LOGAN SQUARE — The influential Logan Square Neighborhood Association plans to have a seat for 2nd Senate District candidate Angelica Alfaro on the stage Friday although the candidate won't be in attendance.
Logan Square Neighborhood Association planned on hosting Alfaro and her opponent Omar Aquino in front of 140 parents and community leaders who are part of a get-out-the-vote initiative.
Organizers of the event said they reached out to Alfaro's campaign more than a month ago, but Alfaro's campaign manager said the candidate has a previously scheduled conflict and she will not be making the forum.
"We’ve known about this for a while. We have tried to work out the schedule and it’s been a conflict and it’s something we made clear to them," said Randi Heylek, Alfaro's campaign manager.
The neighborhood association claims the 140 "Democracy Ambassadors" that are attending Friday morning's forum represent about 500 votes.
"In these elections hardly anyone votes so that's significant," said Bridget Murphy, a spokeswoman for the association.
The forum will focus on the race in the 2nd Senate District, an open seat due to the retirement of State Sen. Willie Delgado.
Murphy said she hopes Alfaro changes her schedule to accommodate the forum.
"We are still hoping she will be able to adjust her schedule and we will have a seat with their name on it for her at the forum on Friday," Murphy said Wednesday.
Delgado has endorsed Aquino in the race, as have Cook County Commissioner Jesus "Chuy" Garcia (D-7th), Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-39th) and Ald. Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35th).
Alfaro has the backing of Aldermen Proco Joe Moreno (1st), Will Burns (5th), Brian Hopkins (2nd), Danny Solis (25th) and the Stand for Children PAC among other groups.
The 2nd District covers much of the Northwest Side, including Belmont Cragin, Hermosa, Humboldt Park, Logan Square, Montclare and West Town.
The goal of the ambassadors program is to educate parents and community leaders about the voting process and to have them spread their knowledge to other neighborhood families, schools and church groups.
"Our hope for this was that it wasn’t just us getting to know them but also them getting to know us," Murphy said. "One of them will win and be our state senator. We work very closely with all of our legislators and we work on a lot of issues. There are thousands of people who are involved with [the association] on a daily basis. We think both candidates need to get to know us.”
One of the major issues the neighborhood group plans to address with both candidates is education policy.
Parents from five schools in the district will atte nd the meeting. The event is not for the general public.
“Our schools are suffering from three rounds of budget cuts this year. We want to know: What is their plan to make sure our neighborhood schools have what they need, instead of cutting, cutting and more cutting?” said Erika Soto, one of the Democracy Ambassadors.
About 70 community members turned in questions to ask the candidates at the forum on topics such as education, immigration, housing and state revenue solutions.
They also plan questions about "what will they do to make sure their hands aren't tied to really make a difference in Springfield," Murphy said.
The association sent both candidates the list of questions ahead of Friday morning's forum.
Heylek said Alfaro is working on filling out a questionnaire for the association.
"We’ve been in touch with them the whole time and offered to share information," Heylek said.
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