lot more of that. This is a group of people who are often times invisible.
WCT: Even sometimes, to the larger GLBT community.
JC: Yes. A lot of prejudice. That needs to change.
WCT: You also have a lot of background in the HIV/AIDS community. How would you address issues of funding, etc.?
JC: This is a group that has experienced intense discrimination. There are all kinds of discussions about if it's ethical to reward this one group more than other groups. I think because of the intense discrimination …There are a lot of dynamics going on. This is a very vulnerable population, and many of them have children. So, I do have more of a lean towards making sure that this group of people—those who are especially without a voice—get the services they need.
…HIV doesn't just impact the individual. We're certainly all impacted if we have a loved one with a disease. But this is one that impacts an entire family—a family that already may be going through some horrendous problems. That's why they need those special services.
WCT: Anything else you'd like to add?
JC: This is all getting interesting. When I read blogs and all kinds of things about this race, people have always kind of thought that Alderman Shiller was someone who always advocates for the poor and for the GLBT community, and the person who would be running against her would not be that. I think it kind of surprised a lot of people that here is someone who agrees with many of her values, yet still wants to run.
Some people are saying that I'm a guppy. I take this very seriously. I share many of the same values as Alderman Shiller, yet I'm choosing to run. Again, it's the polarization that I find unhealthy. I want to work with communities to create diverse shopping, and I think that can happen. That's the story. Not that one person has these values, and one person has another. It's just how we live out those values that is different.
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