By Ben Joravsky
The irony in the selection was not lost on Fred Montejano, a lifelong Pilsen resident and activist who openly sought the job. “I wish Danny well, but yes, I’m disappointed,” says Montejano. “I think the level of politics in the Latino community has changed. You shouldn’t be anyone’s gofer or automatic vote.”
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For over two months rumors swirled about whom Daley would name; the list of candidates included such mayoral loyalists as Leonard Dominguez, Daley’s former deputy mayor for education, Teresa Fraga, a former schoolteacher, and Solis, who’s the director of the community group UNO (United Neighborhood Organization) and whom Daley had already appointed to the school board nominating commission and the boards of the CHA and the RTA.
Montejano, on the other hand, made no secret about his ambition for the job. He wrote Daley a letter asking to be considered and laying out his qualifications: a former president of the Pilsen Neighbors Community Council and a leader in the fights for a new YMCA, library, high school, and technical center.
Rock in a Hard Place
By the mid-1980s the Park District was allowing music festivals in the parks–backing away from a ban that goes back to the riots that occurred in Grant Park when Sly and the Family Stone failed to show up for a concert. In 1986 Kusy and other north-side musicians and activists organized Peacefest, and by the early 90s Weed Fest and the African Music Festival were also taking place each summer at Cricket Hill.
In January Lozins and Kusy got a letter from the Park District saying they and all the other festivals would have to move. “We called them up, and they told us they wanted to fix up the soccer fields,” says Kusy. “Someone even said there was talk of tearing it down. You hear all sorts of crazy things, but I can’t imagine they’d try something that ridiculous.
