When David Cicilline was elected mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, in November 2002, he became the first openly gay mayor of a U.S. state capital. The day after his landslide victory, he told the Providence Journal that his sexual orientation played no role in his campaign, rather his focus was upon the issues.
Almost 12 years later, the sentiment seemed much the same in the third-floor reception hall of the Center on Halsted. On Aug. 5—to a small but enthusiastic crowd—openly gay man Dennis Sneyers announced that he is on a mission to oust Mayor Rahm Emanuel from City Hall in the February 2015 Chicago mayoral election.
"The people of Chicago will have two choices—either the status quo or electing someone like myself, who has ideas and will fight for the people of Chicago," Sneyers told the audience.
Those ideas and a platform of total city-hall accountability to the tax-payer are designed to address a long list of challenges that—according to Sneyers—include "the nearly eight billion dollars in debt the city has racked up, an aging infrastructure, the growing gang problem along with a high murder rate and the closing of 16 public schools in Chicago."
During the announcement of his candidacy, Sneyers wondered why Emanuel, his staff and the city's aldermen have allowed issues such as $37 billion worth of underfunded pensions to go unchecked. "With all those eyes on our finances, it's almost criminal," he said. "I'm on the border of saying there should be a federal investigation. Our city council is almost an incestuous institution where the aldermen have more interest in protecting themselves than they do in serving the public."
To that end, Sneyers said his first goal is to reduce the number of members on the city council while improving the quality of service Chicago residents receive. He also pledged to address the city's financial problems—something he maintains Emanuel has failed to follow through on despite the mayor's campaign platform. "Mayor Emanuel promised to reinvent government and make tough choices to get our financial house in order," Sneyers said. "He's done none of those things."
Sneyers' solutions involve the greater empowerment of Chicago's residents. "One of my proposals is to allow the voters of Chicago to vote on bond issues," he said. "If we have to pay more taxes then we should have the right to say yes or no before a bond goes through."
Similarly, Sneyers said he wants public elections held regarding the Board of Education and the Commissioners of the Chicago Park District. "By electing both of these groups, it will change how the agencies are run and make them reportable to the taxpayers and not the mayor," he said. "This also allows the mayor to spend time on addressing the city's finances, infrastructure and crime."
Sneyers maintained that it took Emanuel an inordinate amount of time before he got around to addressing the city's crime rate. "I don't know why it took three and a half years to have that meeting," he said. "It's a meeting that I would have had my first week in office and it's a meeting I will have every week until the issue is resolved."
Sneyers also placed a high priority on tackling the issue of the city's LGBT homeless youth—something that affected him personally in 2005 when he met a 17-year-old homeless man in Indiana. Nearly 10 years later, Sneyers acknowledged the problem is still pervasive. His solutions involve accountability both in Springfield and in the home. "I think there's a lot that state legislators can do," he told Windy City Times. "I think there should be stronger penalties against parents who abandon their child—and that's exactly what they are doing when they throw their child out of the house—or if the child is physically abused and doesn't feel welcome in their home or their high school. There's got to be more laws to protect these kids."
Sneyers labeled Emanuel as a one-solution-mayor: "I don't believe our mayor fully understands the depth and the nature of the issues that he's facing."
He also told Windy City Times that he intends to be more of a compassionate and forthright leader. "If someone is in need, I am going to help," he said. "[Emanuel] makes effective speeches but when it comes to the execution, he's not so good."
After his announcement, Sneyers shook the hands of each person who had attended, taking time to answer their questions.
Among the attendees was Chicagoan Ron Woods. "There were several things [Sneyer's] said that I liked," he said. "I like to think I'm a good judge of character and I think he's sincere, dedicated and a good person. I respect someone who is willing to take on something he believes in. I think we can do better with him."
Kay Frederick said that she sees a lot of worth in Sneyer's initiatives, particularly when it comes to education reform. "I think letting the public vote for the school board is a great idea," she said. "It should not be something the mayor appoints in my opinion."
She added that the small crowd seemed to suit this stage of Sneyer's run perfectly. "You know, this early, I didn't expect a thousand people to be here," she said. "I thought an intimate setting for this announcement was great."
