THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

In the coming weeks, we will interview 44th Ward openly gay candidate Rick Ingram and other candidates for that post, as well as candidates in other key city races.

Tracy Baim: Let's talk first about your background in Chicago.

Tom Tunney: My parents both came from Ireland. They grew up about five miles apart, even though they didn't know each other, they knew of each other's family. They met in Chicago, at Irish dances here. They got married in 1950. My mom worked at a church rectory for about 10 years before she got married. ... My dad grew up as a meat butcher in Ireland, and when he came here he was a brick layer. He eventually formed, with his brothers, his construction company, called Tunney Builders. He split off from his brothers—because my uncles felt if you couldn't do it 9-5, Monday-Friday, it wasn't worth it. And my dad's philosophy was you did it until the job is done. My mom actually helped my father until the seventh child, ran the books of the business. Did the ordering, and used our home growing up as a model for prospective buyers. My dad built new residential homes on the Southwest Side.

So my parents had very little formal education, but believed education was the key to success for their children. And all eight of us have college degrees (five boys and three girls). ... My dad was middle class, in a sense he made enough money to preclude us from scholarships, so we learned to work early on (and worked our way through college). I was working for him from age five, with his company. Cleaning, landscaping, etc. This was around 80th and Kedzie.

TB: Were they involved in politics?

TT: My parents were full-time parents. My mom raised eight kids—we were all a year apart, and I'm a part of a twin. She had five kids in diapers at the same time. ...

TB: How did your interests move to restaurants and politics?

TT: My first job, after working for my father and being a newspaper boy, was in the restaurant business. In 1971, I worked as a dishwasher at the Holiday Inn Oak Lawn, and worked my way through high school. And never really left the hospitality business, all though high school and college and graduate school.

TB: How did politics come into play? You said becoming an elected official is the culmination of a lifelong dream.

TT: I have a natural inclination to serve. I grew up with the old-man Daley—you believed there was only one mayor. My family was close to the Daley family, but not politically active for him. I have seven aunts and uncles from my father's side, and some of them were more active in politics than my parents were. My mother's side of the family was more liberal than my father's.

I was always interested in politics. My father voted for John Kennedy for president, as the first Catholic. ... But I remember during the 1968 Democratic Convention, watching the TV, and he was very against the protesters. ... Me getting involved in politics, is from my lifelong interest in the Democratic Party, and being gay really brought me out into being more political.

TB: You came out publicly within a couple years of buying Ann Sather's, in the early 1980s.

TT: A lot of that was in response to AIDS, the ignorance and the stereotyping of the gay community. I do believe that my success and zeal with the restaurant business came with a self-awareness of my sexuality. I wasn't aware that Lakeview was part of the gay community ...

TB: When you bought the restaurant you did not know Lakeview was so gay?

TT: Correct. I was never a customer—I was from the South Side and you rarely came up north. After graduate school I took a job at the Ritz-Carlton, and one year later I met Ann Sather. One of my reasons for leaving corporate America was I knew I was well trained and qualified, and knew I would be successful, but I was really concerned about being gay in the workplace. In corporate life you did play politics, you had to be good and play the game. ... I met Ann Sather through a college friend—she was 72 and looking to retire, but wanted someone to continue her style of restaurant.

TB: You said because the AIDS epidemic hit in the early 1980s, that's why you felt compelled to come out and put a face on gay businesses?

TT: This was even prior to AIDS ... understanding more about myself and the community I was serving as a business person, was exhilarating. I am comfortable with myself, I know who I am ... I didn't know how fortunate I was to meet Ann Sather. Ann Sather's then was somewhat of an oasis for seniors, but also for gays and lesbians.

TB: Did you have political mentors?

TT: John Merlo [the former 44th Ward powerhouse], was a real class act.

TB: Were you involved in openly gay Dr. Ron Sable's 1987 or 1991 races for 44th Ward alderman?

