Jul 8, 2009 12:34 pm US/Central
Daley: Multiple Candidates Vying To Replace Ocasio
Opposition Grows To Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
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Mayor Richard M. Daley says there are multiple candidates who have submitted their names to replace Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th) in the County Council.
CBS
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The Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus is seen preaching before his New Life Covenant Church congregation in this 2006 file photo. De Jesus is Ald. Billy Ocasio's pick to replace him in the City Council, but is under fire for his church's views on homosexuality.
CBS
Mayor Richard M. Daley says he is considering several candidates to replace Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th) in the City Council, as opposition grows against Ocasio's handpicked successor, the Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus, over his views on homosexuality.
De Jesus is pastor of the New Life Covenant Church, which meets at Clemente High School in the Humboldt Park neighborhood. Supporters encourage Daley to appoint him for his record of community service, but gay rights activists take issue with the church's stance that homosexuality is sinful and equating it with such afflictions as drug addiction, depression, loneliness, greed and illness.
Daley would not comment specifically on de Jesus, but indicated that he was considering multiple people for the seat.
"The gay community is a strong community in the City of Chicago. They're part and parcel of this great city, the great development and all that," Daley said at an unrelated event on Tuesday afternoon. "But like anything else, I'll be talking to all the individuals; I think there are three or four individuals that have written in regards to that vacancy."
Meanwhile, gay rights advocates are ratcheting up their opposition to De Jesus' possible appointment,
according to the gay and lesbian newspaper the Windy City Times.
They point to his opposition last year to the
Pride Campus, a proposed high school devoted to the needs of gay and lesbian students that was set to open within a Little Village neighborhood school. Plans for the Pride Campus were ultimately called off.
The newspaper also quoted one lesbian woman who had a bad experience at the New Life Covenant Church. Esmeralda Roman told the Windy City Times that a sermon that De Jesus gave about the Pride Campus felt "like an anti-gay rally" and that she "didn't feel safe" at the church.
Activists have expressed concerns that De Jesus would be able to control funds for agencies serving gay clients and shape debates on such issues as same-sex marriage, the Tribune reported.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported in June that Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), the city's first openly gay alderman, has also raised concerns about De Jesus' rhetoric.
But De Jesus told the Tribune that said the church opposes homosexuality because of its belief in the literal authority of the Bible, and he said it would not have an impact on his policymaking. He said he had even pledged to seek city funding for a homeless shelter for gay and lesbian teens that has been proposed for Humboldt Park.
The mayor has until Aug. 1 to appoint someone to Ocasio's seat.
Ocasio is leaving the City Council to become an aide to Gov. Pat Quinn.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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