February 7, 2019
by Lee Helmer

Poor money management is one of the worst fears I have for my children. It’s not how much you make, it’s how you put it use. Personal finance habits (good or bad) can mature into professional habits, and before you know it, you could be making the same mistakes at your job. And if you’re an alderman? There’s more at stake; other people’s money, constituents who have trust in your duty to use those funds wisely. With Carlos Ramirez-Rosa, there is a growing pattern of financial issues that cannot be ignored. I not only know this because of credible media stories, but also because he was my tenant.

I wish I could tell you that he was a model tenant. He was not. I wish I could tell you that we parted in good terms, and his trajectory to Alderman invokes a humblebrag that he rented from me. I cannot. What I can tell you is that he was the worst tenant I’ve ever had.

Now this is a big city, and terrible things go down, so to keep things in perspective, we are talking about a $115,000+ salaried politician who allegedly has a poor reputation for paying his rent starting in 2012.

Back in the spring of that year, before Lost Lake, when Longman & Eagle was the unattended Winds Cafe, and El Cid was the rowdiest on the block near the Logan Square L, I was taking applications for my modest Avondale condo up the street. A property I had owned before the 2008 crash, it no longer fit my family so we rented a place nearby. At the time, I was offering reasonable rent in hopes that I could keep tenants longer to focus on raising my family. In comes Carlos Ramirez-Rosa with a determination to be the top candidate, and a one year lease was signed. While it was all politeness and appropriate behavior at the start, the end of our landlord-tenant relationship left this working mother in shock and panic, with less than a week's warning.

He vacated my property in less than a week of notifying me, with no replacement for the remainder of few months left on the lease. He had referred someone via email, but they never returned my e-application (I had provided one within 24 hours). Whatever his reasons to ditch before the lease was over, it was already too late. With my own rent to pay, plus the mortgage and a family to support, what was I to do? What I didn’t know at the time was that I got screwed by a future Alderman. He broke my trust, and to this day, never reconciled.

Shortly after in 2014, Ramirez-Rosa took out a personal loan that he failed to pay, according to reporting by Politico. It’s a default on monies from Credit Union 1, who’s vision aligns with the alderman’s, touting,”To be THE financial institution that drives family and community success.” Screwing over the little guy (and gal) when you’re all about affordable housing and upping the minimum wage is not a good look.

Why does my story matter? And why tell my story now? Because the reports are piling up. Someone who is in charge of community money is supposedly in debt for near one hundred thousand dollars. Thinking back to my renting days in the 90’s, I never imagined I would have something in common with the blue key logo guy. But this article is not about him (you can google “Fishman gentrification” and find plenty media coverage).

According to the January 15th, 2019 Block Club Chicago article, Ramirez-Rosa says his debt from his landlord Fishman is about “politics” because he’s bringing it up right before an election, but the debt was outstanding before the developer bought the building. I call bullshit. A situation that flared up in 2016 is not politics, it’s called neglect.

How many years silence is enough to complain about a public official? His predecessor, Rey Colon, rented that same office space for over 10 years. Solving a ward office rent problem should be an Alderman 101 class, which, according to reports, he is failing. And because of that, he’s being sued for $96,000. Will it be on the taxpayers’ dime, and on taxpayers’ Time? How many city council meetings will he miss because he has court dates and lawyer meetings to attend?

The remainder of my story is not unlike most people who rent to a lease-skipper and don’t have a management company to lean on. I took the financial loss and spent less time with my family in order to make the best of the contract that he broke with me, and moved on. I lamented about his 2014 campaign announcement and subsequent win of the 35th Ward slot. Fast forward to the summer of 2018 and I was in the same room with him amongst ~five people at an Hermosa Neighborhood Association meeting, to which he said nothing to me, nor I to him. I had resolved to let it go, with an occasional complainy quip to neighbors. Busy, working, family-raising, and not residing in his ward, I was going about my business this winter when my Fliboard flops me a local story or two. I really don’t know how they know my disdain for this guy, but they (the newsfeed engine) served me up some CRR doozies. Then my neighbors started to called things out to me. Then my @HermosaChi Twitter feed sings a song. Then I recognize a pattern. What’s that phrase again? “See something, say something.”

When reading these articles related to Ramirez-Rosa, I empathize with this predictable cadence of blame that comes immediately after he’s rejected or criticized. It happened with his expulsion of the Chicago City Council Latino Caucus. It happened with Biss. It happened with his freshman mistake of a Twitter fight with fellow Alderman Lopez.