TT: I was involved as a counselor, but I did not actively support Ron Sable, in 1987. Bernie [Hansen] had been elected, in 1983. I helped Ron on business issues, but I would not call myself a big supporter. However, I met with him a number of times on small business issues. And I did not support Bernie Hansen, either.

Between 1987 and 1991's Sable campaign, I actually encouraged Ron to diversify his interests. I also told him that because his expertise was in healthcare, he should run for Cook County Board.

In the meantime, I was co-founder of the Lakeview Central Business Association (and was president at one time). I was a member of Lakeview Citizen's Council for years. So I was involved from the beginning in the business community. I was involved in the Illinois Restaurant Association.

TB: What about existing business groups and organizations?

TT: I have been involved in Northalsted Area Merchants Association, Lakeview Chamber of Commerce ... and many other groups. I have been on the board of Lakeview Citizen's Council. I am a member of Lakeview East Chamber of Commerce, Lakeview Chamber of Commerce, NAMA ... . As we go forward, one of the problems is there are too many of these business groups. They don't network with themselves, and we have to compete with Andersonville, Bucktown, and other areas.

TB: Talk about some of your activism as a business owner.

TT: I was involved even with the Harold Washington administration, on restaurant issues. ... I was down protesting to increase AIDS funding, with Danny Sotomayor and Art Johnston ... Art was a mentor for me. He got me involved in IMPACT [a now-defunct gay political group]. We helped lobby on the city gay-rights ordinance. And the restaurant hosted a zillion meetings, and I partook in a lot of them. We did some of the early March on Washington stuff, hosting meetings. I would say that almost every gay organization has used the resources of Ann Sather's, in their birth or maturation.

A lot of activists do this full-time ... I was building a business during that same time. So I wasn't able to do all I wanted. ...

TB: Talk about some of your donations to AIDS groups such as Open Hand, or the AIDS Ward at Illinois Masonic. How did that impact your business? You were one of the only restaurants that committed those kind of resources.

TT: We were the only one. This was also in response to the homophobia and ignorance about AIDS. I thought, I am going to live or die just being who I am. If the restaurant succeeded it succeeded, if it failed, it failed. As an openly gay business person, I think the community needed positive role models. Because there was so much ignorance going around about AIDS in restaurants, and chefs who died, and the businesses lost. It was a tragic time—still now, the ignorance is less, but the tragedy is still the same.

Some of the groups we supported were AIDS Walk, Stop AIDS, Chicago House ... I can't think of an organization that didn't have some relationship with the restaurant. Because we never said 'No.' I can't remember turning down anybody that needed help.

TB: This was on an individual basis as well?

TT: Yes. People were left homeless ... trying to find them shelter, food. We did soup kitchens in the mid 1980s that had nothing to do with AIDS, maybe there was some overlap, I don't know and we didn't care. We were probably one of the most not-conservative businesses in the community.

We used to get criticized from other business people for attracting homeless people to our restaurant.

TB: What was your involvement with the White Crane Senior Center?

TT: White Crane actually started out of our work in the homeless community. We worked with Jane Addams Center on homeless issues, and the fact that being homeless was a period of transition, it's not a lifelong thing. So I learned more about the issue. And I had a lot of respect for the senior community—they were a lot of my clientele.

White Crane was an innovative joint venture between Jane Addams Senior Caucus and Illinois Masonic, where they created a board (with five from Addams, five from Masonic, and two from the community—one who was Tunney's landlord). So they were testing a community model for healthcare, wellness and prevention. Their goal was to keep people out of the hospital.

It was a very successful organization, with 600 people at its height. It was funded with grants, and Masonic took care of rent [at 906 W. Belmont, across from Ann Sather], and we used our facility for a lot of different events. I was on the founding board and president for a couple of terms.

In 2003, we are not necessarily a satellite of them, but when Masonic decided not to fund them, they became part of Methodist Home, and some still wanted to meet at Ann Sather's. So some programs are here.

TB: How did you decide to step up your role with the Illinois Restaurant Association [IRA]?

