Rafael Vargas jokes that he was abducted to Chicago by his wife, Melissa. But after 11 years here, the Philadelphia-born civil-rights attorney calls Lincoln Park home. Now, Vargas is calling for reforms in his chosen city as a candidate for 43rd Ward alderman. Vargas explained his dissatisfaction with the current system and his ideas for fixing it in an interview with Windy City Times.
Windy City Times: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Rafael Vargas: I'm a consumer-protection civil-rights lawyer here in the city, and I mostly advocate around education issues throughout the state. Currently, I represent about 11,000 families, making sure that kids throughout the state have access to the best quality education. So I work a lot with families, and I work a lot with school districts, helping to craft better policies that provides for the best access possible for kids.
WCT: Why do you want to be the 43rd Ward alderman?
Rafael Vargas: Well, you know, the 43rd Ward is at a crossroads. We have a lot of issues with respect to how we use our property tax dollars. The 43rd Ward probably pays more property tax dollars than any other ward. And I think we need the type of leadership that's going to be active in making sure we're watching those tax dollars, protecting our public access, and ensuring that we have real active leadership in council. So, I'm running to take the advocacy that I bring every morning for kids throughout the state to the 43rd Ward, and to be that type of active leader.
WCT: Would you have run had Alderman [ Vi ] Daley sought re-election?
Rafael Vargas: Yes. I actually launched my campaign in July of this year, so I was the first candidate to launch his campaign, and I was going to run against Alderman Daley because… I thought she maybe wasn't as active an advocate for us as possible. I don't think that she engaged with issues like education policy and crime policy in a way that was in the best interest of our community. And I just felt that the ward was ready for a change.
WCT: Redevelopment is a major issue in this race. Can you talk about how you want to approach development issues?
Rafael Vargas: We need to create a process or a framework through which all stakeholders such as residents, property owners can understand what the expectations are to do business in the ward. I think a great example of the lack of transparent process has been Lincoln Park Hospital. I think a lot of the issues and controversies surrounding that had to do with the fact that no one understood what the process was, how we got to the proposal that we ended up with, and I think there was actually a lot of distrust from the community when the project was put on the table before that. I propose that we have a more open process from day one, so that we can move beyond that level of distrust.
WCT: What is your take on preservation of historic buildings in the neighborhood?
Rafael Vargas: Certainly, I believe that we need to preserve our history. I do think we need to be careful about not going too far. What I mean by that is 46 percent of Lincoln Park has been downzoned or landmarked over the last 25 years. And in doing so, at least in the last 10 years, we've lost over 4,300 dwelling units and all the people and the density to go along with that.
WCT: Do you support the development or more affordable housing?
Rafael Vargas: It's hard to say I would support affordable housing in the ward in the hypothetical. I would really have to make sure that it makes sense because there's a lot of economic factors that we need to make sure that we're considering.
WCT: You have criticized Jody Weis' beat realignment plan for police officers and said you want to get smarter on crime. Can you talk about what that means?
RF: Safety is very important. It's one of the things that compelled me to enter this race, and I think that's because we've been silent in council on issues like crime. Crime is up in the 43rd Ward even as crime is down in other parts of the city. What I'm talking about when I'm talking about getting smarter on crime is using systems of accountability to make sure that we understand how crime is working, using the resources that we already have. If crime is going up in 43, then it makes no sense to remove police from 43. That's exactly where we need them at this time.
WCT: Other than three major redevelopment issues in your ward, what are some smaller short-term projects you'd like to undertake in the next four years?
Rafael Vargas: One of the major projects that I'm excited to take on is the redevelopment of our retail corridors, and we actually have a very proactive proposal. It's the only such plan of any of the candidates in this race, and it's called the "Main Street Activation Act." It's designed to help re-invigorate and stimulate economic development throughout the 43rd Ward.
WCT: Tell me about your relationship with the LGBT community.
RF: I'm a supporter of the LGBT community. As a civil-rights lawyer, I've advised a number of people on issues of discrimination in the community. And I'm an advocate to make sure that everyone is protected equally under the law. That will apply to everyone in our ward, whether it's the LGBT community or other groups that may be impacted inequitably. So, certainly, with respect to that particular community, I will stress my commitment … to making sure they're full participants in our city at every level.
