The Good News Community Church was the first site in a series of debates between candidates running in the election for alderman in Chicago's 49th ward, a district that includes Loyola's Lake Shore campus and surrounding Rogers Park neighborhood.
The event was sponsored by community activist organization Northside POWER (People Organized to Work, Educate and Restore), "to promote citizen participation and legislative accountability through dialogue with the people of Rogers Park." The four candidates, former newspaper columnist and journalist Chris Adams, Jim Ginderske, Loyola alumnus Don Gordon ('86) and incumbent Alderman Joe Moore, discussed issues such as poverty, gentrification, crime and education in the hour-long question and answer session.
Moore has had a virtual stranglehold over the office for the last 16 years and boasted that in that time span he helped revitalize the area by attracting businesses and introducing inventive measures helping to drastically reduce crime.
The alderman's opponents charge, among other things, that he has allowed Rogers Park to cave into pressure from outside developers and businesses, pushing local residents and neighborhood business out.
"The quality, affordable housing that has made Rogers Park attractive and what has given it its character is disappearing and deteriorating," Gordon said at the end of his two-minute opening statement.
His sentiments were more or less shared by the other candidates, especially Ginderske, who was strongly against the Big Box (or "Living Wage") proposal that brought Joe Moore so much publicity last year. The Living Wage ordinance required corporate retailers in the city to pay their workers a minimum of $10 an hour and was eventually passed. Ginderske came out against the measure back in the fall of 2006 because he felt it would allow huge corporate retailers to crush local business and that a citywide minimum wage needed to be introduced for all retailers.
"This idea of Joe Moore as a warrior for the little guy is ridiculous because he's not supporting small business," Ginderske's campaign chair Tom Westgard told the Phoenix in November of 2006.
In Moore's opening statement, he acknowledged the tough decisions facing Rogers Park but made them out to be a result of the revitalization and positive change his administration has accomplished over his four terms in office.
"Because of the fact that we have done such a good job ... we have a lot of additional pressures, [there is] a lot of interest in the development community of investing here and it's causing a lot of concern about whether we're going to maintain our diversity," Moore told the small crowd inside the tiny church. He promised, however, to focus his efforts on keeping housing affordable for residents of all income levels.
The candidates answered questions from the representatives of Northside POWER and pre-written audience forms about housing, crime, education and health care with each candidate's main concerns and strongest selling points revealing themselves as the debate went on. Moore, for example, pointed to his accomplishments in the neighborhood and assured the audience that he would find a way to strike a balance between developing Rogers Park commercially and keeping housing affordable. Jim Ginderske repeatedly stressed after-school programs and job training as a means of easing poverty and reducing crime.
"We have to offer an alternative [to delinquency] or else we will lose control over the kids in our neighborhood," he said after discussing his plan to bring a Boys and Girls Club to Rogers Park.
Chris Adams complained of the lack of accountability and responsiveness from the alderman's office and stressed the need to improve the neighborhood's five public schools.
"You should be able to walk into the alderman's office and have your questions answered … Accountability begins and ends at [the alderman's] desk."
Alderman Moore and Don Gordon took time out of their limited response times to take shots at each other.
"I found Mr. Gordon's comment about supporting good-paying jobs an interesting one since he is opposed to the Big Box living wage ordinance I fought so hard for," Moore said after answering a question about affordable housing from the panel.
"My contention is not that we don't need a Living Wage ordinance, it is that I don't agree with how it was done," Gordon responded before answering the next question.
"I would be happy to hear from Mr. Gordon that he supports an expansion of the living wage ordinance to include all businesses in the city of Chicago," Moore said after another round of questioning. He went on to say, "I would guess not since he's vying for the support of the Chamber of Commerce," referring back to the chamber's opposition of the ordinance, although he did not expand on its connections to Gordon.
"Here we go again," Gordon said when his time to answer came. "I can tell you I will probably not get the Chamber's endorsement because I responded against the wishes of my staff, exactly as Mr. Moore just stated, which is why I suggested that we expand the Living Wage ordinance into the entire community [outside of Big Box retailers]."
Gordon went on to complain in his closing statement that he was being portrayed falsely as a "white, rich, old suburban banker," by his opponents and that he held the rights of working class people in as much value as the other candidates.
Loyola was mentioned briefly in the debate by candidates, who all hoped to see more participation in the community from the school. One of the major issues of the debate was a lack of sufficient healthcare facilities in the 49th ward. Adams mentioned Loyola's proposal to bring the first two years of its medical school program to the Lake Shore campus, allowing the possibility of opening a clinic to serve Rogers Park and Edgewater, which he said was "an opportunity worth exploring for the alderman's office and for the community as a whole."
Ginderske said he wanted to see Loyola's school of education begin tutoring students at the district's public schools, an opportunity he called a win-win situation for both grammar school students and college students.
Gordon also touched on the importance of student participation in local politics.
"I don't think that most students realize how important it is to register and vote," he said in an interview following the debate. "There are a number of ways in which an alderman can impact a student's life."
He added that the supposed tension between the university and Rogers Park is "very real, and I hate to say that being an alum."
"Loyola has really been remiss in how it relates to the surrounding community," Gordon continued. "I would hope that the administration would be a little more savvy to this after all these years."
He also placed blame on the alderman for not working more closely with the administration to help ease the community's concerns about the school's expansion and promised that as alderman, he would do a better job of acting as a mediator between the two parties because he is an alumnus.
Ginderske said he hoped to see Loyola reach out to high school students and "demystify the process [for] students looking to apply to similar universities," but again placed blame on the alderman for not reaching out to the university more.
Alderman Moore said that there is far less tension now than there was 16 years ago, when he took office.
"One of the best ways of alleviating the tension is to have open communication and a transparent decision making process, and I've tried to encourage Loyola to do that, and I will continue to."
Reactions to the debate were mixed and fairly subdued, with few people who were not journalists, candidates or campaign volunteers staying behind long after it came to an end. One unemployed Rogers Park resident named Tom (who asked that The Phoenix not use his last name) complained that the issue of unreliable CTA trains went unaddressed (candidates' stances on that issue can be found at rogerspark.com).
Church member Bridget Harris, who was once a member of Northside POWER, supports Ginderske but agreed with Adams' sentiment that Moore did not make himself accessible enough to the community.
"We've set up a few appointments with him, and he's never shown up," she said. "He's not there for the people, for the community."
Election day in race for alderman is Feb. 27, and anyone who has resided in the 49th ward for a period of at least 30 days, including college students, is allowed to vote. In the meantime, there are several more debates scheduled to take place throughout the community, including one at Loyola Park Fieldhouse on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. All students are encouraged to attend.
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