TT: I was involved with IRA since the early 1980s. But that organization was a little too Republican for me, especially on AIDS stuff. The homophobia was coming from our people ... the restaurants who discriminated. So I am not going to volunteer with people who discriminate against me. So I took time off in the mid 1980s when I got more active in lesbian and gay politics and AIDS issues.

They came back to me and asked me to take more of a leadership role. So I asked them, 'What are you going to do about AIDS?' What they committed to doing was to learn more about the issues and take a more supportive role of the gay and lesbian community—which is a tremendous part of our industry. And also they committed to, with my leadership, the Dining Out for Life (AIDS fundraising) program.

They asked me to become director first, then I became secretary, which meant that within three years I would be chairman of the IRA. Because you move up [to each officer position], and then you're chairman. So it's five years of commitment. Then you are only allowed one year as chairman, then chairman-emeritus.

I try to combine me being openly gay and creating better awareness and understanding of the business community, as a vehicle to work on legislation. Under my chairmanship of the government affairs committee, it was the first time we endorsed the state gay-rights bill.

TB: Talk about your role with the CORE Center, the state-of-the-art West Side facility for people with HIV and AIDS.

TT: Fundraising from the corporate community. ... I was active with the Dick Phelen campaign for Cook County Board President. A lot of these issues came out of it, and I met with Ruth Rothstein, who is amazing. So all of that also was with Bill Clinton in 1992 (Tunney was a delegate from Chicago for Clinton). Christie Hefner was head of the development team of CORE Center.

I was also involved in community outreach, to get as much input from the groups about what services were needed.

TB: You talk about your passion for restaurants, and yet now you are going to be stepping away from it. Has this been on your mind prior to this race?

TT: When Ron Sable ran the second time and did worse than the first, I felt the gay community should have been represented in the City Council. Even with our trouble today of having more than one gay candidate, I think this is healthy. I can't believe we haven't had gays and lesbians running in aldermanic races all over town. For our generation, the 44th Ward has been the core of our community—as a gay man I would say that, maybe the lesbians would not. But for my generation, it was the center of it.

I had formed a committee (about running) 10 years ago. And I am pulling out stuff now that we did 10 years ago, with my positions on healthcare, education and other topics.

TB: Why didn't you run 10 years ago?

TT: No. 1, I wasn't in the position financially. We were growing as a company with a lot of debt. Ann never owned any property, so I went from a $600 a month rent to a $16,000 a month mortgage. I always felt that as much as I would like to run, I had a primary responsibility to make sure my restaurant was successful. We were also expanding: 1987 was Andersonville, 1989 was Hyde Park, 1990 we did the mall shops, then we did Lincoln Park Cafe, then Southport and Broadway cafe, now Milwaukee Avenue.

TB: Had you thought about running earlier this year?

TT: I had made somewhat of a truce with Ald. Hansen. He has been good to me as a business owner. He has also caught religion on the gay community. Now there are other issues about Hansen that hurt him—the development issues. ... But even with those issues, I think if he would have run, the majority of the people in the ward still would have voted for him.

TB: So you would only run if he did not?

TT: If Bernie would have run, no, I would not have run. I've always felt I could have done a better job, but I also felt that as far as my needs as a small businessperson ... [he helped]. I think Hansen would still do a better job than Rick Ingram. Because you have to look at what the job is. We're not talking about someone with amazing qualifications and changing the course of history of the human race. We're talking just about the 44th Ward, and services.

But also, as a gay person, it is important to have openly gay people in office. For the young people.

TB: The people who backed Ingram early on, because he was the first gay candidate to announce—have you had conversations with them?

TT: I had conversations, and still have, with Ingram and his supporters. I told Ingram up front if Hansen is not going to run, I am going to run.

TB: What is your agenda for the office?

TT: I want to do a 'Plan for Progress' in the ward, where we sit down with businesses, institutions, and residents about how we want to see our ward, from a development perspective. We need better shopping, better quality of life, more diversity, more affordability, and more respect for institutions (like Illinois Masonic and Wrigley Field). I would like to create a plan on how we want Lakeview to look in five years. Not one development at a time.

