Electoral board to determine fate of Berwyn alderman’s candidacy

BERWYN - Objectors to Berwyn Alderman Jose Ramirez’s candidacy are seeking to invalidate 47 signatures from his nominating petitions

If successful, the move would oust Ramirez from the April 6 general election ballot, leaving him four signatures shy of the 25 he needs to be on the ballot.

Earlier objections by Anthony Gentile, a Second Ward resident and longtime ally of Mayor Robert Lovero, succeeded in knocking Ramirez off the Feb. 23 Democratic primary ballot.

If Ramirez is removed from the April ballot, Berwyn’s Second Ward residents will see one aldermanic candidate on both the February and the April ballots: the Democratic of Citizens of Berwyn’s (DCOB) James Woywood, who was tapped to run by Lovero. Lovero is the head of the electoral board deciding Ramirez’s case.

The issue will be decided by Berwyn’s Municipal Officers Electoral Board at 5:30 p.m. Jan. 21. Attorneys and board members agreed Jan. 13 on a roughly 90-minute hearing streamed on the city’s Facebook page.

In addition to Lovero, the three-person electoral board includes DCOB 7th Ward Alderman Rafael Avila and Chris Cohen, who was appointed to the board after Berwyn Clerk Margaret Paul recused herself, stating she could be called as witness for Ramirez. Paul was not called as a witness at the Jan.13 hearing.

Paul ran for office with Ramirez in 2017, each besting their DCOB opponents. Ramirez and Paul are running against DCOB candidates again this year. Woywood is running against Ramirez and Avila is running against Paul for the clerk’s spot.

In 2017, Ramirez’ victory made him the first openly gay Latino council member in Berwyn’s history and Paul the city’s first, gay clerk. Paul and Ramirez ran under the Berwyn United banner in 2017,when Paul bested DCOB incumbent Thomas J. Pavlik.

Since they were elected in 2017, Ramirez, along with Third Ward Alderwoman Jeanine Reardon, have repeatedly voted in opposition to the mayor’s recommendations and his five DCOB aldermen. Ramirez and Reardon both have a lengthy record of voting against against no-bid contracts as well as additional police funding, equipment and police promotions that defied the advice of Jan. 15, 2019, Hillard Heintze police audit the city commissioned.

Ramirez planned to run as a Democrat on the February primary ballot until Gentile filed objections to the incumbent’s nominating petitions. Ramirez dropped out of the primary, citing legal fees as an issue. Ramirez then collected another batch of signatures and filed to run in the April general election as a member of a new party, the Progressive Thinker party. After Gentile objected to those petitions as well, a crowd funding campaign was started to help with Ramirez’ legal fees.

Ramirez’s campaign assets were listed at $750 as of Sept. 30. For the same reporting period, the DCOB reported having approximately $38,000 as of Sept. 30, with another $259,000 in Lovero’s campaign war chest.

To get on the ballot for any office, candidates are required to submit signatures supporting their candidacies. At the Jan. 13 hearing, attorneys spent more than an hour hashing through the legalities related to the 47 signatures in question.

The key question argued was this: Can people who signed the petitions for Ramirez as a candidate for the Democratic Party also sign Ramirez’s petitions as a candidate under the Progressive Thinker banner? There are 47 such signatures at issue.

There are literally hundreds of ways to object to a candidates’ petitions. In Ramirez’s current case, the objections were not just to the signatures. Instead, questions were raised about the “the qualifications and eligibility of the circulator” Thomas Stebbins. Stebbins is Ramirez’ husband.

Of Ramirez’s 72 signatures, he agreed four could be stricken for various reasons, including legibility. That leaves Ramirez with 68 signatures, of which 47 are from people who signed both of his petitions.

The attorneys spent over an hour parsing sections of the election code, both citing precedent and election law code to back their arguments. One of the key concepts both returned to was differentiating between the requirements for independent candidates, established political parties and new parties versus established parties.

“This is very interesting,” Ramirez said during the hearing. “I’ve never been to something like this before. I hope I never do again.

“Politics is one thing. Democracy is another. And I feel here we should look at democracy. What is best for the people of Berwyn for the Second Ward. You can cite and you can look and you can find. I’m listening to both lawyers and they both have good points. But I think in the end, if we look at what’s right for the voters, I think that’s that every vote counts. I just want to say that.”

More than 100 people watched the hearing stream via various Facebook Live watch parties, and their comments overwhelmingly expressing support for Ramirez. Two public comments were read into the record. The first came from Patti Ramos the night before the hearing.

“Jose Ramirez has been my alderman and I would like the chance to vote for him. I understand he often votes against what the mayor wants. That is what is at the bottom of this effort to get him thrown off the ballot by challenging his petition. It is petty and should not succeed. I resent the attempt to keep a good man off the ballot for partisan reasons.

“As a resident of the Second Ward of Berwyn, I would like a choice as to who my alderman is. Please withdraw all objections to Jose Ramirez running and allow all Second Ward residents to make a decision for themselves who should represent us as second ward alderman.”

Attorneys said the deadline to decide the case is Jan. 28. It was unclear if that date applies to the appeal process. If the municipal board ousts Ramirez from the ballot when it meets Jan. 21, he and his attorney can appeal the decision.