Interview with Ald. Daniel La Spata

“Democracy Is So Much More than What We Do on Election Day…”

“What is critical is what we do the rest of the year.” So said Alderman Daniel La Spata (1st Ward) during his “Zooming with the Alderman” interview, which premiered on March 11. Watch the full interview.

City Government Committee member Henna Lakhani interviewed Ald. La Spata, who is serving his first term after being elected in February 2019. He said that this is his “dream job.” Some of the highlights from the interview include:

• Best ways to make your voice heard with your alderman: Most aldermen hold “ward nights” each month that are open to everyone on any topic. Multiple phone calls from different people on a subject tend to get more attention than emails in his office.  And, of course, you can always request a meeting.

• Domestic violence prevention: His resolution calling for a hearing on how to provide more support for dealing with domestic violence is currently in the Health & Human Relations Committee, headed by Alderman Roderick Sawyer. Ald. LaSpata requests that Chicagoans support having the hearing. Item R20-805.

• Redistricting: The alderman is open to having an independent commission. The key, he said, would be the process for determining how the members are chosen. He thinks that both aldermen and constituents would benefit if each alderman represented whole neighborhoods. He said that his ward was an example of one that had been gerrymandered.

• Changes to the operations of the City Council: Ald. La Spata would like to have the members of a Council Committee vote to select the chair, rather than have the mayor appoint the chairs.