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Berwyn’s 2021 municipal election is heating up, with numerous candidates vying for aldermanic seats, as well as mayor and village clerk.
There are two political factions in the city: the Democratic Citizens of Berwyn, which includes Mayor Robert Lovero, six of the eight council members and nominees for the other two seats, as well as city clerk and treasurer. Independent candidates include the second and third ward council incumbents, as well as the incumbent city clerk, a mayoral challenger and contestants for other aldermanic seats.
Mayor
Lovero, an attorney with a local practice, was elected in 2009 after serving as 7th Ward alderman since 2000. A Berwyn resident of 50 years, he started working for the city in 1982 as the assistant attorney and city prosecutor. He enters the election with a campaign war chest of more than $250,000. He was criticized in November after announcing that he and the police would not enforce the state-mandated COVID-19 mitigations regarding indoor dining and drinking.
Independent Democrat Brandon O’Connor is a 12-year resident and the owner of Big Guy’s sausage stand, a mainstay on Roosevelt Road. Once a supporter of the mayor, O’Connor has been critical of Lovero’s handling of Berwyn’s Black Lives Matter rally and demanded the resignation of Police Chief Michael Cimaglia. He also has criticized the council’s use of no-bid contracts. On his website, he states that “the opinions and best interests of Berwyn residents has been an afterthought in the minds of Berwyn leadership.”
City Clerk
Incumbent Margaret Paul served two terms as a city council member before being elected city clerk in 2017. She was criticized recently for summarizing more than a dozen letters from residents that were intended to be read in full at a city council meeting. Paul took over the Berwyn Township Health District shortly after the pandemic lockdown, taking over for elected president Beth Pechous, who became the district’s secretary. She also helped spearhead Berwyn’s census efforts.
DCOB member Rafael Avila, a Realtor, is the city council’s senior member, finishing up his third term in office. A Berwyn resident for more than 25 years, he served six years as a North Berwyn Park District commissioner. Avila’s biography points to his work “bringing Cermak Plaza from a historic low of 30% occupancy in 2009 to 100% occupied today” adding that he has “devoted much of his time in office to addressing blight in the 7th Ward by working with city inspectors, with landlords to ensure property maintenance and with the police department to implement frequent patrols.”
1st Ward
DCOB incumbent Scott Lennon was elected to the council in 2017. Earlier this year, he requested the city provide official public documents in Spanish to Berwyn’s Latino population. Last year, he was criticized after briefly attending a Berwyn Comunidad En Acion meeting, which was intended to give residents a safe space to address racism in Berwyn. Lennon, who is white and was not invited to the meeting, left after 10 minutes and later posted on social media that he felt unwelcome at the meeting.
Independent Nicolette Penaranda has been a vocal critic of policing issues at city council meetings, singling out Lovero’s handling of the Black Lives Matter Rally when police were stationed on rooftops around the rally. She believes the city should hire a certified city manager, require all public servants to disclose conflicts of interest and retain independent, third-party oversight for all city departments. She has worked as a trauma chaplain at Advocate Christ Medical Center and has been involved with outreach and social justice initiatives.
2nd Ward
Independent Jose Ramirez was elected in 2017 and has consistently voted against no-bid contracts and police requests for additional equipment, promotions and personnel. He dropped out of the race earlier in December after his candidacy met a legal challenge because of an error in filing his reelection papers. “We have a strong political machine that works hard keeping opposition down,” he said. He ultimately decided to recollect petition signatures, hire a lawyer and continue his campaign.
DCOB candidate James Woywod has lived in Berwyn for more than 25 years. A Berwyn Park District commissioner and member of the Morton High School Booster Club, he has served as a coach for the Berwyn Park District and the Berwyn Recreation Department. For 13 years, he served on the Emerson School PTA.
3rd Ward
Independent Democrat Jeanine Reardon has consistently voted against no-bid contracts and police requests for equipment, new hires and promotions. She has been vocal about her desire to reform the police department budget and its policies, citing the recommendations of the Hillard-Heintze police audit. Last year, she donated her aldermanic salary to help create a mural in the Oak Park Avenue underpass. Reardon is a hospital chaplain and was a driving force in a failed attempt to get a non-binding referendum asking residents if the city should adopt a city management form of government.
DCOB candidate Richard Leja ran against Reardon in 2017. He is the founder of the Third Ward Block Club, which sometimes hosts Lovero and Cimaglia in meetings with residents. In October, he said on social media that 3rd Ward residents are “long neglected.” Leja also has stated: “I am Catholic. I am pro-life. I believe I am the best candidate for the 3rd Ward due to my commitment to listening, respecting and representing the residents.”
4th Ward
Robert Fejt ran with Berwyn United in 2017, but is collecting nominating petition signatures with the DCOB this election. As a union first responder, he recuses himself from votes involving some union contracts. A lifelong Berwyn resident, he owns a landscaping company.
Challenger Elizabeth Jimenez is a longtime educator who teaches third grade at Maercker Intermediate School. She is co-founder of the grassroots activist group Berwyn Comunidad En Acion. In 2017, she was elected to the school board and the Berwyn Township Board of Trustees, but feared legal challenges to her holding both positions and stepped down from the township spot. She has a bachelor’s degree in bilingual/bicultural education from Illinois State University and a master’s degree in school leadership from Concordia University.
5th Ward
The DCOB’s Ariana Macedo graduated from Trinity High School and has a bachelor’s degree in finance from North Central College. She interned in Berwyn’s finance department and now works as an administrative assistant to the Business/HR department at Berwyn South School District 100.
Independent Robert Pabon is a member of the Berwyn North District 98 school board. He’s known in Berwyn for co-founding the Little Free movement, which features 5,000 books in more than 20 free little libraries scattered across the city. He faults the city for a lack of transparency stating, “Berwyn has an ‘I know a guy/gal syndrome’ and it is rooted in the machine’s urge to hold private relationships with residents.” He is an advocate for bilingual literacy and wants anti-racism training for all city department heads.
6th Ward
Independent incumbent Alicia Ruiz ran four years ago as a member of the DCOB. The head of Berwyn’s Diversity Commission, Ruiz has stated she intends to get the commission officially empowered in an effort to enact meaningful discussion and change. Ruiz was pivotal in the police department’s decision this year to allow residents to file complaints against officers online. Previously, anyone with a complaint against an officer had to make it in person at the police station. Ruiz works in real estate.
The DCOB’s Sandra Diaz, who works with Remax Partners, is a 15-year resident of Berwyn. She is a member of the Berwyn Development Corp. where she helped organize “a number of free public events to help raise awareness to critical initiatives for the residents of Berwyn,” according to her biography. She has also “volunteered in the past to help support school safety, health events and various parent groups.”
8th Ward
The DCOB’s Anthony Nowak, a real estate agent, is a lifelong Berwyn resident who was appointed to the council after the resignation of Edgar Garcia. Nowak was a member of the Police and Fire Commission and sat on the Berwyn Development Corp. board, the arm of the city that oversees business development. Nowak was criticized earlier this year for making a “joke” on his Facebook page about hitting a woman. He later apologized, stating he was a victim of domestic violence.
Independent Joey Carmicheal entered the race with this announcement on social media: “I will be honest with you when I say I had no intention of running for alderman as of three weeks ago. The behavior of my alderman in making a joke out of domestic violence was the final straw.” Unreturned emails from Lovero and the city’s “blanket dismissal of all criticism of politicians as being ‘political’ and disingenuous” also prompted him to run. His platform includes reforms in policing.