Activist Toolkit

1. What motivates you to seek this office? What skills, experiences, and perspectives would you bring, and why would those contributions be valuable in the office you are seeking?

As the incumbent I want to continue working on making city government more accessible to the residents of the 2nd Ward. I’ve worked in customer support for over 20 years and the one thing I’ve learned is accountability to customers. This is the concept I bring to being an Alderman. I am answerable to my residents and while they may not always agree with my vote I will always make sure they understand my vote.  

2. When in the past have you had to balance competing interests? What process did you use? What did you learn?

Recently there was a plan to introduce the purchase of police body cameras. I believe that our police department deserve every tool available to keep them and the public safe. But as an Alderman I am responsible for the residents tax dollars. The proposal was to spend 4 million dollars in a year when COVID has created a deficit in our projected city budget. LISTENING becomes important as there was allot of information to sift through and in the end the lack of concrete facts led me to pull my support for body cameras at this time. The State later passed a bill giving municipalities a 2 year leeway for the implementation body cameras.  

3. What does transparency in government mean to you? How would you put it into practice?

Most residents, especially those with young families have to prioritize their time. We as elected officials need to find ways to inform our residents of the decisions being made at city hall on their behalf. Social media has been a big help, posting council agendas and minutes, posting information on issues that can affect residents directly for instance on the pandemic cuts back on rumors and false information. But not everyone is on social media so I also have quarterly scheduled ward meetings where I discuss issues important to my residents.  

4. As more of our local discourse happens in social media, what is your view on how local elected officials should communicate with and respond to constituents? How will you engage with the breadth of the community, and not only those on social media?

Good question, I usually try to have a hands off approach to social media posts that are not directly made on my Alderman page. The reason for this is I believe residents need a place where they can interact, post opinions and criticize without someone in city government trying to influence the conversation. I find residents are smart enough to figure out what is going on and it allows elected officials to get honest feedback and also understand how their residents honestly feel on an issue.  

5. What barriers do you see for community members who wish to engage with Berwyn’s city government? How would you work to reduce or eliminate those barriers?

Unfortunately, in my opinion some members of the current city government have created an us vs them mentality at city hall. This has led to a lack of accountability among some city workers, a morale issue with those city workers who care about doing a good job and residents who feel disenfranchised. This is an environment created from the top of city government. This is why I support a City-Manager form of government. Hiring a qualified manager to run the day to day operation of the city on a full time bases,  make decisions that are not politically motivated and be held accountable for those decisions will be crucial if we are to move forward as a city.  

6. What do you feel are the three biggest issues facing Berwyn, and how do you intend to address them? How will you prioritize among competing priorities?

City debt is by far the biggest issue followed by city infrastructure and ensuring everyone shares in city resources equally. I intend to keep shining a spotlight on our city finances so residents have honest up to date information on where we stand and voting no on acquiring more city debt. City debt dictates how much we can spend on other city initiatives like infrastructure. We need to ensure that our roads are safe and that our sewers and other underground fixture are modernized. I believe getting a handle of our city finances will allow us to address infrastructure issues. Lastly we need to have more diversity at the top where decisions are made so that those decisions benefit everyone equally.  

7. How do you define racial equity? Have recent events and discussions in the larger community informed or changed your thinking?

We first all need to admit that racial inequities exists, if you don’t understand a problem exists you can’t address it. Racial equality to me means equal access to opportunities and resources to access those opportunities. Being an Alderman has allowed me to hear from a large group of differing views. My job is to help promote dialog among everyone with different backgrounds so we all understand each other. What has disheartened me is some city leader’s choice to capitalize on our differences and use it to keep us apart.  

8. How do you plan to solicit feedback from people who may be experiencing Berwyn in a different way than you? What barriers do you believe may exist in this process?

Language is a barrier in our community. Being bilingual has helped me reach out to my Latino residents plus I post information on my FB page in English and Spanish. I also recently cosponsored a group discussion with African American residents utilizing Aspire as facilitators. The main thing is to listen to everyone and try and understand their point of view.  

9. Name an influential Berwyn community member. How did this person’s influence change Berwyn? As an elected official, what do you imagine your influence will be on the community?

Ann Filmer, the head of 16th Street Theater brings plays to our community that are thought provoking and creates community discussion on controversial topics like race, transgender children and domestic violence. I hope that I show that anyone interested can be an Alderman. And I hope it motivates others to run for office.  

10. How do you plan to encourage the youth of Berwyn to interact and engage with Berwyn’s city government?

I’ve had a few high school students reach out to interview me for a class assignment. I believe we need to make time and get our youth involved in politics. We need to show them the positive aspects that politics can have on their community.

11. Do you feel that Berwyn should do more to support housing affordability? If so, what specific policies would you support?

Yes, our strength is our diversity, meaning residents from all social economic standings working together. Currently there is a push by rehabbers and flippers to buy homes and resell them at a higher price. This increases property values and pushes taxes higher. Higher taxes push out seniors and makes buying a home harder for some people. I believe their should be a city plan that includes affordable homes. I also believe we need affordable senior housing.  

12. What impact can a municipality such as Berwyn have on climate change, and how will you prioritize that work among other issues?

Cities all around the country are looking for ways to “green” their cities. From building roof top gardens on public buildings to changing out their city vehicles for electric cars. I would like to have a Committee dedicated to looking into this issue. 

13. What actions would you take to address the continuing problem of Berwyn’s municipal debt?

The debt has been foremost on my mind since being elected. The first step is by not going into more debt, next creating a realistic plan to cut debt. How much would every department need to cut by what year in order for our city to get back on track. We need an educated City-Manager with a degree, preferably a masters who can offer a non political point of view on cutting debt. 

14. One of the most important responsibilities of the City Council is to pass a budget. How would you approach the development of Berwyn’s budget? Do you believe there has been sufficient transparency in the budgeting process in recent years?

Until recently the budget was not looked at until towards the end of the year. Budgets should be looked at on a monthly basis. Modernizing billing and cutting higher salaries should also be looked at. 

15. Given the visible community efforts around the Black Lives Matter movement including the mural in the Berwyn Municipal Building parking lot, do you anticipate working for changes in policing policy or oversight moving forward? What specific changes would you support?

Yes of course, we need to change the focus of our police. Our current Police Chief has failed to modernize our police force. We need a police force that goes into the community that interacts with residents on a daily positive way. Currently I feel there is a disconnect between the police and the residents and this comes from the top. We have allot of great dedicated police but a Chief that is not good at adapting to Berwyn’s changing demographics. I would love to see more police walking in the community, more people of color at the top decision making positions. Maybe create a community outreach department.  

16. Many Berwyn residents have expressed confusion about the disparate roles of the City and the Township, particularly in the past year as the importance of the Health Department increased due to the pandemic. Do you believe action is necessary to increase public awareness of the various taxing bodies and their functions? What steps would you take?

Yes, the Township Health District has some great programs like the 708 Mental Health Board which funds local initiatives to improve mental health. But I believe the Township needs a better user friendly website. Recently the Township started becoming more involved battling COVID like testing and acquiring vaccine capabilities.  

17. As an elected official, what lessons will you draw from the experience of the pandemic about the purpose and role of government?

One of government’s main purpose is to guard the well being of its residents. Unfortunately some politicians will do what is popular, that’s the nature of the beast. We need to elect politicians that are qualified and can do the right thing regardless of what is popular. We need city government that can communicate effectively in order to get factual information out and help its residents.