Matt Reichel, 29, a freelance French interpreter, is running for alderman in the 47th Ward. He is a peace activist, Green Party organizer and most recently worked for the William Wrigley Jr. Company.
"I understand the tedium of political organizing, and the strength of character that is required for a demanding job of this nature," Reichel said. "Furthermore, as a progressive, I see the need to fight to defend the public sector from encroachment by greedy and unaccountable private interests.
"As alderman, I will be the foremost spokesperson in the city council for defending the public domain, the public pensions and public utilities. I consider it disingenuous and negligent that public officials do otherwise."
Windy City Times: What are your strengths?
Matt Reichel: I have an advanced degree in diplomacy, [and] earned over a three-year stay in Paris, where I obtained a worldly understanding of international relations and the dynamics of cultural interaction. As such, I have a keen ability to relate to people from a variety of different backgrounds, and an even keener ability to negotiate, debate, and stand my ground.
WCT: What are your weaknesses, and what are you doing to improve them?
Matt Reichel: I have little patience for people who lack respect towards their fellow human being. Unfortunately, there are many of these types involved in Chicago politics, so I do need to improve on my willingness to engage with the indecent and disrespectful amongst us.
WCT: Why vote for you over your opponents?
Matt Reichel: I have the most experience as a progressive political activist in this progressive ward. Furthermore, I possess a dynamic background in diplomacy and public policy-making. As such, I believe that I am the candidate who ideologically resonates best with the ward, while offering a skill and experience set that more than prepares me for the rigor of this job.
WCT: What do you want to do for the 47th and how do you plan to get things done?
Matt Reichel: First, and most important, we are going to bring transparency and grassroots democracy to the ward organization by converting the existing political machinery into a coalition of community groups. We are also going to introduce a participatory budget so as to decide how to spend the ward's discretionary funds. This means that I am going to rule by committee, and put an end to the days of the totalitarian alderman in the 47th Ward.
WCT: Where are things at, in your opinion, in the 47th?
Matt Reichel: We are fortunate to live in one of the most affluent and safest wards in the city. However, there is plenty of room for improvement on a number of different fronts. For one, the ward has become less integrated in recent years, which, I believe, takes away some of the cosmopolitan appeal of the area. As such, I will look for ways to increase the racial, ethnic and class integration of the area, and will potentially advocate opening up new affordable housing units. For example, I would like to see the vacant Ravenswood Hospital converted to a mixed income housing unit.
WCT: What is the biggest issue/concern you see for the 47th?
Matt Reichel: I began touching on this … My primary concern regarding this ward is that it is losing some of its diversity, both culturally and economically. In order to help stave off this problem, I hope to explore various alternatives for mixed income housing, such as the one proposed at the old Ravenswood Hospital site.
Furthermore, I see a problem with political corruption in this ward, emanating from 36 years under one alderman. One of my prime objectives will be cleaning up the ward organization by converting it from the political organization that it is today into a full-fledged civic organization. By converting into a coalition of civic groups that are invited to participate in all levels of decision-making, I hope to turn the page on the disastrous era of graft, nepotism and malfeasance that has been commonplace in this city and ward for the last several decades.
WCT: What are you long-term goals for the 47th?
Matt Reichel: The short term objectives listed above inform on my long-term vision for the ward: that we become the most diverse, dynamic community in Chicago. That we expand on our existence as a public transportation hub, cultural mecca, and center of green-thinking, with our many parks, outdoor festivals and pedestrian-friendly squares.
WCT: How will the Chicago mayoral race impact the 47th?
Matt Reichel: We hope that this election will be used as an opportunity to cleanse this city of its history of corruption and graft. We hope that we use this opportunity to commence a forensic audit of the city budget, to eliminate clout hires and other administrative waste. We hope that the years of waste will be behind us.
WCT: What does it mean/matter that you are endorsed by the Green Party?
Matt Reichel: This is significant because the 47th Ward has been one of the top performing wards for the Green Party going back to [Ralph] Nader's presidential run in 2000. There has always been a strong progressive and independent streak to this community, and so this would be a fitting place to elect the city's first Green alderman. If elected, our ward organization will be converted into a coalition of community groups, oriented on civic service. We will not exist purely as a means of electing machine Democrats to higher office, as is currently the case. As such, a victory for me will be more than a victory for the Green Party; it will be a victory for all working people of the 47th Ward.
WCT: How will your peace and social-justice activism impact the 47th?
Matt Reichel: My activist experience gives me a certain understanding of the contours of public policy-making, and the toughness that is required to get things done. I will not be an alderman who just merely pledges to adopt the progressive position on a range of issues; I will be actively rallying for support of our progressive platform, and be an activist alderman above all else.
WCT: The 47th has a large LGBT population. What do you want to do for the LGBT community?
Matt Reichel: I hope that the LGBT community is interested in the central tenets of this campaign: democratizing the ward organization, bringing transparency to city government, converting the Chicago Public School (CPS) system to a bottom-up model of grassroots decision-making, eliminating the CPS' CEO position and the administrative waste that comes with it, buying back the parking meters, stopping the fire sale on all other public assets, including water, and keeping the public pensions public.
WCT: Do you favor hate-crimes legislation that increases penalties for crimes committed based on the sexual orientation or gender identity of the person attacked?
Matt Reichel: I generally do not support hate-crimes legislation for a few reasons. First, incarceration rates are already too high and prison sentencing too strict throughout this country. We have a larger percentage of the population behind bars here than in any other democratic country, even dwarfing the incarceration rates of some of the most outrageous and totalitarian regimes in the world. In my view, finding cause to exacerbate this problem is regressive and anti-democratic.
Second, to support hate-crime legislation is to demonstrate a misconception about how the law functions. In order to have a legal system that does not descend into the realm of arbitrariness and systemic unfairness, it is important that we punish the crime and not the motivation. I can see no way that a hate crime bill can be introduced in a fair and just manner.
WCT: Would you advocate for mandatory anti-bullying policies/training in Chicago public schools?
Matt Reichel: Yes, absolutely. Bullying in schools has become an endemic problem throughout this country, and is particularly bad in Chicago. The long-term solution to the problem is injecting a rhetoric of respect into a society that has been torn apart by decades of right-wing conservative rule.
People have been taught to pursue nothing but their own, narrow interests, and to not concern themselves with the needs of the larger community. I believe that this conservative worldview has been passed onto children in the form of this selfish, self-centered bully syndrome. In other words, we need to create better adults if we are ever going to have better children. This is why I am a progressive with an orientation on public service, rather than selfish pursuits.
In the short run, I will advocate any and all anti-bullying training in Chicago schools.
