Answers From the Candidates
Lyle, who spoke at the elder Sawyer's funeral in 2008, told the Chicago Sun-Times that she was surprised that Roderick jumped into the race to run for her council seat, especially since he used to be a Lyle supporter, “I thought we were friends. Do I hate him? Nah. But I’m going to beat him. And then we can be friends again, I guess," she said.Lyle went on to say that there is a slight concern that older voters could go for Sawyer due to their familiarity with his father. But Lyle thinks younger people in her ward "don’t subscribe to that at all. There’s fatigue with family dynasties."
For his part, Sawyer says he is not looking to bank on the family name and isn't running to further future political aspirations -- or to irk Lyle. He says he is running because he doesn't agree with the alderman's voting history, citing her 'yes' vote for the parking meter deal as one of those instances. He also explained some more localized reasons for his run.
"The response has been overwhelmingly negative towards the incumbent," Sawyer told Progress Illinois. "It's an 'anybody but the incumbent' feeling that people have been expressing to us. The overwhelming issue that I have been hearing is the lack of response to service requests. We all have those similar problems as it relates to crime, education and economic development; those are all citywide problems -- they are not unique to the 6th Ward. But here, people seem to think the service issue is the overwhelming problem
When answering the question of whether they would support video gambling,
Lyle flat out said no. Sawyer, on the other hand, is in support of the potential revenue generator, (not necessarily video gambling in the 6th ward) albeit with regulation, citing the city's need to "recapture some of the revenue we are losing to the Indiana casinos."--
When answering the question of whether they would support video gambling,
Lyle flat out said no. Sawyer, on the other hand, is in support of the potential revenue generator, (not necessarily video gambling in the 6th ward) albeit with regulation, citing the city's need to "recapture some of the revenue we are losing to the Indiana casinos."--
