The 2023 Chicago General Election takes place on Feb. 28, and much like the Mayoral Election, the 19th Ward Election is shaping up to be a tight race between the three candidates.
Nineteenth Ward residents will have more than two options on their ballot for the first time in over a decade, and it’s looking to be the tightest election yet for incumbent Matthew O’Shea since being elected in 2011.
The two challengers, Mike Cummings and Tim Noonan, hope to continue gaining the trust of voters by listening to their biggest concerns.
Public safety has become an increasingly important issue in the 19th Ward in recent years and it is a massive topic amongst mayoral candidates as well.
Although this will be the fourth election for Alderman O’Shea, this one has turned out to be very different from past elections, and not just because he has two challengers. He noted that a backdrop of long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have made it difficult to navigate running a campaign.
Despite the difficulties running a campaign fresh out of a global pandemic, O’Shea is focused on moving forward with projects that he believes will positively impact the community.
If re-elected, one issue he wants to continue tackling with city officials is the “dangerously low” staffing levels of the Chicago Police Department (CPD).
O’Shea mentioned that years ago when Mayor Lori Lightfoot cut over 600 police positions in an effort to balance her budget, city officials allocated resources to address the root causes of violence, but for an unknown reason the city “has been slow to actually spend the money that we budgeted”.
Alderman O’Shea said it is an immensely important issue that needs to be addressed by the city.
“We need to do all that we can to recruit and retain police officers”, he stated.
Another project O’Shea says he is most excited for is the recent investment in local Chicago Public Schools (CPS).
CPS invested $31 million dollars for “early childhood development that is occurring at [Henry R.] Clissold Elementary School and at 99th & Western Avenue”.
At 99th and Western, Barbara Vick Early Childhood and Family Center will be adding a satellite location to offer more free, high quality education for youth in the area.
According to Beverly Area Planning Association (BAPA), Clissold is receiving a six-classroom modular “that will support expanded pre-k and early childhood opportunities for local students”.
BAPA also says both Clissold and Barbara Vick (2554 W 113th St.) will get landscaping improvements and upgrades to their parking lots for stormwater management.
Though these improvements to public schools are important for the community, Cummings has public safety at the forefront of his candidacy.
The reason Cummings decided to enter the race was because he was, “frustrated with the overall crime in the 19th Ward, and citywide” and that “no one’s doing anything about it”.
As a retired Chicago Police officer who served on the force for 35 years, he believes that his experiences with the CPD makes him a good candidate for the job.
“Being a detective and a sergeant, I mean that is my field of expertise and I have the knowledge and I have the respect of the command staff that is in place”.
Because of these relationships Cummings already has with individuals in the 22nd District, he believes that it would be easier to work with the individuals to help fix the department.
His goal of reinforcing and better supporting officers is that he believes it will create a safer environment for the children to grow up in.
Something else Cummings wants to bring to the community to help children is internships and he plans to do so by donating the first $50,000 of his salary back to the community.
He said he would like to create the internships for high school students who do not necessarily believe college education is part of their future.
And much like O’Shea and Cummings, Noonan is also concerned about public safety, but he is not turning towards increased CPD presence. He would rather see much more time, effort, and money invested into things such as systemic reform, mental health services for officers as well as city residents, and the youth.
A member of the Local School Council (LSC) and a founder of 19th Ward Mutual Aid, Noonan decided to enter his name when O’Shea partnered in 2016 with Mayor Rahm Emanuel to shut down or merge three under-enrolled public schools in order to expand the campus of another public school that was over-enrolled.
“It dawned on me that an alderman could actually close your school with very little input”.
One way Noonan would like to invest in the youth is by supporting all the CPS schools in the ward so they never feel the threat of being closed. Schools are safe spaces for nurturing children and to force families to have to look elsewhere for education damages the family and the community.
His work didn’t stop at saving Kellogg; he testified to the Board of Education against closing the National Teachers Academy (NTA), a top-ranked, high-performing predominantly black school in Chinatown.
NTA was saved and PBS made a movie based on the work of the community, “Let the Little Light Shine”.
Another priority of Noonan’s is improving public safety by investing in transportation.
One of his goals would be to develop protected bike routes on the ward’s busiest streets such as Western Ave., 111th St., 103rd St., etc… He doesn’t think there is a safe way to ride your bike on these streets due to the lack of protected bike lanes.
“It’s super dangerous going down the streets the way people drive”,
The reason Noonan is focused on investing in the people of the community, especially the youth, is because he believes it to be a more passionate response to issues.
“Public safety is about [the] public and that is more of a proactive [response]”.
Despite the different ideas of these candidates, in the long run they want to see the community become a safer and better place.
The 19th Ward certainly is not a downtrodden community by any means, but there are surely some things that need fixing and changing.
For what is turning out to be a real dog fight, it is ultimately up to the voters of the 19th Ward to decide if they want to see a new face in the Alderman office or if they want to stick with whom they know.