LOGAN SQUARE — The 2015 election season is gearing up along with the New Year and a candidate forum for 1st and 2nd Ward residents is set for Wednesday.
The 1st and 2nd Ward aldermanic debate kicks off Wednesday from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Wicker Park Lutheran Church, 1500 N. Hoyne Ave. As an added bonus, CAN TV will be covering the forum live starting at 7 p.m. It will be cablecast on cable channel CAN TV27 and also live streamed at cantv.org.
The 1st Ward forum begins at 7 p.m. and will be moderated by DNAinfo’s own Wicker Park reporter, Alisa Hauser. Candidates confirmed for the debate include the following — those still on the ballot after candidate Mia Lopez was removed in December:
- Ald. Joe Moreno (1st), incumbent.
- Ronda Locke, a former Moreno staffer during the first two years of his term.
- Anne Shaw, an East Village resident who ran against Moreno in the 2012 1st Ward Committeeman race and lost.
- Andrew Hamilton, a Ukrainian Village resident and lawyer.
Any questions for the 1st ward candidates and incumbent, can be sent to Hauser at ahauser@dnainfo.com.
The 2nd Ward forum is set for 7:45 p.m. and will be moderated by Elaine Coorens of Our Urban Times. Candidates confirmed for the debate include the following:
- Steve Niketopoulos, a media producer and community organizer who is the administrator for several neighborhood group Facebook pages.
- Stacey Pfingsten, a former community outreach coordinator for Fioretti.
- Brian Hopkins, a former aide to Cook County Commissioner John Daley.
- Bita Buenrostro, a restaurant executive who previously ran for 43rd Ward alderman in 2011.
- Alyx Pattison, a West Town resident who works as an attorney and serves as a community representative on Jose de Diego School's Local School Council.
- Cornell Wilson, a Marine Corps veteran.
Elections will take place Feb. 24 and, in races where no candidate earns 50 percent of the votes cast, a runoff between the top two candidates will take place April 7.
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