Ameya Pawar

Ameya Pawar (born April 22, 1980) is an American politician who served as the alderman for the 47th Ward of the City of Chicago.[2] He was first elected in the 2011 municipal elections, and was elected to a second term on February 24, 2015.[3] Pawar's 2015 re-election was secured with over 82% of the vote, the largest margin in the election cycle.[4] Pawar is the first Indian American and Asian American in Chicago City Council history.[5]

Ameya Pawar
Member of the Chicago City Council
from the 47th ward
In office
May 16, 2011 – May 20, 2019
Preceded byEugene Schulter
Succeeded byMatt Martin[1]
Personal details
Born (1980-04-22) April 22, 1980
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationMissouri Valley College (BA)
Illinois Institute of Technology (MPA)
University of Chicago (MS, MA)

He was a candidate for the Democratic primary for Governor of Illinois for the 2018 election, but dropped out on October 12, 2017, citing a prohibitive lack of campaign funds.[6][7] He did not run for re-election to City Council in 2019, and instead was a candidate for City Treasurer of Chicago.[8][9] He advanced to the run-off in that election, but lost to Melissa Conyears-Earvin.

Early life and career

Ameya Pawar is the former alderman of Chicago’s 47th Ward and the first (and only) Asian and Indian American elected to the Chicago City Council. After leaving office, Ameya joined the Economic Security Project as a senior fellow and is working on narrative change efforts around guaranteed income and public options, including public banks. In 2020, Ameya was named a Leadership in Government Fellow with the Open Society Foundations (OSF). His OSF work will focus on public banking and public options with leading figures and organizations across the country and world. In addition, Ameya is a senior adviser to The Academy Group, a Chicago-based social enterprise working to break the racial wealth gap, and is a lecturer at the University of Chicago's School of Social Service Administration.In 2020, he was named a Leadership in Government Fellow with George Soros' Open Society Foundations where he works on national public banking efforts. He is also a senior fellow with the Economic Security Project and a special adviser to the University of Chicago's Poverty Lab.

While in office, Ameya focused legislative efforts around social justice, worker rights, and economic justice. To this end, Ameya led most all labor policy and worker rights legislation passed in Chicago over the last eight years, including raising the minimum wage to $13/hr., guaranteeing paid sick leave, combating wage theft, and preserving housing for Chicago’s most vulnerable.

Ameya is a US State Department Critical Language Program alum, a 2012 University of Illinois Edgar Fellow, and was named to Crain’s Chicago 40 under 40 in 2011. Most recently, he was named a 2018 McCormick Foundation Executive Fellow.

Prior to leaving office, Ameya chaired the Chicago Resilient Families Task Force. The task force made recommendations on a city-run guaranteed income pilot.

Ameya is an expert on the connections between disaster planning and response and poverty. In 2014, Ameya co-wrote the textbook, “Emergency Management and Social Intelligence: A Comprehensive All-Hazards Approach.” The book was published by Taylor & Francis. [10]

Chicago City Council

The 47th Ward encompassed the residence of then-mayor Rahm Emanuel, making the mayor a constituent represented by Pawar.[11]

Legislation

In December 2012, Pawar introduced an ordinance creating an Office of Independent Budget Analysis. This proposal would create an office which would provide the city council with independent analysis of privatization efforts and the annual budget. New York City and Pittsburgh have similar offices. In August 2013, Mayor Rahm Emanuel threw his support behind Pawar's budget office proposal and the proposal passed in December 2013.

In April 2013, Pawar introduced the TIF Accountability ordinance. This ordinance passed City Council in July 2013.

In April 2016, Pawar introduced the Earned Sick Time ordinance with a coalition of aldermen and advocacy groups. The ordinance passed in June 2016 and took effect on July 1, 2017.

In 2018, Pawar introduced legislation to pilot Universal Basic Income in the City of Chicago. Pawar was named chair of Mayor Emanuel's Resilient Families Task Force which will explore a universal basic income pilot, modernization of the earned income tax credit, and other policies. The task force is supported by the Economic Security Project.

Committees and task forces

Pawar serves on the following committees in the Chicago City Council:

  • Public Safety
  • Economic, Capital and Technology Development
  • Zoning, Landmarks and Buildings Standards
  • Special Events, Cultural Affairs and Recreation
  • Committees, Rules and Ethics

In 2014, Mayor Emanuel appointed Pawar to the Minimum Wage Working Group. In 2015, Pawar was appointed co-chair of the Working Families Task Force.

Pawar sits on Chicago's Open 311 Steering Committee.

