Roberto Maldonado
Member of the Chicago City Council
from the 26th ward
In office
August 2009 – May 15, 2023
Preceded byBilly Ocasio
Succeeded byJessie Fuentes
Member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners
from the 8th district
In office
December 1994 – August 2009
Preceded byConstituency established
Succeeded byEdwin Reyes
Personal details
Born (1951-08-28) August 28, 1951
New York City, New York, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationUniversity of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras (BA, MA)
Loyola University Chicago

Roberto Maldonado is an American politician who served as the alderman of the 26th Ward of the City of Chicago, Illinois from 2009 to 2023.

Early life, education, and early career, Children

Maldonado earned both his undergraduate and his master's degree from the University of Puerto Rico. In Chicago, Maldonado continued his education at Loyola University Chicago where he intended to earn a doctorate of philosophy in clinical psychology.

Roberto lost his beautiful wife, advisor and confidant, Nancy Y. Franco Maldonado, to pancreatic cancer in 2016. Before leaving office in May of 2023 Ald. Maldonado stated "now is the time to leave public life after 28 years, pleased of our accomplishments and legacy and full of excitement to be able to dedicate even more time to my 3 children, René, Roberto II, and Raquel, as I see them flourish and blossom navigating their journey through high school, college, and post graduate education to become successful professionals and happy adults with their own respective accomplishments. I am confident they will succeed even with all of the personal life challenges they faced from the moment they lost Mom 7 years ago at a very young age. As a Dad, I could not be prouder of our children, and I know their Mom feels the very same way as her everlasting love and spirit continues to guide them and watch over them." [robertomaldonado26thward.com]

[1][2] Maldonado was an employee of Gutiérrez's 1986 aldermanic campaign and of Gutiérrez's 1987 re-election campaign. Maldonado worked as school psychologist. Maldonado worked as a research analyst to the Mayor’s Commission on Latino Affairs. In 1988 Maldonado was Director of Management Services for the Mayor's Office of Employment Training, the agency's top purchasing official, in charge of the office's $1 million annual purchasing budget. Maldonado doled out hundreds of thousands of dollars in business to companies owned by people in Gutierrez's Puerto Rican political circle, then solicited campaign contributions for Gutierrez from those and other Office of Employment and Training vendors. Maldonado resigned the City post days after the publication of an investigative report by the Chicago Sun-Times.[1][2]

Cook County commissioner

Maldonado’s election in 1994 as Cook County Commissioner made him the first Puerto Rican in the nation to serve as a county commissioner.

As a commissioner, Maldonado was the chairperson of the Stroger and Cermak Hospitals, and Law Enforcement and Corrections Committees. Additionally, he served on nine committees: Business and Economic Development, Contract Compliance, Labor, Real Estate, Department of Corrections, Health and Hospitals, Finance, Zoning and Buildings, and Roads and Bridges.

Abandoned 2008 congressional candidacy

Maldonado announced in 2007 his intention to run in 2008 for the congressional seat expected to be vacated by U.S. Rep. Luis Gutiérrez (D-Ill.). He raised $230,000 before Gutiérrez decided to run again. Maldonado bowed out of the race and said he'd keep the money for a 2010 congressional bid.[3]

Chicago alderman

On July 28, 2009, Maldonado was appointed by Chicago Mayor Daley as the alderman for Chicago's 26th Ward.[4]

As of 2009, Maldonado owned more real estate than any other alderman, owning 16 properties (including ten in the 26th Ward) according to financial disclosure statements.[2]

In 2013, Maldonado generated controversy through his efforts to convert Ames Middle School into a Marines academy. The school board ultimately approved the proposal despite significant local opposition.[5]

In 2015, despite majority local support of the Riot Fest music festival, Maldonado vocally opposed allowing the event to continue using Humboldt Park.[6][7] The festival ultimately relocated to North Lawndale.[8]

In 2017, a video surfaced of Maldonado confronting police officers at a crime scene in his neighborhood, and attempting to use his status as an alderman to have police allow him to drive through an active crime scene. In the video, the alderman's response to the officers not allowing him to drive through the crime scene was “You know what? This why the Police Department in such bad shape with the citizens.” Maldonado later filed a complaint accusing the officers of "rude and discourteous" behavior towards him.[9]

In 2019, he was selected as the chairman of the Council's Latino Caucus by his fellow caucus members.[10]

In January 2023, the month before the first round of the 2023 Chicago aldermanic election, Maldonado withdrew his candidacy for reelection.[11]

