On May 18, 46th Ward Ald. James Cappleman hosted a gathering at the Gold Coast restaurant Connie's Pizza to celebrate his re-election.
In making a short statement to attendees to thank them for their support, Cappleman announced that about a half-hour before the event, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called him to let him know he has been named vice chair of zoning on the Chicago City Council.
"No one can prepare you for the role of alderman," Cappleman told the attendees. "I did find out that one of the secrets of being a good alderman is having pretty good staff [singling out chief of staff Tressa Feher] who will tell you 'no' when you need to hear itand I've learned to listen."
He added, "When we ran four years ago, I talked about promises about the Wilson 'L' stop. Can you imagine that four years ago we did not know the [stop] would get a $200-million makeoversomething that surpassed our wildest dreams?
"You know we're on the right track when we hear from people saying that they've not been in the neighborhood for two or three years and they see a remarkable change in the area. That's because all of us are working together to make this a better place for everyone.
"We have the most diverse ward90 different languages; we have extreme wealth and extreme poverty, and everything in between. It doesn't matter what stance I take. Whenever I stand in one place, there's always going to be people screaming and yelling and protestingand that's just the way it is. But that's what makes me a better aldermanhearing all the voices and being their advocate. I'm your advocate because you were my advocates."
Lastly, Cappleman thanked husband Richard Thale for being there "when I need a kick in the ass."
Talking with Windy City Times, Cappleman said he felt "relief" more than anything else after six months of campaigning.