TB: So this is zoning, parking, transportation?

TT: Yes, parking, building size, downzoning on Halsted, Cubs congestion, public transit, how to reduce congestion by actually improving shopping locally. There is a migration west to Clybourn for shopping on the weekends. We don't have congestion Monday-Friday, it's the weekends.

I think people want to walk to shopping, and want to use public transportation. But we have to make it accessible. The Belmont station is not wheelchair accessible. I think our seniors are the most economical people we have, we should make these things accessible.

TB: What about the Halsted downzoning debate?

TT: As a gay business owner, there is no one who would be more supportive of preserving a gay business district and the gay tourist mecca that it is. Overlapping that with the fact that a lot of the business owners own their own properties. Do the property owners want the downzoning?

If you look at the history, in 1985-1990, we fought, and I fought specifically, on not downzoning Halsted Street. Why? Because the Halsted Street merchants didn't want it. They were thinking it was an anti-gay initiative. Now, they get the development.

As far as the current status, I was the only candidate who testified to downzoning on the Ald. Shiller side of Halsted.

TB: You talk a lot about working with people to come up with a plan. But ultimately you are going to have to make a decision. How are you going to make the hard choices?

TT: I think there is going to be a better vehicle to be accountable. Yes, there is going to be a final decision, but that doesn't mean it will be the decision that I personally want. You have to listen. I am a good friend of [former Ald.] Dick Simpson. His ward assembly idea ...

TB: You will have something like that, where the vote will be final from the community?

TT: Sure, I stand to be accountable. I have no ego in this thing. I think that the community's desires are what I am here to represent.

TB: But the residential tenants and owners will have a different view than business owners. And even some business owners have differing views.

TT: But I also feel we need to ask, where do you want to see our ward in five years? It's not going to please everyone, but it is a hell of a lot better than now, where they do address by address [zoning changes]. I'm more inclined toward affordable housing near transit, and giving density bonuses. Or creating a development fund for affordable housing, some people want to do where one-third of every development is for affordable housing, or funds go to a [Single Room Occupancy] fund.

We want the seniors to stay in the community, they don't want to be displaced. They want to be near their churches, their community.

Can we do affordable housing on commercial streets, yes.

TB: What about crime in the area?

TT: We are one of the safest wards in the city. There are some areas like the Belmont el stop and Halsted ... but part of my agenda is, how do we keep the ward cleaner and well lit? How do we keep healthy businesses open later? A lot of our crime can be reduced with safer, cleaner, well-lit streets and alleys. I also plan to be a lot more active. A lot of the crime occurs on weekends and late night. I am going to take a lot higher profile about crime and safety.

We were among the first wards, on Belmont, to put the beat cops on the street. The bicycle cops started on Belmont before they got to Halsted.

We also need to educate businesses to stop the loitering, and keeping their areas clean. It's not just the cops, it's all of us taking control.

I would like to see the beat cops more in tune to when crime occurs. They are Monday-Friday, during the day. We need to have the police weekends and at night.

We're also looking at cameras at the CTA stations, to do closed-circuit stuff, especially around Belmont. I am not interested in more of those dogs, I think they intimidate the heck out of people.

TB: What about the Wrigley Field controversies, with the rooftops, etc.

TT: I don't think the Cubs should be able to block the views of the rooftop owners, and I don't think they should go over the public sidewalks. ... They should have sued the rooftop owners 10 years ago, but they let this stuff get way out of hand, and the city came in to license them, and they put improvements in the property. ... We have a 15-year agreement with night baseball that has to be revisited—the crime and safety and congestion issues need to be addressed. So maybe there is a reasonable compromise here on expansion, etc. I think they should give the rooftop owners another 15 years where they don't block the view. Let them go to bat in 15 years—by that time everyone would have known they had 15 years to recoup their investment. They still have valuable real estate.

You know, if someone was selling cinnamon rolls on Fletcher Street, they wouldn't last for more than two minutes. The Cubs took their eye off the ball. Are they that clueless? Now they have to live with them.

