MCKINLEY PARK — The McKinley Park Progressive Alliance will host potential mayoral candidate Karen Lewis for a community conversation.
The event takes place 6 p.m. Monday at New Era Windows, 2600 W. 35th St. It's free to attend and audience participation is encouraged.
"It's a democratic type of assembly. You can get up and speak if you live or work in the 12th Ward. But the microphone is reserved for people who have problems in our ward. We're not going to throw it wide open to anyone who wants to filibuster," said Bill Drew, founder of the Southwest Side political group.
Lewis, the firebrand leader of the Chicago Teachers Union, has not made her mayoral candidacy official. But earlier this month she donated $40,000 of her own money to her nascent campaign, Citizens to Elect Karen Lewis Mayor of Chicago, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
At a recent South Side stop on her "listening tour," Lewis called the money a "loan" to show she was serious about deciding whether to take on Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Drew said moving the forum to the worker-owned cooperative — it was previously scheduled for the local library — was symbolic because it will provide a backdrop for Lewis that takes her outside of the education realm.
"The worker-owned factory is [a type of] economic development which takes advantage of our skills and creativity, our location, and our buildings," he said.
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