---

Profile
Originally published in Gay Chicago

Give your personal touch bio. What made you the person you are today?

I started working at 14 years of age in my family’s typography business. My career outside the realm of the family business was a bit less cozy. I gophered shingles for roofers, waited tables at a pancake house and flipped burgers at a pool hall; I washed the windows and carpets of fast food restaurants after hours, and in 1980, as I unloaded a boxes off a truck at a warehouse job, the radio announced that John Lennon was dead.

I lived in Springfield then, in an old house on Lincoln Street that I shared with six people in a hippy arrangement of shared cooking and chores. At night I worked at Bauer’s Opera House, a legislator and lobbyist gin joint. It wasn’t the typical barmaid experience.

For a couple of bucks I’d sell calls, giving servers the option to swap out a customer. Instead of avoiding the sots and the misers, I made a market and made a premium.

Since then, I have lived most of my adult life in Uptown. It’s here that I learned what a neighbor is and how to be one. It’s here where I built my business. This is place where my soul took root, the place I look forward to coming back to after traveling.

Throughout the years, I dug out vacant lots and made them into gardens. I cleaned streets, fought gangs and cared for sick friends. I’ve made refuge for hungry and abused children. I’ve argued for day care centers, children’s safety, housing and human rights. It was never my job, these were just the things I did to make my corner of the world a little better.

My consulting business was successful but it wasn’t as satisfying as my community life, which had generated new spheres of interest and a momentum that pointed me back to school and, surprisingly, to the Middle East.

In 1991, after the Gulf War ended, I worked as a volunteer in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). I returned the following year and attended Tel Aviv University. After I finished, I took an apartment and worked for a peace program uniting Palestinian and Israeli children in Art and English classes and highway safety programs. Going home after work one afternoon, the bus driver’s radio announced the Oslo accords. The people on the street, like all of us on the bus, were shaking hands, hugging each other, wiping away tears.

I finished my B.A. at DePaul University in 1994. After completing my graduate work in public policy studies at the University of Chicago in 1997, I was appointed to the Institute for Public Policy Research at Chicago to tackle a new area of abortion research examining state policies, ideas of “wantedness” and criminality.

The work framed abortion in terms beyond the immediate decision-point of whether to abort or carry a pregnancy to term so it was even more controversial (as well as personally and professionally costly) but after I earned some accolades and weathered a few storms, it earned the attention of other academics that have since developed the work more.

In 1999, my husband and I welcomed the birth of our daughter, Sophie. The rough and tumble world of high-octane academics lost its allure once our little babbler had come round. I resigned my appointment and eschewed full time work for part-time consulting for a few select clients, including the Regional Transportation Authority.

Once Sophie was in school, my husband, Tobias, and I felt it was time again to break out and take a risk. Syntra was launched in 2005 to provide futures and commodities brokerage and management for select CTAs and risk-tolerant investors.

Risk took on new meaning for us in 2006 when our daughter, Sophie, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. The world cracked for us; it was a tectonic shift, something we couldn’t set right. Reeling, we were immediately beset by another hardship: I had to quit work to be at school all day to test Sophie’s blood sugar and administer her lunchtime insulin.

The losses kept mounting but I was just learning what other families already knew: access to school, education rights, disability rights, services and accommodations guaranteed by federal law are not a given. Not in Illinois. Not for kids with disabilities and especially not for kids who test their blood and use a syringe 5-6 times each day.

I wanted to make sure that what happened to us never happened to another family.

Since it was a state failure the first thing I did was find a legislator who cared enough to listen. I wrote a bill, The Care of Students with Diabetes Act and Rep. Tom Cross sponsored it. It passed the House this spring. Like so many other bills, it’s awaiting Senate action.

This work began simply as a petition by a citizen to redress a wrong against children with diabetes and their families. It has grown into something much larger and now includes the support of more than 1,400 families across Illinois, Chicago-Kent Law School, and other partner firms committed to diabetes advocacy issues in Illinois.

My many and sometimes simultaneous roles have resulted in a portfolio of skills and a voracious interest in the power of ideas to influence policy and improve people’s lives. I’ve lived and worked with the residents of this district for more than 25 years, which has given me a strong compass, one that keeps me grounded in the real world effects that government decisions have on individuals, families, businesses, and institutions.

 List three most important issues that you feel effects the GLBT community and you will focus on in Springfield.

Long-term, my plan is not to impose what I deem to be important but rather to listen and respond to what constituent groups tell me is meaningful to them. For the remained of Senator Ronen’s term, I intend to support and advance legislation that has already been introduced. The three bills I will focus on are each informed by principles of equal protection and inclusion.

