MCKINLEY PARK — Aldermanic hopeful Pete DeMay estimates he's knocked on about 1,200 doors in the past couple months.
The residents who answer the door might not recognize him personally, he said, but they have heard of a Spanish-speaking white guy taking on incumbent Ald. George Cardenas (12th).
That's him.
DeMay, 43, is part of the rising tide of progressive candidates for City Council seats in the February municipal election. He's hoping to unseat Cardenas, a Mayor Rahm Emanuel ally who's seeking a fourth term.
A union organizer for low-income Latino workers, DeMay staked out his platform on issues like raising the minimum wage to $15, calling for a moratorium on new charter schools and backing an elected school board. He's anti-TIF and pro-marijuana legalization. His platform is laid out on his campaign website.
"Look, I'm either going to get elected on this platform or I'm not. But let's at least have the conversation about where [our neighborhoods] need to go," he said.
DeMay's campaign has launched in earnest, with door-knocks and collecting roughly 2,000 petition signatures, well above the 473 required.
He said residents in Brighton Park, Little Village and McKinley Park are concerned with public safety to varying degrees — all of the neighborhoods have gang issues, some more violent than others.
To him, the gang activity and crime that comes with it — from garage break-ins to shootings — suggests a lack of neighborhood activities and dismal job prospects for neighborhoods largely ignored by City Hall.
Cardenas, the incumbent, said he's proud of his record as alderman.
"Overall this is probably one of the finest run wards in the city. Residents know we get things done," he said, adding that he's helped secure money for the long-awaited Kelly Park renovation and lured development to Pershing Road and Archer Avenue, among other accomplishments.
"The first thing Pete needs to do is get on the ballot and then we can have a discussion about what's transpired here the last 12 years ... If you look at the wards surrounding west of the Loop, our is poised to blossom," he said.
DeMay is staunchly against tax increment financing (TIF) because, he said, the $1.7 billion collected from it has been misused, including the city's plans to divert $55 million to build a new hotel and a $29 million contribution for a riverfront office building.
He argues the property tax money would be better spent in the neighborhoods and help close the growing gulf between wealthy Chicagoans and the poor workers "who take it on the chin."
"Not everyone's a TIF scholar but they know a lot of TIF money is going Downtown ... I just feel that, you know, we have to fight to prioritize youth recreation and jobs programs. We can pay for these things now or pay later" with high poverty and costly incarceration, he said.
On leave from his job as an organizer with United Auto Workers — he's a liaison for auto workers in Mexico — the bilingual McKinley Park resident got his start after a two-year stint in the Peace Corps in Panama, then embarked on a career in organizing labor forces, mostly in the poor-paying jobs in the laundry industry.
DeMay moved to Chicago in 1999. He and his wife bought a home in McKinley Park in 2002 because, he said, they wanted to raise kids in Chicago. The couple are parents to an adopted 2-year-old son and foster parents for an 8-month-old girl.
He believes McKinley Park, with its proximity to public transportation and the long-abandoned Central Manufacturing District, is uniquely positioned for an influx of "smart, sustainable" businesses, not corporate chains offering ever-more minimum-wage gigs.
But that doesn't mean he wants to turn McKinley Park into Wicker Park.
"If you're looking for a Jamba Juice on the corner with 10-stories on top of it, I'm probably not your guy," he said.
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