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Ex-cons ask voters for 2nd chance
Ex-alderman, ex-gang member seek City Council redemption
By Gary Washburn
Tribune staff reporter
February 17, 2003
Maybe it's a desire to make amends for their crimes. Maybe it's a yearning to serve. Or maybe it's as simple as seeking a job that pays nearly $90,000 a year.
Whatever the motivation, a seat in Chicago's City Council has become the object of great desire for an unprecedented number of ex-convicts.
No fewer than four men who have run afoul of the law filed petitions to run for alderman. And at least two--a one-time gang member who served time for a drug conviction and a former council member convicted in the federal Operation Silver Shovel investigation--have survived challenges and will be on the ballot in the Feb. 25 election.
"I made a mistake but I can come back out and tell people, `This is where I did wrong, but look at me now,'" said Harold "Noonie" Ward, once a high-ranking member of the Gangster Disciples who was convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver in 1991.
"I can't look back," said Ambrosio Medrano, the former 25th Ward alderman who departed the council after his 1996 corruption conviction in the Silver Shovel probe. "The people have asked me not to look back. They are looking for someone to speak out for them."
Two other former aldermen who served time for taking money in Silver Shovel have hit roadblocks that, so far, have kept them off the ballot. Election officials ruled that Jesse Evans, who once represented the 21st Ward, and Virgil Jones, who represented the 15th Ward, were ineligible because they remain on court supervision and, therefore, have not completed their sentences.
Evans has filed suit in a last-ditch effort to overturn the decision and vie for his old job. A ruling is pending.
Ward, 40, who grew up in the Altgeld Gardens public housing complex and is running in the 9th Ward, insists that he has gone straight. He operates several local businesses, including a restaurant and barbershop.
His time in prison "saved my life," he said. "I was in eight different joints. I was on tour." Ward was sentenced to 9 years behind bars and said he served 4 1/2 years.
"I have a past," he said. "Everybody has a past. I got caught when I did wrong. There are a lot of people who do wrong every day and they ain't got caught--white collar, blue collar." Now, he said, "I let God lead my life."
Ward said he wants after-school programs for youth in his neighborhood and proposes to save abandoned buildings, using local people to do the rehab work.
The challenger has three opponents, including Ald. Anthony Beale, who takes a dim view of Ward's past.
"I am letting people know we have to upgrade the quality of elected officials who represent us, and we are trying to put faith back in government," Beale said, suggesting that Ward's election would do just the opposite.
In the 25th Ward on the Near Southwest Side, Medrano, 49, said he did "a lot of soul-searching" before opting to run.
"It was only after I spoke to many people in this community that I made the decision," he said.
The reaction "has been overwhelming. We keep getting a positive response wherever we go."
The former alderman, who pleaded guilty in 1996 to taking $31,000 in payments from a government mole, served 21 months at the federal prison in Oxford, Wis.
Medrano says he wants to improve the quality of city services in the ward and make the alderman's office more accessible to constituents.
He faces two opponents, including the incumbent, Danny Solis, an ally of Mayor Richard Daley who touts his record on economic development and other improvements in the ward.
Mark Walsh, Solis' campaign manager, says polling last month indicates his candidate has wide support. "But we definitely are not taking anything for granted," he said.
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
Ex-cons ask voters for 2nd chance
Ex-alderman, ex-gang member seek City Council redemption
By Gary Washburn
Tribune staff reporter
February 17, 2003
Maybe it's a desire to make amends for their crimes. Maybe it's a yearning to serve. Or maybe it's as simple as seeking a job that pays nearly $90,000 a year.
Whatever the motivation, a seat in Chicago's City Council has become the object of great desire for an unprecedented number of ex-convicts.
No fewer than four men who have run afoul of the law filed petitions to run for alderman. And at least two--a one-time gang member who served time for a drug conviction and a former council member convicted in the federal Operation Silver Shovel investigation--have survived challenges and will be on the ballot in the Feb. 25 election.
"I made a mistake but I can come back out and tell people, `This is where I did wrong, but look at me now,'" said Harold "Noonie" Ward, once a high-ranking member of the Gangster Disciples who was convicted of possession of cocaine with intent to deliver in 1991.
"I can't look back," said Ambrosio Medrano, the former 25th Ward alderman who departed the council after his 1996 corruption conviction in the Silver Shovel probe. "The people have asked me not to look back. They are looking for someone to speak out for them."
Two other former aldermen who served time for taking money in Silver Shovel have hit roadblocks that, so far, have kept them off the ballot. Election officials ruled that Jesse Evans, who once represented the 21st Ward, and Virgil Jones, who represented the 15th Ward, were ineligible because they remain on court supervision and, therefore, have not completed their sentences.
Evans has filed suit in a last-ditch effort to overturn the decision and vie for his old job. A ruling is pending.
Ward, 40, who grew up in the Altgeld Gardens public housing complex and is running in the 9th Ward, insists that he has gone straight. He operates several local businesses, including a restaurant and barbershop.
His time in prison "saved my life," he said. "I was in eight different joints. I was on tour." Ward was sentenced to 9 years behind bars and said he served 4 1/2 years.
"I have a past," he said. "Everybody has a past. I got caught when I did wrong. There are a lot of people who do wrong every day and they ain't got caught--white collar, blue collar." Now, he said, "I let God lead my life."
Ward said he wants after-school programs for youth in his neighborhood and proposes to save abandoned buildings, using local people to do the rehab work.
The challenger has three opponents, including Ald. Anthony Beale, who takes a dim view of Ward's past.
"I am letting people know we have to upgrade the quality of elected officials who represent us, and we are trying to put faith back in government," Beale said, suggesting that Ward's election would do just the opposite.
In the 25th Ward on the Near Southwest Side, Medrano, 49, said he did "a lot of soul-searching" before opting to run.
"It was only after I spoke to many people in this community that I made the decision," he said.
The reaction "has been overwhelming. We keep getting a positive response wherever we go."
The former alderman, who pleaded guilty in 1996 to taking $31,000 in payments from a government mole, served 21 months at the federal prison in Oxford, Wis.
Medrano says he wants to improve the quality of city services in the ward and make the alderman's office more accessible to constituents.
He faces two opponents, including the incumbent, Danny Solis, an ally of Mayor Richard Daley who touts his record on economic development and other improvements in the ward.
Mark Walsh, Solis' campaign manager, says polling last month indicates his candidate has wide support. "But we definitely are not taking anything for granted," he said.
Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune
