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Patrick Shine is Running for Alderman in the 44th Ward
Alderman may be a foreign concept to those moving to Chicago for the first time. This was not the case for Patrick Shine. Before moving to Chicago, he studied the 44th Ward while at the University of Central Florida. Specifically, he studied the 44th Ward’s former Alderman Dick Simpson who served two terms in the ’70s. Terms he wrote about explicitly in his book The Good Fight: Life Lessons from a Chicago Progressive. As Shine tells it, Simpson was, “One of the most incredible people that ever hit the City Council in Chicago.” Currently, Dick Simpson is a Professor of Political Science at the University of Illinois at Chicago
The knock on effect of Patrick’s research? To follow in Simpson’s footsteps in an attempt to recreate his vision to “turn the 44th ward into a pure democracy.” Shine uses examples such as the 44th Ward Assembly and his own iteration of a website for the 44th Ward. He promises to deliver this website, which sounds equal parts Reddit, Facebook, and Fantasy Democracy League for armchair politicians, 30-days after becoming Alderman. The primary goal of the website? Representation. Shine believes his website will help him communicate effectively with the residents of the 44th Ward. “They can vote, they can comment, they can do whatever they need to do so that we can keep that conversation going so I know what they’re thinking and that…
