Members of the 48th Ward Democratic Committee met Feb 9 at St. Andrew Greek Orthodox Church, 5649 N. Sheridan Rd., to discuss candidates on the March 18 primary ballot and look back at last year's marriage equality votes.
Committeeman Carol Ronen led the meeting and introduced the speakers.
State Reps. Greg Harris and Kelly Cassidy discussed the passage of the Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act in 2013, and said many of its roots could be traced to political activity in the 48th Ward, which Harris called a part of the city "that's always valued equal rights for everyone."
"There is not a single LGBT accomplishment [in Illinois] that doesn't have roots in this neighborhood," Cassidy said, adding that local residents sent about 5,000 emails to legislators and many "came and stood out in the rain at the March on Springfield."
Among others, Cassidy and Harris thanked Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who also attended the meeting, for her support.
"You hung in there with us when a lot of folks were ready to throw in the towel," Cassidy said.
Preckwinkle spoke mainly about the health care and the jail systems in Cook County. She first discussed the departure of Cook County hospitals CEO Dr. Ram Raju, who is moving to New York City's public health system. She said that Raju "put us in the right direction" and "leaves a good team in place" as the health system begins to engage patients covered under the Affordable Care Act. Preckwinkle added that many patients whose care would previously been left uncompensated will hopefully now be covered.
She also discussed her concern that of overcrowding in Cook County jails, largely because 90 percent of its occupants are persons awaiting trial who cannot afford bail.
"If you or I were arrested, we'd put the bail on a credit card or a family member would help," Preckwinkle said, adding that too many prisoners don't have that option, and their families are then often left unsupported.
"It costs about $143 a day to keep somebody in jail," Preckwinkle said. "That's about $50,000 a year, which is about the yearly cost of an Ivy League education."
A number of candidates in the March 18 primary also spoke at the forum, among them candidate for state treasurer ( and current state Sen. ) Mike Frerichs and candidate for state comptroller ( and current Lt. Gov. ) Sheila Simon. Candidates for Metropolitan Water Reclamation District ( MWRD ) Commissioner included Josina Morita ( who is the first Asian-American to be slated by the Cook County Democrat Party ), Frank Avila, Timothy Bradford, Brendan Houlihan and Adam Miguest.
MWRD Commissioner Debra Shore, who is openly lesbian, also addressed the forum to discuss the agency's current work. She passed around a vial of phosphorous crystals that had been extracted from treated sewage, and discussed how MWRD is trying to function as a resource recovery Agency.
"Instead of sending this nutrient down to the Gulf of Mexico, where it helps to create the Dead Zone, we're going to turn it into something that has value," Shore said. "This is going to get mixed into commercial fertilizer, put on farm fields, and when it rains, it's not going to run off and create nutrient pollution. We're going to create, or produce, about 10-15,000 tons a year of phosphorous … and the company that invented this process wants to pay us $400 a ton. This at a time when the world is exhausting phosphate reserves in Florida and Morocco, we'll be able to produce something here in the Midwest that can be used in the Midwest."
Shore gave her endorsement to Avila, Bradford and Morita: "It's a diverse slate, a qualified slate, and I urge you to support them because they will work with me to help change this agency.
Among those also speaking at the forum to discuss local issues were Ald. Harry Osterman and Cook County Commissioner Bridget Gainer.
