BY MEGHAN STREIT
After 20 years in the Illinois Senate, Miguel del Valle is running for an office that will keep him busy right here in Chicago city clerk. With the backing of Mayor Richard Daley, del Valle was appointed to serve as the interim City Clerk in December, after former clerk James Laski resigned amid federal bribery and corruption charges. If elected, del Valle hopes to continue working on many of the same issues he advocated for in Springfield education and immigrant rights coming in at the top of that list. Del Valle has supported the LGBT community throughout the years, and formerly served on the board of the AIDS Foundation.
Windy City Times: What do you think are the most important issues facing the city of Chicago, and how do you plan to work on them if elected?
Miguel del Valle: The clerk?s office is primarily an administrative office that deals with mundane kinds of functions, but I have every intention of expanding the role of the city clerk. It will be very different from the clerks of the past in that I will work on issues that are outside the purview of the clerk?s office education being my number-one issue. In addition to education, I?ll continue to work on other issues, one being immigrant rights.
WCT: What do you think is the solution to the immigration issue?
MDV: In federal immigration reform, a comprehensive federal immigration reform, do I think that is within reach? No, but more so than it was a year ago. Now that the Democrats have the majority in Congress, and that the president has expressed support for a comprehensive measure that includes a path to legalization for those who are here, and are not individuals who have broken other laws, other than the entry without documentation into the country. Those individuals, who have a record of working, should be allowed to begin a process toward legalization.
WCT: What do you think Chicago needs to do to be friendlier to the LGBT community?
MDV: Long before others were supporting the human rights legislation in Springfield, I was there as a co-sponsor. Growing up in Chicago neighborhoods as a Latino I wasn?t born here, I was born in Puerto Rico was not easy. As a youngster, I experienced racism. And so, because of what I went through, I feel very, very strongly about ensuring that every human being?s rights are protected.
I think with the gay community. I remember the days when we started to organize the Latinos, and I would speak with some folks in the gay community who would say to me and this was 30 years ago ?You know, we?ve got to do the same thing.? And I would say, ?Yes, you?ve got to organize. You?ve got to pull people together, and you?ve got to stand up and you?ve got to be aggressive.? Over the years, I saw that evolve, the organization evolve, and I think today the community is highly regarded, it?s respected. There is still discrimination, but it?s economic, social and political strength that [ are ] respected.
WCT: While it is beyond the purview of Chicago City Council, what do you think the country should do about the issue of same-sex marriage?
MDV: It?s a hot issue, and I understand that. I have always supported domestic partners. I believe there should be legal rights there for everyone, and I think gay marriage is a personal choice that should be respected, and it should be between the individuals and their church, and government should respect the rights of individuals to marry. It will continue to be a controversial issue, but I think when the country first started debating domestic partner laws, there was a lot of resistance, and gradually it became more and more acceptable because people began to realize it?s unfair, and I think the same thing?s going to happen with gay marriage.
WCT: Another issue that remains really important to the LGBT community is funding for HIV prevention and treatment. What are your thoughts on that issue?
MDV: I had fought some battles in Springfield. When the governor tried to cut funding for minority AIDS outreach a few years ago, I was one of those that yelled the loudest. People in the administration would get mad at me because I would openly criticize those kinds of cuts. I didn?t care, because [ cutting ] was wrong. And, as a result of our advocacy, those dollars were restored. That?s the type of person I am.
WCT: What compelled you make the decision to leave that behind and run for city clerk?
MDV: I felt that 20 years of going to Springfield [ as a member of the Illinois Senate ] was enough, and that I had done my job. I wanted to expand my role in government, and I saw a citywide position.
WCT: I think many people don?t completely understand what the city clerk does. They may think of the city clerk?s office as simply the place they go to buy city stickers. Can you explain how the clerk is actually able to be involved on a much broader level in city government?
MDV: I use my leadership skills and my expertise to move agendas along, such as the education-funding reform.
On day-to-day issues, there?s also a lot of work to be done there. We need to modernize the office; let?s start with that. There are a lot of antiquated systems in place, and we need to make it easier for people to get their residential parking permits.
The city clerk?s office [ involves ] dog licenses [ as well ] . Now it?s a tiny piece of the clerk?s office, but I want to see what creative things we could do, good things and I?m not talking about raising fees. I?m talking about promoting activities for dog owners in Chicago.
There are other projects that I want to develop, and am looking at making my office available to assist parents with the federal financial aid form, because that?s a complicated thing.
Then, of course, we?re going to modernize [ the office ] . If we are going to have transparency in government, then people have to access to all the information that?s generated by the legislative branch.
So we?re going to rework our Web site to make it possible to track this legislation, and to share information, including being able to go to another site to have access to the entire municipal code. So the more information people are provided, I think the more they can feel that they can influence government. And everyone should feel, in a democracy, that they can influence government. The point I wanted to make is that I think it?s ironic that we have all these cameras watching the street corners, and we?ve never had a camera watching the city council.
WCT: The city clerk?s office has obviously been plagued with corruption for several years.
MDV: Yeah, the last clerk was indicted and convicted for activities not related to the city clerk?s office. But prior to that, there was another clerk who was convicted for ghost payrolling and that was related to the city clerk?s office. So that is why it?s so important to do all these reforms. It?s going to take a while to regain the confidence of the public in the city clerk?s office. So the only way to do that is through action over a period of time, and I?m confident that we can do that.
