Michele Smith has been here before. In 2007, she lost the race in the 43rd Ward to outgoing alderman Vi Daley in a runoff election that separated them by 600 votes. Four years later, the Lincoln Park and Gold Coast neighborhoods face major re-development projects that will shape the ward for decades to come. Smith talked with Windy City Times about how she is ready to get tough with developers, crime, and the city budget.
Windy City Times: Michele, tell us a bit about yourself.
Michele Smith: I've lived in the Lincoln Park Community for over 30 years. I'm a former federal prosecutor, and I've prosecuted many white collar and political corruption cases in Chicago. After I was a federal prosecutor, I became a corporate attorney at a very well-established company called Navistar, and I worked there for almost 20 years, working on many of the same kind issues that [face] our city today: restructuring, pension, and healthcare reform. As I said, I've lived here for over 30 years. I have a daughter who I raised here. I was elected Democratic Committeeman in 2008 where I served as an independent Democrat.
WCT: You were almost elected alderman four years ago. Why do you still want the job?
Michele Smith: Well, you know, Chicago is in a jam right nowthe neighborhood and the city that I loveand we need people in our city council who are professional and can scrutinize our city budget to make sure that our hard-earned tax dollars are spent on the things that are really important.
WCT: Redevelopment is a major issue in your ward right now. You have said that you want residents to play an important role in development decisions. Can you talk about that?
Michele Smith: I really believe that the community should control the development that goes on. I also believe that unlike in the past, it's up to the developers to convince us that what they want to do is good and right for the community. So, I'll be the steward for the ward and the chief skeptic.
WCT : Some community organizers have demanded that redevelopment include more offer affordable housing in the ward. Will you support development of more affordable housing?
Michele Smith: My understanding is that the coalition of people in the neighborhood is that there is a need in community for workforce housing and for senior housing. I want Lincoln Park to have places … for young single people, professionals who have a place to go, or the teachers who live here. We only have a couple of policemen who live in our area. So that kind of housing, I think our community would welcome because we know how expensive our neighborhood is now, and that's not sustainable.
WCT: You have prioritized crime as an issue in your ward. What are safety issues facing your residents and how will you respond?
Michele Smith: There were incidents over the summer over at the beach and in our area in which there were shootings and violent muggings, you know people being beaten and robbed, and I won't stand for that. Because I am a former prosecutor … I believe that I can make a difference in understanding how police are deployed and where we need them.
WCT: How will you approach the city budget?
Michele Smith: I'm advocating that we do this thing called zero-based budgeting, which says we start over. We just don't take last year's budget and add 10% and try to figure that out. Instead, you say "what is it that we're trying to do here? What are our priorities? And what's the minimum amount of money that's needed to run a department?" And with the money that's left over, you have the departments compete for those resources. And you have the voters participate in that process.
WCT: In December, your campaign came under fire in a Board of Elections hearing over an accusation that you used Vi Daley's financial disclosure to mine three names for fundraising purposes. Was there a violation?
Michele Smith: We had a fundraising event in September. I had a fundraising consultant who was in charge of compliance. And they sent a copy of our invitations to Alderman Daley's secretary … and the reason she was doing donor research was because Alderman Daley was still in the race and you do donor research. So the rule is that you're allowed to do donor research by looking at that stuff, but you're not allowed to use that information directly for fundraising.
So my then fundraiser was putting together a mailing list of 3,000 people. He made a mistake by including a few of the names that we had been doing research on. And so, Alderman Daley's secretary immediately filed a complaint against us. We didn't know [what] had happened. I didn't know what had happened because it wasn't my job to send out the invitations. And when the facts came out, I fired him. And more importantly, there has been no finding by the Board of Elections of any violation.
WCT: Tell me about your relationship with the LGBTQ community.
Michele Smith: We have just taken one step forward, right? The civil-union bill is an important step forward, and I support full civil rights for LGBT people.
WCT: Do you support same-sex marriage?
Michele Smith: Marriage, the whole thing. I don't think that people's rights should depend on the sexuality of the person that they love. I'm on the board of a wonderful organization called Facing History and Ourselves, which is a teacher-training and citizenship organization designed to teach students to be citizens. And the core mission of teaching is to combat bigotry and prejudice and to prevent the terrible kinds of events that have happened in the past like the Holocaust and other tragedies from happening again. And so this issue generally of [LGBTQ] rights is one of my core personal values. Facing History has had significant involvement on this issue of bullying…as well as this terrible issue of suicide and hate crimes. These are very very serious issues.
WCT: Do you have openly LGBT people working for your campaign?
Michele Smith: There are openly LGBT people on my campaign. As committeeman, I have supported and have been supported by openly LGBT people. And that's great. And we watch the parade … we always have a great time. That's really, that's where we stand.
See www.michelesmithforalderman.org .