Page 36 - October 2018 FOP Magazine

36 CHICAGO LODGE 7 ■ OCTOBER 2018
Letting it Fly
Letting it Fly
Through actions and words, Sposato’s backing of the police comes through clear and loud
■ MITCHELL KRUGEL
Before hitting the City Council meeting this past May 25, Al- derman Nicholas Sposato apparently stopped off at Party City or perhaps a neighborhood five-and-dime. He needed to pro- cure some accoutrements for this occasion.
No party awaited, though. The docket for this meeting fea- tured a vote to approve funding for the City’s new $95 million police and fire training academy, a vote that activists had filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to block two days earlier.
As a statement for what he stands for and the way he stands for it, Sposato rolled into the chamber carrying police blue bal- loons adorned with the word “Yes.” As soon as he cast his vote in favor of the project, the retired firefighter-turned-38th-ward rep released them into the air, a vintage in-your-face gesture on behalf of Chicago coppers to anti-police activists
“I wanted to make a statement to a bunch of militants in the audience,” declared Sposato, who has been making state- ments for the betterment of his community and first respond- ers every day since he was elected in 2011. “I don’t get it. All these anti-police people say they want more and better police training, yet they are against building a state-of-the-art facility that will replace three dilapidated buildings. It was the easiest ‘yes’ vote in years.”
The flight of the blue balloons reveals so much about why Lodge 7 members, 38th ward residents and really anybody who is privileged to be touched by his infectious passion re- vere Sposato. He is blue to the bone, more so than any other member of the City Council, except for his wingman, 41st ward Alderman Anthony Napolitano.
What’s more, Sposato’s seven-days-a-week work schedule includes hosting Coffee with a Cop, attending CAPS meet- ings or visiting a roll calls in 016. He never misses a City valor awards ceremony and is always on the front lines at events like the Labor Day Kennedy Expressway protest in support of po- lice. He makes calls to and takes calls from Lodge 7 leaders and members with similar vehemence and relishes being the voice of rank-and-file police officers.
“Sometimes, I can say stuff they can’t say and bring to light stuff they can’t bring to life,” Sposato confirms.
He keeps up this unparalleled pace despite battling multiple sclerosis, which now has him rolling through much of his daily agenda in a wheelchair. And he is not slowing down, for Spo- sato will insist he is lucky to have this opportunity, to be the voice, to support and fight for the first responders who have always been his heroes.
“From the time I was 20, I wanted to be an alderman,” Spo- sato reveals. “I didn’t want to be in politics. I didn’t want to be a state rep or senator. I didn’t want to be a county commissioner. This is a high as I wanted to go.”
Politics means having to float too many trial balloons. Not
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his style. Sposato’s way is boots on the ground, out among the constituents, which in his ward includes a high volume of po- lice officers and firefighters.
He always has loved the hard work, and he bypassed college to start a career working for UPS. He would have stayed on the job forever, but a friend whose father was a firefighter suggest- ed he take the test. So he did. Without any prep. He got hired with CFD, and “that totally changed my life,” Sposato shares. “I always wanted to be a public servant, and once I became a firefighter, I could do much more.”
In perhaps a strange twist of destiny, Sposato made the move to become an elected official when, after fighting a fire one day, he couldn’t move. He had been diagnosed with MS 10 years earlier, but it had never imposed any physical limits.
On back-to-back, 90-degree days, he was assigned to the roof–the firefighter who takes on the most dangerous job in the response of cutting a ventilating hole up top. After the sec- ond fire, he couldn’t get off the roof. He felt paralyzed.
That only prompted Sposato to find other ways to serve. He lost his first bid for City Council in 2007, but won the 36th ward seat in 2011 by defeating an incumbent with 56 percent of the vote. After being redistricted into the 38th ward in 2015, he won a seven-candidate race with 54 percent of the vote.
Since the day he took office, Sposato has stayed true to his mission to be a representative rather than a politician. He cites responses like the day four years ago, when a group of moms ventured into a police station outside of his ward, complaining rather vociferously about police brutality. Sposato showed up to support the police, he says, and also to mediate with the moms.
He takes great pride in saying that former Police Board Pres- ident Lori Lightfoot used the political platform the mayor gave her to attempt to take his job. And he followed that up by join-
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