Aurora Ald. Ted Mesiacos made it official Wednesday evening that he is a candidate for mayor of Aurora.
The 3rd Ward alderman had announced through email earlier this month he was running, but Wednesday he held an announcement event with supporters in the former Aurora Library building at 1 E. Benton St. downtown – the same building in which incumbent Mayor Richard Irvin announced his intent to run for a third term.
Mesiacos said Aurora has “an affordability crisis,” and pointed out that he was one of three aldermen to vote against the 2022 tax levy, for 2023, that was a 2% increase.
He also said the city has a “safety crisis,” pointing to the vandalism done in downtown Aurora during the summer of 2020 during unrest in the wake of the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis.
He called for support of local schools and local business owners, and said he would support development that benefits all neighborhoods, “not just downtown.”
While he never mentioned Irvin by name, he called him out for “spending more time in his new law firm in Oak Brook.”
“It’s clear where his priorities are, and it’s not with us,” he said. “You won’t see me on the television; you’ll see me on the streets in your neighborhood.”
Mesiacos was born in Aurora to two working-class parents who immigrated to Aurora from Greece. His mother was a member of the seamstress union and his father was a machinist who still found time to volunteer to help other immigrants find housing and work, he has said.
His mother died when he was young, and he was raised by a single father.
But Mesiacos said his story is “not unique.”
“My story is the story of the city of Aurora,” he said. “People are hard-working, and they care about people in the community.”
Mesiacos has his own architectural firm. His wife is a teacher and he has two children.
In addition to being in his third term as alderman, Mesiacos has served on the Aurora Planning Commission, the Aurora Zoning Board of Appeals, the Noon Rotary Club of Aurora, the Fermilab Community Advisory Board and as a member of U.S. Rep. Bill Foster’s Immigration Advisory Committee, and on the Board of Directors with the Upper Illinois River Valley Development Authority.
Mesiacos was introduced at the Wednesday event by state Sen. Linda Holmes, D-Aurora, the Senate’s assistant majority leader.
She said Mesiacos is running for mayor “for all the right reasons.”
“You want a mayor who takes the time to study the issues,” she said. “He is always willing to talk to people.”
Mesiacos has a website at tedmesiacos.com.
There are now five announced candidates for Aurora mayor. In addition to Irvin and Mesiacos, Ald. John Laesch, at large, Karina Garcia, Aurora Regional Hispanic Chamber of Commerce president, and former alderman and East Aurora School Board member Judd Lofchie have announced their intention to run.
If all five candidates file nominating petitions in October, there would be a primary in February 2025, and the top two candidates would face each other in April 2025.
slord@tribpub.com