According to businessman Jose Ramirez, who is running to be Berwyn's 2nd Ward alderman, having four openly LGBT candidates on their ticket in the city's primary election next February is "a big deal because it's not a big deal."
Berwyn has a large number of LGBT residents. The city has, over the years, made an aggressive push to get people to move there, and has also made outreach in LGBT communities elsewhere. Ramirez has in fact helped staff a booth at Northalsted Market Days to do just that.
Ramirez said, "When you tell younger people to move to Berwyn, they give you a look. I respond by saying, 'When you grow up, and you're ready to settle down, have a yard and garage, be part of the school system, and have a family, that's where it's at.' I've been with my partner for 25 years, and we just wanted a home that was ours."
Ramirez is running as part of a political action committee calling itself Berwyn United, which includes 3rd Ward Ald. Marge Paul, who is running for city clerk; Jeanine Reardon, a hospital chaplain who is running to replace Paul in the 3rd Ward; and Joey Johnston, who works for a renewable energy company and is running for a township trustee post. Paul, Reardon and Johnston, like Ramirez, are openly gay.
"We've got people that really reflect the diverse demographic makeup of the city of Berwyn," Paul said.
Sixth Ward Ald. Theodore "Teddy" Polashek, who is currently running for mayor, approached Paul about running for city clerk. "We knew each other but weren't closely acquainted," Paul recalled. "Over time, we developed a mutual respect for the things we were trying to do for our community. About six months ago, we sat down and he let me know that he was planning to run for mayor and asked me to run for city clerk."
Paul called her city clerk candidacy "an important first step in terms of visibility for LGBT residents. I've represented the 3rd Ward for two terms. I handily won the election the first time, and was able to increase that in the second election."
It's the first time Reardon has run for elected office. She said she is looking forward to continuing the work that Paul began in her terms as alderman.
"There are many neighbors whose voices still haven't been heard," Reardon said. "I've enjoyed walking around the neighborhoods and talking to them."
Reardon also explained that she has noticed a perception that "if you 'know somebody' in town you can get anything done. If you don't know anybody, you can't. A lot of things get in the way. That's not the way things should work. We have a pretty high Hispanic population here, for example, but they're not well-represented in city council. Their concerns are not being brought to the table. I'm not sure I'm the best candidate for that. I think Jose Ramirez has a better connection, so I hope I continue to stay connected with him and do right by the whole community."
Johnston is a Berwyn native who moved away but returned about two-and-a-half years ago. He said he's running for trustee because, "I've always wanted to become involved in my community. I grew up with Teddy, and he and I are close friends. He's involved in a lot of stuff and he persuaded me to become involved in a way that was good for the community. … There's a movement now for Berwyn for change, and here's the perfect opportunity to do."
Each of the candidates makes the argument for more transparency in the municipal government.
"I think it's a city government that's not listening to the new residents, and old residents," Ramirez said. "It's not representing everybody equally. In order to move Berwyn forward, we need an administration in office that are going to represent that. … New residents want a voice. They want to be heard. What we have now is an administration that kind of does things the old-fashioned way. They don't use Facebook. They don't use Twitter. We need to modernize the administration and representatives of the people of Berwyn."
Ramirez said one step in that direction would be putting recordings of city council meetings online, for example. "That way everyone [in the community] can participate," he added. "Let's face it, everyone in the community has a different life and different hours."
Paul said "there are pressing issues for us, as city council members, that we really need to address. For example, we have an ordinance requiring council permission for city contracts over $10,000. Oftentimes, what we see is them constantly having serial contracts under that threshold. We may pay a company $90,000 a year, but it's with 10 $9,000 contracts. In the aggregate it's well over $10,000. They find a loophole. There are other loopholes with the building code, the zoning code and the liquor ordinance. The position of Berwyn United is that you don't get a fair shot in town unless you play by the rules."
"It's not always clear who's connected to what, and who's being served," said Reardon.
Johnston said that Berwyn residents need more choices in leadership too.
"In the last election, a lot of people ran unopposed on the city side and the township side," he added. "It's good now that there is another choice for the people."
Ramirez also said infrastructure is another issue that needs work in Berwyn. "Like all cities, we have a budget crisis," he explained. "We don't have the money to do what we should do, and we're not getting the money from the state. There's an area there called the Depot District. People go by on the train and what do they see? Broken sidewalks, an area that's not kept up. There's a proposal to modernize the Depot District. Unfortunately, when [Bruce] Rauner became the governor, they kind of cut that out, so unfortunately that's at a standstill."
Despite their criticisms of the current state of local government, each candidate praised Berwyn as a welcoming city for the LGBT community. Ramirez noted that many residents were like Johnston—they'd move away when they reached adulthood, but then return at some point.
"A lot of kids can't wait to get the heck out of where they grew up," Ramirez said. "Here we have a population of people who say, 'I grew up in Berwyn and moved out, I did my thing, and when I was ready to settle down, I moved back to Berwyn.'"
The city "has come a long way in terms of accepting diversity and welcoming diversity," Paul said. "It shows the commitment to opening up the city to anyone who wants to move in. We're happy to have them."
The four LGBT candidates are having a T-Dance Fundraiser on Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Krew Rock Lounge, 6319 W. Roosevelt Rd., Berwyn, at 3-7 p.m. Entertainment will be by Ms. Cee Cee LaRouge and tickets are $25 in advance and $30 at the door. For more information, visit BerwynUnited.com .
[There is one additional candidate running in the Berwyn election, under the Democratic Citizens of Berwyn ( DCOB ), and we will report on this in next week's Windy City Times.]