My (mostly latinx) neighbors are likely drawn in by his progressive agenda (which I generally agree with), but let’s hope they don’t turn a blind eye to the 35th Ward purse and the legal problems that he might drag them into. If he can’t set a good example to negotiate with his own landlord on a $100,000 City Council expense budget, he is no Chicago Alderman for the Left. And how on earth can he even be a Democratic Socialist if he is bad at accounting?

So whatever his financial blots, his open debt compromises his integrity.

My experience with him is not an issue of my money lost, but of glaring pattern of financial abuse. A wise person asked me what I wanted out of telling this story, and my answer is this:

• Shining a light on this pattern of negative financial allegations to my Hermosa neighbors, and my friends in the 35th Ward

• Consideration that the 35th Ward’s purse could be in jeopardy, including possible legal fees in regards to over $90,000+ of alleged back rent and fees from a personal loan lawsuit.

• Consideration that the collective allegations and awkwardly defensive responses show that Ramirez-Rosa is not mature enough to negotiate or commit. In short, I think he’s a rage-quitter.

• Consideration that despite a liberal agenda, a person who has skipped out on their bills with no reconciliation is irresponsible and not alderman-worthy behavior.

In his Carlos Ramirez-Rosa’s own words:

“…no one is above criticism or reproach, no matter how much progressive posturing they've done. That type of thinking is dangerous for our movement.”

me:

“Exactly.”

References

Holliday, Darryl. “New Logan Square Alderman Sets Up Shop on Milwaukee Ave.” DNAinfo.com/LoganSquareist.com, June 9, 2015. https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150609/logan-square/new-logan-square-alderman-sets-up-shop-on-milwaukee-ave/

Ahern, Mary Ann and Bremer, Shelby. “Biss Drops Ramirez-Rosa From Ticket in Bid for Illinois Governor“ NBCnews.com, September 6, 2017. https://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/daniel-biss-carlos-ramirez-rosa-illinois-governor-442930773.html

Ahern, Mary Ann. “Chicago City Council Latino Caucus Votes to Expel Ald. Ramirez-Rosa” NBCnews.com, May 24, 2018. https://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/carlos-ramirez-rosa-expelled-chicago-latino-caucus-483608571.html

Kapos, Shia and Hurst, Adrienne. “McCARTHY’s name recognition — BURKE draws a crowd — RAMIREZ-ROSA’s legal issue” Politico.com, December 5, 2018. https://www.politico.com/newsletters/illinois-playbook/2018/12/05/mccarthys-name-recognition-burke-draws-a-crowd-ramirez-rosas-legal-issue-357938

Arriaga, Alexandra. “‘Strange situation’: Rookie aldermen locked in battle — against each other“ Chicago Sun Times, December 14, 2018. https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/raymond-lopez-carlos-ramirez-rosa-aldermen-fuera-city-council/

Quig, A.D.“‘He Dined And Ditched’: Landlord Accuses Ramirez-Rosa Of Running Out On His Office Lease; Alderman Says It’s Politics” Block Club Chicago, January 15, 2019. https://blockclubchicago.org/2019/01/15/he-dined-and-ditched-landlord-accuses-ramirez-rosa-of-running-out-on-his-office-lease-alderman-says-its-politics/

Pratt, Gregory. “Chicago alderman, landlord in legal dispute over $96K in unpaid ward office rent” Chicago Tribune, January 30, 2019. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-met-alderman-carlos-ramirez-rosa-lawsuit-20190130-story.html

Carlos Ramirez Rosa (@CDRosa). “My Tweet wasn't a criticism. We WERE all wondering who was going to accept DB's endorsement, and now we know. That said, no one is above criticism or reproach, no matter how much progressive posturing they've done. That type of thinking is dangerous for our movement.”; January 31, 2019, 9:46 am. https://twitter.com/cdrosa/status/1091029923442118657?s=21

Additional Articles

Bloom, Mina. “ Ramirez-Rosa Slammed For Not Taking $35K Pay Cut As Promised, But Ald. Says Opponent Running Nasty ‘Misinformation Campaign’” Block Club Chicago, Februa 21, 2019. https://blockclubchicago.org/2019/02/21/ramirez-rosa-slammed-for-not-taking-35k-pay-cut-as-promised-but-ald-says-opponent-running-nasty-misinformation-campaign/