Following Aurora Mayor Tom Weisner's October 2016 resignation, four candidates are now competing for the role.
A Feb. 28 primary will cull them to two and both the campaigning and the rhetoric ahead of that date have been fierce.
Into the fray is Weisner's assistant chief of staff Rick Guzman who, with perhaps an eye on national political trends, has been campaigning as "not a legislator" but "an executive."
Guzman spoke with Windy City Times about what he hopes to accomplish should he prevail on both Feb. 28 and in the April 4 election.
Answers are edited for length.
Windy City Times: Why the decision to run?
Rick Guzman: I've never actually applied for a job or gone looking for one. It's always sort of come to me. I've been working in the mayor's office for five-and-a-half years. Aurora's been telling a pretty remarkable story of transformation: of drastic reductions in crime, a full recovery from the recession. There's a lot more to do and lots more challenges. A coalition of people asked me to run. The other candidates will talk about needing to make some pretty significant changes in direction and we don't think the track record warrants that.
WCT: Your platform seems to be built more on enhancements.
RG: Yes. I have the longest, most detailed and specific platform of anybody because I've been thinking about these issues for so long. It's easy for someone to say "we need to do more of this" or Ald. [Richard C.] Irvin has suggested we need to form an Economic Development Commission which is something we had in the past. But, if you really understand what we have in place now which is a board made up of Aurora business owners, we don't need to do that. We need to do more to collaborate with and work with business owners in the planning and implementation of ideas. There are a number of new things I'm proposing as well but we don't need to reinvent the wheel. We just need to become more dedicated to the idea that government has limited resources and is not the answer but, if government can be a facilitator with communities, then we have opportunities to get to the next level.
WCT: One of the main issues the LGBTQ community is grappling with is its inordinate percentages of homeless youth. What would you do to address that in Aurora?
RG: One of the things in my platform is trying to free up more resources to deal with short term, emergency homelessness by dealing with the long term, chronic homelessness we see in our community. The city of Aurora has the second largest homeless shelter [in Illinois]. I've been on the board of Hesed House for a number of years and was involved as early as eight-years-old. In my platform, I advocate for permanent, supportive housing. We need to find a housing first solution, wrap services around that and work long-term. Getting [the chronic homeless] stable is going to save money. Shelters ought to be temporary, emergency interventions to help people turn their lives around.
WCT: Chicago addressed another marginalized community when it declared itself as a sanctuary city. Where do you stand on that for Aurora and on assisting the city's immigrant population?
RG: We've always been a city of immigrants. One of the strengths that we have is the fact that we are a diverse community of people from all walks of life from all over the world. I'm the only candidate who was not born and raised in Aurora. You don't choose where you're born and raised but you choose here you want to raise your kids.
My wife and I chose Aurora because of the realness it offered. It was our volunteer involvement with immigrant and refugee populations that had us in Aurora several times a week before we moved here. When it comes to crime in our city, immigration [enforcement] can be a tool to root out that violence. Just as important, we need to make sure that immigrants and refugees, including the undocumented, can feel safe reporting a crime and that immigration status is not something we're going to ask about.
WCT: What makes you more qualified than Alds. Irvin and Saville or Rep. Chapa LaVia for mayor?
RG: I've been working with a mayor who has made a large difference in our community. So, I know this job. I've participated in balancing the budget, implementing the programs, executing the policies. I've helped to oversee a very large staff. The aldermen had nothing to do with that. A state legislator doesn't know the inner workings of a city government.
None of the other candidates have done any of the things I have described. All of my experience has been in the executive branch of government and I have more experience than all of the other three combined. On top of that, I have the ability to bring people together and deliver results. Some of our most significant, transformative projects have been projects I sold our mayor on, I put together and wouldn't have happened without the type of inclusive, collaborative leadership that I believe in.
For more information on the Rick Guzman campaign, visit GuzmanForAurora.org .
