By Miriam Y. Cintron

The race in the 9th District is crowded as six candidates vie for the seat left vacant by State Rep. Arthur Turner, who is running for Illinois lieutenant governor.

Former Palmer House employee and private investor John Burros advocates for environmental issues. “Regardless of what people believe or not about global warming, clean energy will be part of the future, which will create job opportunities,” he said.

If elected, Burros would make children’s health a top concern, saying the doughnuts and sugary cereals children receive as part of their free breakfast at school should be replaced by more healthful food. He also would advocate for kids getting a gym class “more than two times per week, as children need at least 30 minutes of exercise every day.”

Burros also would promote clean energy, including cleaning up or shutting down the Fisk and Crawford coal power plants, and would promote using wind and solar power throughout the state. In addition, he would increase the state’s role in funding education, provide basic health coverage to all state residents, lower property taxes for seniors, and provide for veterans’ medical and social needs. He also supports a progressive tax on the rich.

He has been endorsed by Democracy for America and Unite Here Local 1, of which he is a member.

Health care holds great importance for Bruce L. Jackson, founder and CEO of Gift House, a community health organization providing free HIV/STD testing, counseling, high blood pressure screening, and diabetes screening. He has worked with pharmaceutical companies to push for more funding for vaccines against HIV and Type 1 diabetes–illnesses that many in the district struggle with.

“If you don’t have your health, you have nothing,” he said. If elected, Jackson would support green programs using turbine and solar energy. He also would advocate for the underemployed, ensure quality schools, provide resources for families with troubled and at-risk teens, and provide value-based community childcare.

Jackson holds a BA and Master’s of Public Health Administration from Roosevelt University and a Master’s in Urban Education from Concordia University. He has been endorsed by 24th Ward Alderman Sharon Dixon.

A community activist for several years, Keith L. Jackson helped create nearly 30 organizations serving residents of Chicago’s West Side, including the Major Adams Community Committee, the Horner Association of Men, Roll Call, and the Concerned Residents of West Haven. Jackson also co-developed and manages a 150-room single room occupancy facility on the West Side.

Jackson said many community programs remain ineffective because they lack sufficient funding for implementation, so he would work for better use of public funds. He noted state-funded youth programs are disappearing from the district even though they are greatly needed, with many children and teens exposed to family dysfunction and ongoing street violence.

Jackson would champion youth services all over the state to teach children responsibility and character, he said.

Jackson also has won fair housing concessions for residents affected by the United Center Development Project. He has degrees from Malcolm X College and Northeastern Illinois University.

For Jerry L. Patton, a longtime South Lawndale resident and carpenter, job creation is his number one issue. He would support developing trade schools to teach young people valuable skills because many area young people, especially men, seem to have “no sense of direction,” he said. Patton also would ensure programs and services throughout the district are run fairly and support mentoring and after-school programs. His priorities also include affordable housing and developing single room occupancy housing for the homeless.

Arthur Turner, Southern Illinois University School of Law graduate and son of the current 9th District state representative, supports an income tax hike to close the state’s budget deficit but does not believe creating a service tax would address the problem.

Turner also would consolidate agencies and make administrative cuts to help Illinois balance its budget. He favors limits on campaign contributions. Regarding pensions, Turner would oppose benefit reductions for new employees but might look for greater contributions from current employees.

Dorothy Walton has worked as a real estate agent for 25 years and highly active in her community, fighting for equal and fair compensation for former Cabrini-Green residents and for relative foster parents.

Walton views herself “more as a missionary than an activist,” however. She has attended State Sen. Rickey Hendon’s meetings regularly for the past 16 years but only recently decided to enter the political arena “to serve my community in a different way,” she said. For two decades, she has volunteered in the Madison and Western Chamber of Commerce, Cook County Democratic Women, and Real Women Wear Red, and other community organizations.

Walton, if elected, would help ex-offenders find employment and try to reduce violence among children by getting them out of the streets and into after-school programs, many of which have closed in the district. She also would bring “cohesive representation to the district” by working with all branches of local government, attending aldermanic meetings, and working with state senators. “We will sit down and plan solutions,” she said. “Not all of it will be newsworthy, but that’s okay.”

Walton also plans to live up to her slogan, “Leadership That Listens,” by holding regular meetings with residents.