Aldermania

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“I think that we really have to start holding department heads accountable for the way they issue out work orders and the way that they double back to ensure their completion,” Turner says. Jim Gasparin, 56, serves on the board of managers for the Sangamon County Employee’s Health Insurance Plan and is the lone Republican running in Ward 3. He says public safety will be among his top priorities. For 17 years, Gasparin has worked on computer technology with the Sangamon County Sheriff’s office. His experience there has shown him problems with the public safety services in Ward 3, such as low fire and police department staffing levels, unusable or nonexistent sidewalks and poor building code enforcement.

Gasparin would like to see the city build a day shelter so the city’s homeless could wash up and seek help or jobs.

“Can you imagine going to look for a job if you’re wearing the same dirty clothes you’ve had on for several days?” Gasparin asks. “It would give them dignity.”

David Estes, 41, a masonry supervisor with Galassi Masonry in Chatham, is running in Ward 3 as an independent candidate. A former Democratic precinct committeeman in the 1990s, Estes says his primary focus if elected will be dealing with the abandoned houses in Ward 3. The city should tear down problem properties, he says, and turn them over to nonprofits or implement TIF districts to encourage new development.

“We need to restructure the timetable to get [control of] abandoned houses, not hire more attorneys,” Estes says, adding that the ward also needs more business growth.

“I want to see some jobs here,” he says “Some retail or factories, we need something that’s going to create jobs, and fast food just doesn’t do it.”

– Patrick Yeagle Ward 5: A newcomer calls for ‘accountability’ On a sunny Sunday afternoon, Ward 5 Ald. Sam Cahnman walks door to door in his ward, listening to his constituents’ complaints about bad sidewalks, poor drainage, potholes and more. Cahnman is seeking a second term as alderman of the ward that encompasses the city’s downtown and nearby residential areas to the north, south and west. The ward includes many of the city’s biggest tourist attractions, such as the old and new State Capitols, but it also contains many abandoned houses.

“I like to help people on an individual level,” Cahnman says. “A lot of what people are talking about here is individual constituent problems, as opposed to the overall policy issues. … People want someone who is accessible and who will respond and be effective to their requests.”

Cahnman, 56, has represented Ward 5 since 2007 and previously served a term on the Sangamon County Board from 2002 to 2006. A lawyer in private practice, Cahnman touts his flexible work schedule and previous experience as his biggest assets, while pointing to accomplishments like banning future drive-through liquor windows and prohibiting panhandling downtown.

But Cahnman faces a determined challenger in Ryan Tozer, a 28-year-old Republican. Tozer says he is running for Ward 5 alderman because he feels Cahnman lacks “accountability, integrity and trust.” A former Republican precinct committeeman with his first child due soon, Tozer currently works as an outreach coordinator for the Illinois House Republicans. He says he has already knocked on every door in Ward 5 and is going around a second time, adding that he has received positive feedback so far.

“When I knocked on peoples’ doors, people are just so relieved that there’s a choice out there,” Tozer says. “Yesterday I was out putting up yard signs and this lady comes out – she was almost near tears – and gave me a hug and goes, ‘I’m so glad that you’re running.’” Tozer says Cahnman’s votes as alderman are geared more toward “self-benefit” rather than what’s best for the city. For proof, Tozer points to Cahnman’s vote on Feb. 22 to have Mayor Frank Edwards redirect part of a planned budget surplus toward avoiding eight layoffs – a move Tozer says was meant to look good for reelection.

Cahnman says he felt the proposed layoffs were “bad policy.”

“Originally, the mayor’s budget had a $10 million deficit, and he came back with a $2 million surplus,” Cahnman explains. “If people were not laid off, we would still have a surplus – it would just be a bit lower.”