Interview with Ald. Michael D. Rodriguez
“There Is So Much Potential in the 22nd Ward, and It Is Starting to Happen”
Alderperson Michael D. Rodriguez explained to League interviewer Debby Halpern that the 22nd Ward on the Southwest Side includes the “gateway to Midway”: Cicero, extending from the Stevenson Expressway to 51st Street.
While some new businesses are starting to open, most of the ward is composed of single-family homes and two- and three-flats. As Ald. Rodriguez put it: the 22nd Ward is made up of the fabric of Chicago: working class Hispanic, Black and White families.
Watch the full interview above or read on for more highlights:
With the onslaught of COVID last year, Ald. Rodriguez knew that the 22nd Ward, which has the highest percentage of immigrants and undocumented people in the city, would be hard hit by the pandemic. He and other community leaders met weekly and began working with clinics and hospitals in the area. While COVID still had a disproportionate impact on the ward’s people, Ald. Rodriguez proudly told us that the ward also has some of the highest vaccination rates.
Besides dealing with the effects of COVID, the other top issue in the ward is violence, including domestic violence, which has also been exacerbated by COVID. One of the reasons the alderperson voted for the 2021 budget was that it included $40 million for violence prevention. But, Ald. Rodriguez said, this is not nearly enough.
With regard to redistricting, Ald. Rodriguez supports the principle of not dividing neighborhoods among multiple wards, but cautions that there are other factors to be considered. As he explained, in drawing wards you also need to make sure you are not “packing” a particular group into a single district, which can reduce that group’s overall impact.
Ald. Rodriguez says he supports the use of ranked choice voting and the elimination of a second election. However, he would like to move the current February election for Chicago officials to a later month, possibly the end of March, when the weather should be better, making it easier for people to vote.