Plans have been floating for new harbors and the extension of Lake Shore Drive to Evanston. How do you feel about Lakefront expansion?

Although some politicians favor the idea and some have worked to advance it and secure funding for feasibility studies, voters had last word when they rejected the extension in a referendum in November 2004. I think it was the right choice.

One of the arguments for extending LSD was that it would make the Chicago to Evanston commute faster and more convenient. I am not inclined to support a billion dollar plus public work project that encourages more automobile use, even one that has the potential to create a few more patches of green.

Whatever dollars would be required to build this extension are dollars that would be much better spent refurbishing the El stations along the northern most branch of the Red line and improving bus service along the Chicago / Evanston corridors.

The question of harbors seems to have been parsed out of the equation given that existing harbors have been refurbished in recent years. Mooring cans have been replaced with private docks, and several harbors have been expanded so significantly it’s as though two new harbors (Monroe and Burnham) have been added. Annual fees are higher for dock slips than for mooring cans and the use of tenders and support staff has been reduced so there has been a nice revenue boost for the Park District.

Property Taxes

Throughout the 7^th district, the City of Chicago, and Cook County, the rise in property taxes is, in part, a result of the inappropriate use of Tax Increment Financing, or TIFs.

TIFs take the increment, the difference between the Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) when the TIF is established and increases in the EAV that are realized during the term of the TIF and sets that revenue aside to fund redevelopment and other improvements within a TIF area.

When employed properly, TIFs are a powerful development tool that can help reinvigorate blighted areas, however, when they are deployed in areas that are not blighted and an overheated housing market powers exponential increases in value, the consequences are debilitating---and not just for homeowners but for schools, libraries, park districts, any community institution that shows up as a line item on a property tax bill.

This development tool has been abused to the point that more than $500 million in TIF revenue accrued in 2006. Not only is $500 million a huge number, it’s also a number that has made Ben Jovarsky of the Chicago Reader, a writer who has covered TIFs with rightful fervor, look like an optimist. 

 Housing Slump & Foreclosures

This recent real estate run-up and the current slump were caused largely by the availability of cheap credit. Normally, well-priced credit is a good thing; it’s necessary for businesses and economies to grow. But in this case the Federal Reserve eased it so much that it caused a sudden surge of first-time buyers and builders with unprecedented access credit.

Low cost lending didn’t just game the incentives for buying. It also gave developers the incentives to overbuild, which, unchecked by local zoning authority, produced a rapid uptick in supply. This environment also encouraged unscrupulous lenders to write as much paper as they could, knowing that they would simply bundle and resell the debt. Lenders were aided and abetted by lax credit policies and local government officials who were sleeping while the housing inventory piled up.

For the most part, markets are rational, meaning this slump is the direct result of poorly managed credit policy. What’s happening is now the unraveling of that bad policy and intervening in any systematic way may do more harm than good.

Beef up underwriting standards too much and credit will dry up and that will only worsen this situation. Provide a federal bailout and we effectively reward banks for making bad loans or borrowers for taking them. This isn’t to say nothing should be done. Responsible underwriting standards should be restored. The Federal Reserve is tightening rules on mortgage disclosures, deceptive advertisements and other solicitations.

One readily available tool we have to mitigate the effects of this crisis is to manipulate consumption, or the rate at which existing housing stock is absorbed. We can affect a net zero building permit process for new construction housing. This wouldn’t end construction but it would restrict the density, or the number of units being built. Think in terms of “replacement” rather than “expansion.” By restricting supply, we influence demand and stem the downward trend in prices.

But what about those who may lose their homes to foreclosure?

Peter Schiff wrote in the New York Times yesterday, “Having put nothing down or having extracted equity in previous refinances, most subprime borrowers will lose nothing financially from foreclosure. In some cases the low teaser rates allowed them to pay less than what they might otherwise have paid in rent. The real losses are borne by the lenders.”

He’s only part right. Some subprime borrowers do indeed fit Mr. Schiff’s profile. But others hold equity in their homes and do have something to lose. There are borrowers who were deceived by false advertising, strong-armed into signing misleading disclosures and we have an obligation to help those individuals and families who were wronged.

While we're talking about housing, let's cover the renters. How will you protect the renters who are being forced out of their apartments sooner than the laws allows to Stealth Condo Conversions?

Legislation recently passed gives better enforcement bite for the Condominium Property Act. (095-0221). The amended act closes loopholes, provides well specified consequences for non-compliance, which provide sufficient deterrent, however I am concerned that the terms of enforcement, while appropriate for statewide application, may not be sufficient for the City.

