Chicago City Wire

Ammie Kessem is glad to be on the same side as Alderman Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward).

Kessem and a group of Northwest side residents were on hand at a recent city council meeting to support Napolitano in his fight to stop a 297-unit luxury apartment complex from going up in the heart of their neighborhood.

 “We’re here to help Alderman Napolitano in his fight with the zoning commission, which really has gone over his head,” Kessem said in a video posted to Facebook. “It is unprecedented for a zoning commission to not adhere to the wishes of an alderman.”

Ald. Anthony Napolitano

In the end, Kessem and Napolitano both got what they wanted, as the Zoning Committee rejected the development by a 7-5 vote.

“Anthony Napolitano is the type of alderman who is going to support his constituents and take on that fight,” said Kessem, a Chicago police sergeant running against Rep. Robert Martwick (D-Chicago) in the 19th District. “We’re here to help him with this fight.”

Kessem was also recently front and center at a press conference of GOP lawmakers and candidates for office where the subject was calling for the ouster of longtime House Speaker Mike Madigan (D-Chicago).  

“The goal in the press conference was to bring attention to the amazing phenomenon of how this man could be in office for as long as he’s been in office and continuously be elected Speaker of the House, yet have all these issues keep surrounding his office and he doesn’t have to answer for it,” Kessem said during a recent appearance on Illinois Rising.

Over the last several months, at least four of Madigan’s closest associates have been ensnared in an ongoing sexual harassment scandal that has led to all of them being forced to at least partly relinquish some of their responsibilities.

Kessem has accused Martwick of being nowhere to be found on the issue and has vowed to make him pay for his silence.