By Dominica Jaramillo
Change seems to be the ongoing theme these last couple of years; and appropriately so. Communities and citizens have faced the woes of bad decision making and a recessed economy for far too long. Second district alderman candidate Jameel Ghuari agrees with the need for change, and that’s exactly what he plans to bring to the table.
A native Racinian, Ghuari is most known for his long term position as executive director of the John Bryant Center. With already 30 years in the social service sector, Ghuari looks at the new position as an opportunity to broaden his service to others. In addition to being an effective leader in the community, Ghuari also maintains, “I am a fighter. If there are issues that need to be fought, if there’s a need for someone to do the right thing, I am that person.” So what issues does Jameel plan to ‘fight’ as the second district alderman?
“There is one issue that is city wide - there are no jobs; we need jobs in our community.”
With plans already under construction, Ghauri shares his vision for economic growth and the creation of new jobs for his district, “There’s no grocery store on the south side of town and there’s no pharmacy. Those are essentials that every city should have, and those two particular businesses we don’t have on the south side.” With the implementation of these two inspirations, Ghauri is hoping to employ a large percentage of the youths, as well as adult, within the community. In this way, the establishments become, ‘not only community friendly, but employment friendly’ as well.
Another issue nipping at Ghauri’s heels is the fact that the community needs assured availability of their alderman. “There needs to be set hours at the community center, for the alderman, so the community knows their alderman is going to be there.” Ghauri would also like to establish an online presence. “We need to develop an interactive source to come up with solutions to aldermanic problems. Each alderman should have a website.” According to Jameel, the website would be used to send and receive information, make announcements and provide citizens the opportunity to share their opinions about certain issues through a blog. With these increases in accessibility, Ghauri expects citizens to be more confident in their ability to address their alderman with cares and concerns they have about their community.
On a final note, Ghauri also share an important observation he’s made. “I think when you look at the second district, there are two sides, the east side [associated with security and high employment rates] and the west side [associated with fear, crime and high unemployment rates].” While he notes that both ‘sides’ are different, he maintains that each area wants to feel secure and have opportunities to build a better life. “As things exist now, they [the sides] have different issues that restrict equality. There has to be a district wide plan.” As alderman, Jameel plans to address those issues; this includes holding a number of forums geared toward open discussion with himself, the mayor or anyone else who can help address the ongoing matters.
For those interested in hearing more about Jameel Ghauri’s plans for the second district, a forum is being held March 18, 6:00 p.m., at the John Bryant Center. This is an opportunity for the citizens to meet, question and discuss issues with the two district candidates, Ghauri and Eric Marcus.
With Election Day quickly approaching, Jameel closes by encouraging citizens to get to the poles April 6. “One of the big issues among African Americans, and many inner city residents, is that they don’t vote, but they want to complain. If we want to exercise our right to complain, then we also have to exercise the privilege to vote.” So? Go vote for what you want!
