The two candidates for mayor of Park Ridge, Marty Maloney and Sal Raspanti, shared a stage recently for their first and only debate ahead of the April 1 election, with each giving their view of how the city has fared and the state it would be in going forward under their respective leadership.
“I found a few new topics that I wasn’t aware of that they put forward,” said Eric Clarke, who attended the March 20 debate at the Centennial Activity Center in Park Ridge. “I heard some good points.”
The Maine South High School student journalism team helped to host the debate, which included the candidates for mayor, clerk and aldermen. Debate for each office lasted about a half hour, with the event lasting about three hours in total.
Incumbent Mayor Martin “Marty” Maloney argued that if the old leadership can deliver, why change it?
“We have a great story to tell in Park Ridge,” said Maloney.
He was first elected in 2017 and ran unopposed in the April 6, 2021 election.
“We’ve seen signs of growth not only in Park Ridge, but we’ve seen everyone enjoy that success. Property values have increased significantly. We’ve had no property tax [increase] in the last four years and we’re levying less property tax than we were 10 years ago,” he said during the debate.
Touting the city’s accomplishments under his administration, Maloney said Park Ridge is on track to fully fund its pension obligations, and more alleys have been paved than in years prior.
But the two-term mayor said he’s aware the city has needs.
For the most part, current City Clerk Sal Raspanti’s message is that, after a decade, the city deserves fresh ideas and new leadership. One of his campaign platforms is for term limits.
“I believe all the city elected positions should have term limits,” Raspanti said. “Obviously, as the mayor, I can’t make that decision on my own, but term limits help avoid complacency and they help engage fresh ideas.”
Raspanti won his April 6, 2021 election by 49 votes versus challenger Danielle Powers, according to Cook County clerk election data. Raspanti pulled out a win with about 51% of the votes cast, Powers got 49%.
During the debate, Raspanti disputed the narrative that Park Ridge is improving. Asked about crime in the city, he said higher crime rates should be a cause for concern.
“We have to acknowledge there is a change in the nature of crime,” Raspanti said.
The city clerk said incident reports and calls for officers have increased compared to a year ago. As mayor, he said, he would make more of an effort to partner with other suburban police departments and with organizations like the Northwest Municipal Conference, a regional association of municipalities.
Although both candidates have held their own forums and been guests at forums over the course of this election cycle, March 20 was the first time the two shared a stage as candidates for the same office. The meeting was cordial — at one point both men shared a microphone after one died.
Both candidates agreed on a few things, namely that the police station inside City Hall is too small, and some of the city’s infrastructure is aging and due for replacement.
Maloney, for his part, acknowledged 911 calls are up and even arrests, but he pointed out that not every arrest indicates a rise in violent crime.
“Calls for service are not always crimes,” he said. “We talked about this many, many times. Arrests are up and many of those are traffic. The fact is, our crime rate is down. … We are actually safer, and that data comes from the Illinois State Police. … We have seen some specific crimes increase but crime is down. If people would lock their cars at night and take their key fobs inside it would reduce the crime we’ve seen.”
Early voting is currently underway, with voters able to cast ballots at any available site through Monday. The Consolidated Election – featuring races for municipal leaders, and school, park and library boards – is Tuesday.
Jesse Wright is a freelancer.