Electoral history

Cook County Board of Commissioners elections

1994 Cook County Board of Commissioners 8th district election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Roberto Maldonado (incumbent)
Total votes 100
1998 Cook County Board of Commissioners 8th district Democratic primary[12]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Roberto Maldonado (incumbent) 12,619 64.97
Democratic Francisco Duprey 6,803 35.03
Total votes 19,422 100
1998 Cook County Board of Commissioners 8th district election[13]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Roberto Maldonado (incumbent) 31,356 100
Total votes 31,356 100
2002 Cook County Board of Commissioners 8th district Democratic primary[14][15][16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Roberto Maldonado (incumbent) 26,514 100
Total votes 26,514 100
2002 Cook County Board of Commissioners 8th district election[17][18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Roberto Maldonado (incumbent) 38,741 100
Total votes 38,741 100
2006 Cook County Board of Commissioners 8th district Democratic primary[19][20]
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Roberto Maldonado (incumbent) 18,409 100
Total votes 18,409 100
2006 Cook County Board of Commissioners 8th district election
Party Candidate Votes %
Democratic Roberto Maldonado (incumbent) 38,795 100
Total votes 38,795 100

Aldermanic elections

2011 Chicago 26th ward aldermanic election[21]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Roberto Maldonado (incumbent) 6,126 82.36
Nonpartisan Devon Reid 1,312 17.64
Total votes 7,438 100
2015 Chicago 26th ward aldermanic election[22]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Roberto Maldonado (incumbent) 3,466 52.25
Nonpartisan Juanita Irizarry 2,248 33.89
Nonpartisan Adam Corona 919 13.85
Total votes 6,633 100
2019 Chicago 26th ward aldermanic election[23]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Roberto Maldonado (incumbent) 4,431 50.53
Nonpartisan Theresa Siaw 2,462 28.13
Nonpartisan David Herrera 1,866 21.28
Write-in Mirko "Limo Mike Z" Zaplatic, Jr 5 0.06
Total votes 8,764 100

References

  1. 1 2 Nelson, Deborah; Brown, Mark (1988-01-28). "Firing clouts an alderman". Chicago Sun-Times.
  2. 1 2 3 Joravsky, Ben; Dumke, Mick (2009-08-20). "The Real Estate King of the Chicago City Council; Brand-new 26th Ward Alderman Roberto Maldonado owns more properties than any other council rep—including ten in his own ward. That's a lot of potential conflicts of interest". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
  3. ↑ Rhodes, Steve (July 28, 2009). "Meet Daley's New Alderman". NBC Universal, Inc. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
  4. ↑ Spielman, Fran (July 28, 2009). "Daley appoints Maldonado as 26th Ward alderman". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved July 28, 2009.
  5. ↑ "Maldonado Won't Back Down from Plan to Move Military School into Ames - Humboldt Park - DNAinfo.com Chicago". Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-01-02.
  6. ↑ "Emails about Riot Fest show impassioned debate about festival's location". Chicago Tribune. 9 September 2015.
  7. ↑ "I Will Fight to Keep Riot Fest Out of Humboldt Park, Alderman Says - Humboldt Park - DNAinfo.com Chicago". Archived from the original on 2015-05-03. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
  8. ↑ "Riot Fest Announces Move to Douglas Park for 2015". 20 May 2015.
  9. ↑ "Alderman says cops were rude — they say he was trying to use clout | Chicago Sun-Times". chicago.suntimes.com. Archived from the original on 2017-07-22.
  10. ↑ Morell, Claudia. "City Hall's Latino Caucus Moves Left". www.wvik.org. Retrieved 2019-06-01.
  11. ↑ Rhodes, Dawn (6 January 2023). "Ald. Roberto Maldonado Drops Out Of 26th Ward Race". Block Club Chicago. Retrieved 31 March 2023.
  12. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS PRIMARY ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, MARCH 17, 1998" (PDF). www.cookcountyclerkil.com. Retrieved 15 October 2020.
  13. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS GENERAL ELECTION COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 1998" (PDF). results.cookcountyclerkil.gov.
  14. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL PRIMARY ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2002 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  15. ↑ "SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY RESULTS". voterinfonet.com. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2005.
  16. ↑ "OFFICIAL FINAL RESULTS COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS PRIMARY ELECTION TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2002 DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY" (PDF). Cook County, Illinois. Retrieved 22 June 2020.
  17. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2002 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  18. ↑ "SUBURBAN COOK COUNTY RESULTS". voterinfonet.com. Cook County Clerk. Archived from the original on 9 February 2005.
  19. ↑ "2006 Primary Election March 21, 2006 Summary Report Suburban Cook County" (PDF). Cook County Clerk's Office. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  20. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE GENERAL PRIMARY ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO ON TUESDAY MARCH 21, 2006 A.D." (PDF). Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  21. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE FEBRUARY 22, 2011 MUNICIPAL GENERAL ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL OF THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO" (PDF). Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved 30 March 2023.
  22. ↑ "TABULATED STATEMENT OF THE RETURNS AND PROCLAMATION OF THE RESULTS OF THE CANVASS OF THE ELECTION RETURNS FOR THE FEBRUARY 24, 2015 MUNICIPAL GENERAL ELECTION HELD IN EACH OF THE PRECINCTS IN ALL OF THE WARDS IN THE CITY OF CHICAGO" (PDF). Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved 20 February 2020.
  23. ↑ "2019 Municipal General - 2/26/19". Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. Retrieved 3 February 2020.
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