25th Ward Committeeman race sees Martinez challenging incumbent Solis 

By Patrick Butler 

Alderman Danny Solis and Robert Martinez both want the same things for the 25th Ward –less crime, more business development, and an engaged electorate.

Robert Martinez is the lone survivor among four challengers who originally filed to run against Solis in the Tuesday, Feb. 5, Democratic Committeeman race, with the others having withdrawn.

Martinez, a Juarez High School teacher, Dvorak Park Advisory Council member, and CAPS (Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy) activist, said he wants less crime and a cleaner environment. He also wants “economic development that doesn’t rely on a big-box store,” a reference to Solis’s switching his vote in the City Council to uphold Mayor Richard M. Daley’s veto of a controversial 2006 ordinance that would have required large retailers like Wal-Mart to pay their workers a “living wage” of at least $10 an hour, plus $3 in benefits.

Martinez said he is running for the unpaid Democratic Party post because “what we value as important doesn’t seem to matter to our elected officials. I intend to change that neglectful practice.”

Concerned with mass transit cuts even before the latest Chicago Transit Authority funding crisis, Martinez said he led a petition drive that “made a real difference” in the decision to keep the 54/Cermak Blue Line open. He added that, if he is elected Democratic Committeeman, he will continue fighting to keep the neighborhood’s voice heard.

Martinez said he will give the community that loud voice by beefing up voter turnout so City Hall will pay close attention to the 25th Ward’s needs and wants.

Daniel Solis, who has been a City Council member for 11 years and Democratic Ward Committeeman since 2000, said he has done all that and more for an incredibly diverse ward encompassing Chinatown, the Near West Side, Maxwell Street, Pilsen, Tri-Taylor, and University Village. 

Crime has dipped, the ward picked up 300 more businesses, and 3,000 new jobs have come to the ward’s industrial corridor since he became Alderman, Solis said.

A founder of Latino Youth Alternative High School and the United Neighborhood Network, Solis was a community organizer for 16 years before going into politics. While the Committeeman’s job is to get out the vote, staff the polls with Democratic election judges, and help find and fund good candidates for office, “it’s closely related to the Aldermanic role because services and the leadership you have in Chicago is primarily Democratic. There’s only one Republican Committeeman among the 50 Aldermen,” Solis said.

Solis’s goals for the next term include building an even stronger ward organization that can address the ward’s needs “and highlight the fact that it’s Democrats who are bringing the best possible situation to middle- and working-class families.”

Solis admitted it is likely to get harder in the future to attract volunteers and contributors, even in a ward where the demographics are changing to the point where agencies like the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless and Hispanics in Philanthropy live side by side.

“You can’t offer jobs or City contracts anymore," Solis noted. "And in many ways I’m glad. If you have a good track record and are both a Committeeman and an Alderman, I think you’ll get all the help you need.”

It also is harder to find willing, qualified candidates at a time when campaigns are costlier then ever—"but they’re still out there," Solis added.

“It takes a very special person to put his life on hold and raise a significant amount of money to run for office. But I think we have a good group of people in the upcoming election. And I think most of them will be victorious,” he said.