In a sign of how seriously he’s taking his re-election, Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th) faced off against his two opponents Wednesday night in a candidate forum where little mention was made of his legal woes.
“I’m the incumbent,” Burke said modestly in introducing himself to a lively audience at New Life Community Church, 5101 S. Keeler, that turned out to see the rare sight of the 50-year City Council veteran defending his stewardship of the Southwest Side ward.
The 75-year-old Burke, charged in federal court with attempting to extort the owners of a Burger King franchise in his ward, was a study in contrast with his younger opponents, Jaime Guzman, a 38-year-old lawyer, and Tanya Patino, a 28-year-old civil engineer.
Burke started the evening with a quote from King Henry VIII and attempted to use his advantage of incumbency to tout everything from the Chicago Park District headquarters moving soon to Brighton Park to a pair of new warehouse facilities under construction to a gun buyback program.
“I think one can simply look around to see the success we’ve had working together,” Burke said.
It wasn’t until Guzman’s closing argument that anyone directly attacked Burke about the pending criminal charge.
“With all due respect alderman, extorting businesses is not economic development,” Guzman said to loud applause.
But Guzman drew jeers moments later when he turned his sights on Patino, arguing that 14th Ward voters were being asked to trade “one system of cronyism for another”— a reference to Patino, the girlfriend of newly-elected state Rep. Aaron Ortiz, being endorsed by U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.
That sparked the most passionate response of the night from Patino, who said Guzman’s remark “diminishes me as a woman.” She also defended her accomplishments as a civil engineer and in starting a youth soccer program with her father.
Earlier, Guzman had said Patino’s five years of working for People’s Gas was “not the work of the people.”
That line also drew grumbling from the audience, which seemed to be split mainly between Patino and Burke supporters.
Patino and Burke agreed that the top issue facing the ward is public safety. But Burke argued the solution is to “maintain a significant police presence,” while Patino said the crime problems are interconnected with a lack of jobs and after school programs.
Throughout the debate, Burke was exceedingly polite to his opponents, ignoring most of their criticism and complimenting them at the end for their presentations.
One of the evening’s best repartees came when Guzman said he wants to impose a transfer tax increase on the sale of million dollar homes to fund mental health services, joking that luckily the only home in the 14th Ward that would be affected is Burke’s.
“But I’m not selling,” Burke said.
“At least not yet,” Guzman retorted.
