Berwyn alderman faces second petition challenge

Berwyn’s Second Ward Alderman Jose Ramirez is facing a second challenge to his nominating petitions after withdrawing from February’s primary election in response to the initial challenge that was filed.

His latest case will be heard at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday by Berwyn’s three-person Municipal Officers Electoral Board at City Hall, 6700 26th St. The hearing is open to the public. Unlike the Ramirez’ initial hearing on Jan. 4, this one will be live-streamed on the city’s social media.

Berwyn’s Electoral Board is comprised of Mayor Robert Lovero, head of Democratic Citizens of Berwyn (DCOB); Alderman Rafael Avila (7th), a member of the DCOB; and Chris Cohen, who replaced City Clerk Margaret Paul after she recused herself from the case because she could be called as a witness for Ramirez.

Ramirez, an independent, is running against DCOB candidate James Woywood, who was tapped to run by Lovero. Avila is running against Paul for city clerk.

Paul and Ramirez ran under the Berwyn United banner in 2017 when Paul bested DCOB incumbent Thomas J. Pavlik. Ramirez became Berwyn’s first openly gay Latino council member in 2017, prevailing over his DCOB rival Jeffrey Boyajian.

Both challenges to Ramirez’s nominating petitions have come from long-time Lovero ally Anthony Gentile.

Petition challenges deal with the signatures candidates must collect from voters before they can get on the ballot. Those signatures must be submitted according to exacting specifications, including the type of bindings used to hold the signature pages together.

Petition challenges can take many forms: the validity of the signatures may be questioned. The type of clips used, page headings, dates, notarizations or any number of other details also can be challenged.

The DCOB has a documented history of trying to knock its opponents off the ballot before an election. In 2017, it attempted to remove Edgar Garcia-Perez and Monique Spence, the sole Black aldermanic candidate, from the ballot.

Garcia-Perez was running for the 8th Ward seat, Spence for the 6th. Berwyn’s then all-DCOB Electoral Board – Lovero, then-Alderwoman Nona Chapman and Village Clerk Pavlik – ruled against Garcia, stating that he did not live in Berwyn since his voter registration information listed him as “Edgar Garcia” and he had signed his petitions with his full, hyphenated last name, “Garcia-Perez.”

Garcia appealed after providing some 200 pages worth of documents attesting to his identity and 13-year Berwyn residence. He succeeded in getting back on the ballot and defeated incumbent Nora Laureto. Spence also lost her case before Berwyn’s electoral board and subsequently bowed out of the election.

Election challenges are costly primarily because candidates need to hire legal counsel to fight them. As the Jan. 4 electoral board meeting notice states, “all parties to this matter are encouraged to bring legal counsel to the hearing.”

Ramirez’s campaign assets were listed at $750 as of Sept. 30. He has asked for donations to help with legal costs. The DCOB reports having approximately $38,000 as of Sept. 30, with another $259,000 in Lovero’s own campaign chest.

After Gentile filed his first challenge to Ramirez’s first set of signature petitions late last year, Ramirez withdrew from February’s primary rather than hire an attorney to fight it out before the electoral board. He then collected a new batch of signatures and submitted them to run as an Independent in the April general election. Gentile is now challenging those petitions as well.

Ramirez has declined to comment on the case until after this week’s hearing but stated on social media:

“I was looking forward to being judged by YOU at the ballot box on whether my hard work deserved a second term. I remembered my initial hesitation at running for office due to Berwyn’s political atmosphere. We have a strong political machine that works hard keeping opposition down and making some ordinary residents like myself feel estranged from our city government.

“Then I was reminded of why I ran for office in the first place. I remembered how in a prior election most of the city candidates ran unopposed and I felt that should never happen in a true democracy. We deserve choices. The residents of Berwyn deserve choices,” he stated.

Ramirez’s Jan. 4 hearing was not streamed online. Paul referred questions about why the meeting wasn’t remotely available to City Administrator Ruth Siaba Greene, who in turn referred questions to the “municipal election board lawyer.” Paul then forward queries to Del Galdo Law Group Senior Counsel Tiffany Nelson-Jaworski.

Nelson-Jaworski, Lovero and Avila did not respond to emailed questions about why the previous hearing was not streamed. As of August, the Del Galdo had donated $36,000 to the Committee to Elect Robert J. Lovero. Berwyn has in-house counsel, but has retained Del Galdo over the past four years for additional legal help.

Gentile could not be reached for comment.