2019 City Treasurer campaign
Main article: 2019 Chicago elections § City Treasurer

On October 29, 2018, Pawar announced his intention to run for Chicago treasurer.[8] Before deciding to run for treasurer, he had considered running in the coinciding mayoral election.[12] Pawar won 41.59 percent of the vote in the February 26, 2019 general election, forcing a runoff with Melissa Conyears-Ervin, a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, who won 44.26 percent of the vote, but had less than a majority of the vote, which led to a April 2 runoff. Pawar lost again to Conyears-Ervin in the runoff, receiving 40.62 percent of the vote.

A key stance that Pawar took in his campaign was advocacy for the creation of a municipal public bank.[13]

Other political roles

In 2011, Governor Pat Quinn appointed Pawar to the Illinois Innovation Council. Pawar is the only elected official on this statewide council. In 2013, Quinn appointed Pawar to the Asian American Employment Plan Council.

Pawar was listed as a surrogate for President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign.

While running for office, he created an iPhone application named Chicago Works. This app enabled Chicago residents to make service requests from their iPhone.[14]

Electoral history
2011 Chicago 47th Ward aldermanic general election[15][16]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Ameya Pawar 8,572 50.79
Nonpartisan Tom O'Donnell 7,347 43.53
Nonpartisan Micael Reichel 605 3.58
Nonpartisan Tom Jacks 353 2.09
Total votes 16,877 100
2015 Chicago 47th Ward aldermanic general election[17][18]
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Ameya Pawar (incumbent) 9,974 82.78
Nonpartisan Rory A. Fiedler 2,075 17.22
Total votes 12,049 100
2019 Chicago Treasurer election[19][20][21][22]
Candidate First round Runoff
Vote % Vote %
Melissa Conyears-Ervin 225,385 44.26% 296,293 59.38%
Ameya Pawar 211,759 41.59% 202,714 40.62%
Peter Gariepy 72,068 14.15% N/A N/A
Write-in 4 0.00% N/A N/A

References
  1. "Chicago Election Results: Mayoral Runoff 2019". WBEZ. 2 April 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  2. "City of Chicago :: Ward 47". City of Chicago. Retrieved 2017-01-03.
  3. Wetli, Patty (24 February 2015). "Ameya Pawar Wins 47th Ward Election with 83 Percent of Vote". DNAinfo Chicago. Archived from the original on 25 March 2017. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  4. "February 24, 2015 Election Proclamation of Results" (PDF). ChicagoElections.com. Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  5. Eldeib, Duaa (10 November 2012). "Duckworth the first Asian-American from Illinois in Congress". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 3 January 2017. Last year, Chicago's first Asian-American alderman, Ameya Pawar, an Indian, was elected in the 47th Ward.
  6. Marin, Carol (3 January 2017). "Exclusive: Ald. Ameya Pawar Throws First Official Hat in Democratic Ring for Illinois Governor". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 3 January 2017.
  7. Spielman, Fran; Sfondeles, Tina. "Citing lack of money, Ald. Ameya Pawar drops out of governor's race". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
  8. Byrne, John. "Chicago Ald. Ameya Pawar announces run for city treasurer". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-02-12.
  9. "Ameya Pawar for Chicago Treasurer". Ameya Pawar for Chicago Treasurer. Retrieved 2019-02-12.
  10. https://politics.uchicago.edu/fellows-program/fellow/ameya-pawar
  11. Connolly, Colleen (8 November 2016). "What's Next for Ameya Pawar, the Mayor's Alderman". NBC Chicago. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  12. Arriaga, Alexandra (26 November 2018). "Latest list of Chicago mayoral candidates who are in, considering". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  13. Dukmasova, Maya (9 June 2020). "More money no problems". Chicago Reader. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  14. "New App Allows Chicago Residents To Utilize 311 Service". 2013-02-12. Retrieved 2019-03-02.
  15. "2011 Municipal General - 2/22/11". chicagoelections.gov. Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  16. "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 9 March 2020.
  17. "2015 Municipal General - 2/24/15". Retrieved 10 February 2020.
  18. "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.
  19. "Election Results 2019 Municipal General - 2/26/19". Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  20. "2019 Municipal Runoffs - 4/2/19". Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  21. "Municipal General Election February 26, 2019 Summary Report City of Chicago, Illinois" (PDF). Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  22. "Municipal Run-Off & Supplementary Aldermanic Elections April 2, 2019 Official Summary Report City of Chicago, Illinois" (PDF). Chicago Board of Elections. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
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