TB: Talk about the shoreline project. People are upset with what has happened north of Belmont and they do not want the same design south of Belmont.

TT: This went though years of community input, now they want changes. I have met with them, and also met with the city. They are going to recycle some of the limestone ... there is a question about reinventing this plan at this late stage, whether it could happen, after 10 years of input. It's a new generation of people looking at the work. It's a little late. Some things have already been signed off by Hansen.

If we can do something more creative [including shoreline plans based on the study being done in Hyde Park], I am for it.

TB: What about AIDS funding from the city—the city itself does not put a lot of funds in. Rather, they funnel a lot of state and federal funds.

TT: We fought for AIDS funding starting in the 1980s. There are certain issues I have to be a leader on. We just can not get enough AIDS funding, and it has to be spread out where the disease is at. If anything is not negotiable to me, it is AIDS funding.

TB: What specific gay items are on your agenda?

TT: Through both the gay Chamber and CPNA [Chicago Professional Networking Association], we approached the mayor in the mid 1990s about minority contracting. How we define that is not clear. I am more than happy to sit down with business groups and write an ordinance that would help more of our small businesses.

TB: San Francisco requires businesses that do business with the city to have domestic-partners coverage. Do you see this for Chicago?

TT: I think just like with a partners registry, it's not as painful as people make it out to be. From a business point of view, it is good for them to have this coverage.

I am going to work with the gay business groups about what the community wants.

TB: Are there specific seniors issues you are working on?

TT: I think affordable housing is the biggest thing. We are working with groups on this. We've got a lot of buildings that could be for seniors. I'd like to have senior housing for gays and lesbians, or mixed use. Affordability is the big issue. I also think the seniors need to stay active in the community, in community groups. Health issues are also important, like prescription drugs. I've always had respect and sensitivity to seniors. We'll work closely with our legislators to effect change in Illinois.

We learned more about healthcare in the AIDS crisis, so we have an understanding of what seniors are complaining about.

TB: What about education in this ward?

TT: In our polling, crime, safety and education are the primary issues in the ward. On education, we have five elementary schools in the ward, and not one high school. The complaints we get from residents are that the schools don't match their expectations. So many send their children to private schools. I have been visiting schools, and would continue to do so. I do pay heavily into the education base through real estate taxes, and see that the schools are not doing what they need to do.

Education is a priority for our community. I'd like to see more private/public support. One school is doing a lot of networking with the community. We need to have more creative ways to keep kids busy to help cut down on gang activity.

The Mayor does pick the school officials, I think Arne Duncan has done a good job. But so many people from out of the ward go to our public schools. For years, we didn't have the family population we have now. Even some Local School Council officials do not live here. So one school is trying to make more room for students who live in the ward. One school has more than 30 percent of their kids having mental or physical problems, and the school gets no additional funding to handle this. Some schools do not match the needs of the residents. How can I as alderman change that? I will work closely with the schools.

I would also like for businesses to adopt schools—I have adopted Inter-American as my school.

TB: What about the questions about your ability to be independent from Mayor Daley?

TT: Ask any of the other aldermanic candidates, did they sue the Mayor? [Tunney did when he was head of the Illinois Restaurant Association.] I have been a leader in the community who has stood up to Bernie, and the Mayor. I've also supported both of them. I think it was a real honor to have Bernie Hansen endorse me. I am not a 44th Ward Regular Democratic guy. I can relate to some parts of it, growing up in Chicago. But I am a 'big fag,' the gay guy, and they have to deal with that issue. Daley is talked about as being one of the most progressive big-city mayors. But he wasn't that way to begin with. It was activists and people like me who put a face on the gay community. People didn't understand, thinking the pride parade is what we are about 365 days a year. ... Unfortunately AIDS brought us out of the closet. The same with lesbian healthcare.

As a business person, I am very critical of the mayor's overspending. ... You're sending a message to the small business person. The same thing about planning. I would be independent when necessary.

Next week: Rick Ingram