Editor’s Note: This is one in a series of stories looking at contested races in the April 1 general election.
Aurora voters are set to soon choose between incumbent Ron Woerman and challenger Keith Larson for one of two alderman at-large seats on the Aurora City Council.
This and other local races — including for Aurora’s mayor and several ward aldermen — are set to be decided in the April 1 consolidated election. Early voting is now open in all four of Aurora’s counties.
The other Aurora City Council alderman at-large seat is currently held by John Laesch, who is running for mayor.
Ron Woerman, who operates O’Malley’s Pub & Eatery and Spartan House, has been an Aurora alderman at-large since he was elected to his first four-year term in 2021. His challenger, Keith Larson, is a software engineer who has been involved in activism but is running for office for the first time.
Both candidates sat down for interviews with The Beacon-News earlier this month.
Incumbent Ron Woerman
Woerman, 56, an Aurora resident since 1986, previously worked in accounting and finance but was laid off from his job of 15 years around the time of the 2008 financial crisis.
With a wife and young kids, and “no prospects,” he turned back to the restaurant industry, which he previously worked in through high school, college and as a single young adult, according to Woerman.
He said that his brother, Russell Woerman, had a friend who needed help at his restaurant, so he went to work there thinking it was temporary, but he’s now been at it for 17 years.
Woerman was also a partner in the redevelopments of the old West Aurora School District building on South River Street and of the old Copley Hospital site into what is now called Bloomhaven, but he said he is divested of both.
One of the reasons he ran for alderman at-large in 2021, Woerman said, is because he had been talking about going into politics nearly his entire life.
Plus, he felt like he could make a difference, especially because he has long been involved in the community, Woerman said. In addition to volunteering, he said that he has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for local organizations through fundraisings at his restaurants.
Since being on the Aurora City Council, Woerman said he has loved the large projects the city has been able to do, such as the $360 million Hollywood Casino resort currently being built to replace the one downtown, which he called a “game changer” for the city.
The continued repair of infrastructure, workforce housing and improvements to the Aurora Police Department are other things Woerman said he has been glad to see come through the city in his time on the City Council.
If elected to another four years, Woerman would prioritize curbing speeding and other traffic concerns, continuing the city’s partnership with the school districts and encouraging smart growth, he said.
The number one concern he hears from people is speeding and related traffic concerns, Woerman said. But, he said the solution is not just to hire more police, since they cannot be everywhere at once.
Although the city’s schools are controlled by the various districts’ boards of education, not the city, Woerman said the city should continue to support its partnership with the city’s schools that was started by the Mayor’s Office, since the school districts’ continued growth and opportunities help the city overall.
As far as smart growth, Woerman said the city’s apartments are being rented out quickly, but not everyone can afford their prices, so there should be a plan in place to create more affordable housing. The city should have opportunities for everybody, he said.
Plus, while green initiatives aren’t something he knows a lot about, the city should be looking to move in that direction long-term, Woerman said.
It is experience — both on the City Council and in life generally — that Woerman said sets him apart from his opponent. With four kids, three of which he put through college, and as a small business owner, Woerman said he knows what it’s like to balance budgets and to manage people.
He also just feels like that “everyday guy,” one who works hands-on in his restaurant six or seven days a week, but is also accessible, he said.
Challenger Keith Larson
Larson, 29, who grew up in Geneva, moved to Aurora in 2021 after he landed a remote job that let him choose where to live.
While Aurora was still close to where most of his family lives, it also has a lower cost of living than Geneva and has more to do than Sycamore, where he lived for his previous job, according to Larson. Plus, he said he loves the city’s diversity.
“I love learning about other people’s cultures,” Larson said. “It just makes everything more interesting.”
Larson said he started attending Aurora City Council meetings about a year ago, initially to advocate along with others for a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas. While he had long been interested in federal-level politics, he said that advocacy is what first got him involved in local politics and attending City Council meetings.
It was current alderman at-large and mayoral candidate John Laesch who encouraged Larson to run for office, something he had previously considered, but he said it was his research into what he called “pay-to-play” happening in Aurora politics that made him jump into the race.
“I think it’s pretty well known that, at the national level, there’s a lot of favoritism going on. The government doesn’t really work for the average person,” and that’s “not an easy thing to change,” Larson said.
“But, at the local level, seeing similar things happen, even if it’s on a much smaller scale, I think we have a lot more power to make a difference here,” he said.
So, if elected, one of the things Larson would focus on is improving ethics in city government and working to restore residents’ trust in that government, he said.
Secondly, Larson said he would focus on housing affordability. While it can’t be fixed overnight, Larson said the city should be focused on providing for people’s basic needs, but instead is currently focused too much on creating new apartments with high rent that he said city residents cannot afford.
He mentioned Laesch’s idea of partnering with Habitat for Humanity to build tiny homes and offer affordable loans, but he also suggested creating an ordinance requiring high-density developments like apartment buildings to have set aside some percentage of the units as affordable.
Infrastructure, especially roads, would also be one of his priorities if elected, according to Larson. He said the city needs to invest more in problem areas to make sure they are safer for pedestrians and needs to be more mindful of traffic when developing housing.
To pay for road improvements, the city should be looking for any state and federal funding it can find, Larson said.
What sets Larson apart from his opponent, he said, is that he can bring a younger perspective to the City Council, especially in a time where people in his generation are feeling hopeless about the future because of housing costs, wages and climate change, he said.
He is also a worker like most in Aurora, which he said sets him apart from his opponent, noting Woerman’s previous partnerships in redevelopment projects.
Plus, unlike Woerman, whose brother Russell Woerman is the president of KWCC Construction, Larson will likely not have to recuse himself from any votes, he said.
Larson does not take campaign donations from corporate PACs or those who do business with the city, he said.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com
