Chicago City Wire

A longtime Rogers Park business owner is breaking their silence about 49th Ward Ald. Maria Hadden, alleging that she has created a climate of fear and retaliation that has left local entrepreneurs “terrified to speak out.”

The business owner of more than two decades, who requested to remain anonymous out of concern for retaliation, says Hadden targets dissenters, plays favorites with businesses and enforces rules selectively—all while letting public safety spiral out of control.

“I talk to a lot of business owners. I’ve been around a long time, and I will tell you, the majority of business owners that I talk to want to keep their mouths shut because they’re afraid of her,” the business owner said.

Hadden (left) with wife Natalia Vera (right), a senior paralegal and school council member, has been accused by Rogers Park business owners of using her influence to intimidate local businesses and favor select establishments. | Facebook / Alderwoman Maria Hadden

According to the business owner, Hadden plays favorites when it comes to promoting local establishments. 

"We all knew this,” the business owner said, referring to other local business owners. “She promoted only restaurants that were giving them free dinners, and everything was Jarvis Square, Jarvis Square, Jarvis Square, as if there were no other restaurants in the neighborhood unless she was getting free dinners." 

“My friends, they're all small businesses. They're not only afraid of the city, but really afraid of her,”  the business owner said. “They're afraid of Natalia [Vera], who seems to be the more vindictive one behind the whole thing and encourages Maria. She sounds like she's Maria's voice.”

Hadden's wife Vera was elected to the local school council for Joyce Kilmer Elementary School in Rogers Park in 2018. She is a Senior Paralegal at the American Bar Association and holds a master’s degree in Advanced Legal Research/Studies from the University of Illinois Springfield. Vera has a background in progressive politics and has long served on the board of the Center for Inclusivity, which promotes “equity” and “LGBTQ+ inclusion” within faith communities.

The business owner recounted a pattern of hostile behavior from Vera and Hadden’s office and described one tense confrontation involving Hadden’s assistant over promotional signage.

“Her assistant at the time came screaming down…and said if you don't remove that, we will sue you per day unless you take the sign down,” the business owner said. “I told her she doesn’t have anything to do with me and my banners. She is on me big time, no matter what we do to promote business.” 

The owner also alleged that Hadden’s political allies used aggressive tactics during the 2023 election, in which incumbent Hadden defeated challenger Belia Rodriguez. 

Rodriguez, a business owner and advisory council member for Housing Opportunities for Women, received 16.6% of the vote (1,867 votes) compared to Hadden’s 73.7% (8,266 votes) in the Feb. 28, 2023, general election.

“When it came to election time, many business owners would not talk about her,” the business owner said. “When people had Belia Rodriguez posters in their windows, Natalia walked into those restaurants, took them down, threatened them, and put up Maria Hadden posters instead.” 

Hadden first won election to the Chicago City Council in 2019, defeating incumbent Joseph Moore with 63.4% of the vote (7,820 votes) to Moore’s 36.6% (4,514 votes). Moore had served as alderman for 28 years.

Since then, the business owner said, the atmosphere has become suffocating.

“People just want to change with the alderman and I think a huge amount of people regret that they went for change,” the business owner said. “It made it worse than better.” 

The business owner also described a hostile online environment surrounding Hadden’s supporters.

“And she certainly has these groupies of her friends and predominantly women that if you make a comment on Facebook about Maria Hadden, you are immediately attacked by the little groupies….they attack you big time, so I keep my mouth shut.”  

Community safety, they argued, has plummeted under Hadden’s leadership. 

“We’ve been broken into 10 times in the last year,” they said.  

“Five people were shot on the corner of Morse and Glenwood in the last three or four years, and nothing was done about it,” the business owner said. “It happened in broad daylight. Last year, two people were shot on Morse Avenue in broad daylight, and again, nothing was done. She never mentioned it, never talked about it, and never held a meeting with the neighborhood to create a security plan or help people feel safer. Nothing was addressed.”

The business owner claimed that strained relationships between Hadden and local police have further complicated efforts to address crime in the neighborhood.

“The police department, particularly the 24th District, can’t stand her,” the business owner said. “When I call them or we need help, they say, ‘Fu*k her.’ They’ve told me that to her face and to mine. They don’t care about her. Defunding the police was probably not the way to go when trying to get things done in a neighborhood. They don’t take her seriously and can’t stand it.”

The business owner criticized Hadden's approach to public engagement, accusing her of avoiding direct interaction with the community.

“Everything’s on Zoom. She hides. And then she puts out surveys from 20 of her friends and claims 90% support,” the business owner said. 

Despite frustration and exhaustion, the owner is hopeful change is coming. 

The next aldermanic election will occur in 2027.

“We just need somebody to run against her. But they need to throw their hat in the ring as soon as possible,” the business owner said. 

The business owner is part of a growing group of residents in the city’s 49th Ward who have been speaking out against Hadden for allegedly fostering a politically hostile climate, enabling harassment of her critics and engaging in ethically questionable practices. 

As Rogers Park residents grapple with rising crime, homelessness and a deteriorating quality of life, many say they feel ignored by Hadden.

“I can say she has divided this ward and depending on who you are demographically is whether or not you matter in our ward, everybody doesn't matter in the 49th Ward,” another anonymous resident who has lived in Rogers Park for decades said.

They described an incident in which a local thrift store was forced out by protesters, allegedly without any public support or intervention from Hadden’s office.

Another long-time Rogers Park residents have recently come forward anonymously, citing fears of retaliation. The anonymous resident alleges that critics of Hadden are met with threats and that community meetings are heavily censored to exclude dissenting voices. 

“Maria and her goon squad threatened businesses with business license or health code violations if they didn’t put up her campaign poster,” the resident said. 

These concerns echo those raised by vocal critics like Vaughn Buxton and Brent McCollum-Ottinger. 

Buxton, a survivor of childhood abuse, says he was falsely labeled a pedophile by Hadden supporters on her official Facebook page—posts that remained online despite repeated requests for removal. 

“[T]heir comments are obscene, profane, racist, libelous, or defamatory. So to me, it brings up the question: why hasn't Maria deleted any of these?” Buxton said. 

He added to the critique that Hadden is adversarial to the community’s businesses.  

“People wonder why businesses keep leaving,” he said. “They don’t feel like they can get help. I don’t believe the police can get anything done. The police can’t do anything. Maria [Hadden] criticizes them, then the business fails, and then they leave.”

McCollum-Ottinger, an openly gay resident and former Democrat, also accuses Hadden of stifling opposition and allowing a culture of online bullying.  

He said dissenters, including LGBTQ residents, are dismissed as “racist” or “homophobic” and that critics–including him–were doxxed and intimidated during the 2023 election, in which he supported challenger Rodriguez. 

“[S]he said anyone who criticized her, it all stems from racism and homophobia,” McCollum-Ottinger said. “And I'm gay, so I would always be like, ‘You don't represent me, Maria,’ and I guess that really set them off.”

Adding to the controversy is an ethics complaint filed in 2023 that accuses Hadden of lifting a liquor license moratorium in exchange for campaign donations from store owner Gaurav Patel and his family. 

After the stores were licensed, the moratorium was allegedly reinstated to block competition.

Hadden’s office did not disclose negotiations with the business owners and critics say a community survey was manipulated to justify the zoning change.