There is an implied right of action by virtue of the statute’s existence but it’s unlikely that tenants forced from their homes will have the freedom or the means to file and press lawsuits.

The statute allows non-profit housing organizations to sue on behalf of a tenant, but this requires a community-based network wherein tenants are aware of and connected to housing organizations that have the information, programming and legal resources they need.

For non-profit housing organizations to serve as effective advocates (and, inversely, as agents that effectively deter stealth condo developments) the resources of these organizations must positively correlate to the high rate of transients in East Rogers Park.

Condo conversions are slowing throughout the city. Since the law was enacted this year, and because it is likely that stealth conversions will decrease in pace with the market overall, we should monitor and evaluate this situation before considering amending the statute.

However, there is another aspect to this problem that is not addressed by the statute and that’s not because the statute is inadequate. Rather, the state law speaks to the general conditions in the state---from Effingham to Antioch.

What’s happening in Rogers Park may be particular to the City, which is why local Alderman may look to develop a companion ordinance with the City Council to impose penalties on developers who violate the law. For example, the City could suspend building permits or significantly increase the transfer taxes paid by the seller upon sale of the units. By imposing more costly, near-term deterrents, a City Ordinance could hasten and magnify the effect of the state law. To do this, the Condominium Property Act would likely need to be amended to permit additional penalties by locality.

 There are a few TIFS in the 7th district. The Loyola TIF. The Howard TIF. The SC Electric TIF. And now a new Hollywood/Sheridan TIF. Currently citizens rarely hear—much less understand what a TIF is.  What will you do to ensure the taxpayers have a say in how the money collecting by the TIF program? 

There is also the Wilson Yards TIF, the Edgewater TIF, the Ravenswood TIF, and the North Western Avenue TIF, among others. As discussed earlier in the section on Property Taxes, the use of this development tool has clearly run amok. Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley's report, published this April, explains the reform measures that are needed:

· Report TIF information on property tax bills. Itemize the actual and the opportunity costs associated with the TIF.

· Require each local taxing entity to analyze the fiscal effects, including potential losses, on TIF redevelopment plans.

· Adjust the base by inflation on an annual basis to keep pace with increases in the cost of providing services.

· Restrict the movement, or "porting" of TIF funds to ensure they are used properly.

· Develop meaningful independent oversight.

You're known as an activist. Give us a name of your favorite GLBT activist.

 Activist? Or advocate? I think of myself as the later but it’s the push and pull of scale and identity that is both familiar and philosophically appealing to me. It’s an attitude that inclines me think about the impact of small things, the unsung contribution, the anonymous gift, the kind gesture, and a life lived truthfully.

This idea lived large in and about a man I knew only for a few short seasons before he died. His name was Tommy Biscotto.

In 1981, Tommy began to exhibit symptoms that came to be labeled the “gay cancer.” Today, of course, we know this disease to be AIDS. It was a frightening time, filled with unanswerable questions, never before seen symptoms and unexplained deaths.

When he first became ill, Tommy enjoyed our company and the meals we brought, the bustle and raucous would fill his house. But as the disease progressed, he began to withdraw into a viral-induced haze, his body and breath riddled with the pain of Kaposi's sarcoma lesions. In the end, the disease shelled him and, I think, hastened the death of his friend, J. Pat Miller.

What made Tommy remarkable for me and for others was how open he was---about being gay, about being ill, and about the fact that he was dying. I knew other men at that time who were ill and who were dying or who had died, those family friends that the old aunties would call confirmed bachelors. Tommy was different. He was out loud.

This may not seem all that remarkable today but it was then. In the early 1980s, the fear surrounding this disease gripped everyone and it fueled one of its earliest secondary effects, which was to push people back into the closet, where many people died alone, unknown and of non-specific diseases.

The decisions Tommy made, at home, at work, around his kitchen table---without media or memoir---didn’t just affect me; he continues to affect many people and many organizations today, including Season of Concern, which makes contributions to artists in need by collecting small contributions from many people within Chicago’s theater community.

Tommy didn’t run a not-for-profit (though some might quip that the Goodman Theater was back then). He didn’t write or change laws or organize protests. I could be wrong, others knew him better, but I’m pretty sure he would not have characterized himself as an activist.

But I do. One’s life doesn’t have to be large or publicized to change the world. Tommy lived on a smaller stage, on Fry Street, with a garden, and a gaggle of noisy friends. He lived and died openly and by doing so, taught me that to face fear and bigotry is to strip it of its power.