City’s first Asian American alderman glad to have ‘seat at the table’
By Abdon M. Pallasch and Cheryl V. Jackson Staff Reporters February 23, 2011 7:34PM
Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM
On the same day a majority of Chicago’s black voters made Rahm Emanuel their choice for mayor, white voters on the Northwest Side elected Ameya Pawar as the first Asian-American alderman.
The milestone is a point of pride for many Asian-Americans and Pawar himself, but many 47th Ward voters told the Sun-Times Wednesday that it’s time to stop examining elections through racial prisms — they just voted for Pawar because they thought he was the best candidate.
“It was nothing to do with race,”. Said Tina Spinelle, owner of Hanger 18, a Lincoln Square accessory store. “I think we need a fresh start.”
Only about 5 percent of 47th Ward residents are Asian-American.
Pawar, a 30-year-old programing assistant at Northwestern University’s Office of Emergency Management who’s been renting an apartment in the ward for the past four years, was given little chance of winning against long-time Ald. Gene Schulter or his hand-picked successor Tom O’Donnell, after Schulter opted not to seek re-election.
Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel called Pawar to congratulate him Wednesday and said he’d
like to get together with him for coffee soon, Pawar said.
As Asian-American groups prepare to ask the City Council to draw new wards that maximize Asian populations in Chinatown, Albany Park or West Ridge to help elect Asians, they are happy to take a surprise victory in a ward where Asian-Americans make up only 5 percent of the population.
“It’s very exciting to finally have an Asian American in the City Council,” said Tuyet Le, executive director of the Asian-American Institute. “We congratulate Mr. Pawar, and look forward to working with him to address the tough issues that our community and this city faces.”
India native Amit Shah, who owns a Cold Stone Creamery in the ward, said, “He’s like the president of our community. That’s why it makes us happy. It’s as if the president came from your family. It makes us proud.”
Pawar’s parents came from India. He was born in Chicago and grew up in Des Plaines. Pawar was heartened last year by fellow Indian-American Raja Kirshnamoorthi’s strong showing in the Democratic primary election for state comptroller, calling him “a trailblazer.”
“While I may not represent a large number of Indian-Americans or Pakistani-Americans directly, my door will always be open,” Pawar said. “I think I can be an effective advocate. It’s more about having a seat at the table now.”
Pawar was able to pull of his stunning victory because he worked hard, personally knocking on 80 percent of the doors in the ward, and because people liked his message, he said.
“People are voting on issues,” Pawar said. “A lot of these long-time aldermen operate as though the wards are fiefdoms, That leaves a lot of neighborhoods behind.”
Pawar aims to be an involved member of the City Council.
“My job is to pull that budget apart, go through it line-by-line, look at that budget and see how we spend the money,” Pawar said.
On the campaign trail, Pawar made full use of social media and worked on developing an i-phone application he hopes will be able to let people take pictures of potholes, graffiti and other problems to send directly to the city’s 311 Center so the city can fix things quickly.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment