By: Ashmar Mandou

After 25 years in public service, Ricardo Muñoz announced he will retire as alderman of the 22nd Ward after this term. “As I look back over what we have achieved on behalf of the communities of the 22nd Ward over the course of the last 25 years, I am deeply humbled,” said Ald. Muñoz, who has been a leader in the City Council’s Progressive Reform Caucus. “I have always sought to be an independent voice who puts the needs of working people above all else, and I know the 22nd Ward will continue that legacy.”

Deemed an independent voice of City Council, Ald. Muñoz focused his efforts in the fight for a $15 minimum wage and to protect workers’ rights in Chicago. He advocated for fair taxation that reduces the burden on working families and asks the very wealthy and big corporations to pay their fair share. He has also been a leading voice on the need for comprehensive reform of City’s tax increment financing system, which siphons millions of dollars in property tax funds away from the Chicago Public Schools and other public agencies each year to support private development projects. This term, Ald. Muñoz played a critical role in strengthening the Office of the Inspector General and protecting taxpayers from bad privatization deals by pushing for the passage of the Privatization Transparency and Accountability Ordinance. 
“I’m incredibly proud to have ushered in an era of progress in the 22nd Ward, from the physical construction of five new grammar schools, a new high school and two new libraries, to the new police station, the El Valor Daycare Center the Pilsen/Little Village YMCA, and more than $5 billion in infrastructure and public amenities construction over the course of my term in office,” said Ald. Muñoz.

Ald. Muñoz has represented the ward since 1993, when Mayor Richard M. Daley appointed him to replace Jesus “Chuy” Garcia after Garcia was elected to the State Senate. Muñoz had been Garcia’s chief of staff. Ald. Muñoz said he was looking forward to life as a private citizen with his wife, Betty, and two adult children, Angelica, 24, and Ricardo Alejandro, 27, and their dog, Rambo.  The 22nd Ward includes the neighborhoods of North Lawndale, Little Village, Brighton Park, LeClaire Courts, Archer Heights and Sleepy Hollow.