Rafael Avila (Mayor of Berwyn, Illinois, candidate 2025)
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Rafael Avila (also known as Ralph) ran for election to the Mayor of Berwyn in Illinois. He was on the ballot in the primary on February 25, 2025.[source]
Avila completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. Click here to read the survey answers.
[1]Biography
Rafael Avila provided the following biographical information via Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey on February 1, 2025:
- Birth date: March 30, 1956
- High school: Tuley High School
- Associate: Wright College, 1977
- Gender: Male
- Religion: Catholic
- Profession: Real Estate Executive
- Prior offices held:
- Alderman of the 7th Ward of Berwyn (2009-2021)
- North Berwyn Park District Commissioner (2005-2009)
- Incumbent officeholder: No
- Campaign slogan: Leaders for Change.
- Campaign website
- Campaign Facebook
Elections
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Berwyn
Rafael Avila, Robert J. Lovero, and Alicia Maria Ruiz ran in the primary for Mayor of Berwyn on February 25, 2025.
Candidate | ||
Rafael Avila (Nonpartisan)  | ||
| Robert J. Lovero (Nonpartisan) | ||
 | Alicia Maria Ruiz (Nonpartisan) | |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Election results
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Avila in this election.
Campaign themes
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Rafael Avila completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2025. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Avila's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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My wife and I have called Berwyn "home" for over 34 years. We raised our two daughters, and now we have five grandchildren. I am an established community leader who was previously elected to serve as North Berwyn Park Commissioner and spent 12 years as Alderman of the 7th Ward in Berwyn. As Alderman, some of the legislation that I worked on was the Minimum Wage Ordinance and Berwyn’s Welcoming/Sanctuary City Ordinance. Additionally, I participated in the re-developing of the Cermak Plaza, which is considered the “gateway” to Berwyn. I have always collaborated closely with other local governmental boards, such as park boards, and will do so in the future to find ways to offer the community more events. My professional accomplishments were:
• I manage several commercial buildings in Downtown Chicago. One of them was Cook County’s largest Circuit Court building: the Richard J. Daley Center, the 1st Police District for Chicago, and Chicago’s Hearing Facility. • My responsibility included preparing and implementing a comprehensive capital budget for the Richard J. Daley Center, which included mechanical equipment upgrades and lighting retrofits. These upgrades resulted in a huge electricity reduction and a saving of $800,000 per year in utility costs.
• In July 2004, I headed the management team that opened up Millennium Park for the City of Chicago.- My focus is on cutting waste, improving city services, and ensuring fairness for everyone. My policy will include more transparency, an open-door policy, and a push for positive change from the current administration's policies.
- The first step will be towards creating transparency. Within my first 90 days, I’ll conduct a forensic audit to assess the city’s finances and identify areas of waste. I also want to ease the financial burden on residents by hiring a grant writer to secure additional funding through federal, state, and county opportunities. Every dollar we save and/or bring in can go toward improving our services and supporting our community.
- Another one of my priorities is professionalizing the police department and reviewing their policies to build trust and ensure safety. I also want to make sure promotions and advancements for city employees are based on merit and fairness by hiring a dedicated HR officer. On top of that, streamlining processes like building permit approvals will help residents and small businesses thrive. This will allow me to help make Berwyn work better for everyone.
1.) Our Economic Policy: that will consist of a monetary policy, which includes how we manage our money supply and credit. In addition we will establish a plan on attracting more successful businesses.
President John F. Kennedy, as he possessed the capacity to tread carefully when necessary for the nation's benefit. He was everyone's president.
You have to be passionate about your community and residents. There should also be a necessity of transparency on all parts of your operation. Furthermore, you also need to be willing to hold public hearings/meetings to have necessary conversations with the community and obtain feedback that will aid in making our city better.
I possess fiscal responsibilities; I am a trustworthy, honest person with high moral standards. I have the ability to delegate responsibilities and a positive attitude. As the father of two lovely women and the grandfather to five grandchildren, I am also very family-oriented, which allows me to understand the concerns of the residents of Berwyn who have built their families here and worry for the safety of their children.
It is important to respond to the community's requests for services in a timely manner. There is also a responsibility to ensure professionalism across both police and fire departments that will assure that all residents and businesses feel protected. Additionally, elected officials must be able to work closely with other governmental agencies to explore ways of adding additional programs/services for our residents.
I would like to be remembered as a leader that created 1.) a more welcoming city. 2.) was able to minimize waste and at the same time offer quicker response to the community's service requests. 3.) Have more communication between my office and the residents. 4.) Create a better relationship between the police department and the residents.
The assassination of President Kennedy. I was 7 years old.
My first job was working in the maintenance department in a large commercial building. I started at the bottom and worked my way up in rank to be the vice president of a large building management company.
I have a few of them, and it is difficult to pick just one.
Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen,
In 2009 I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. After going through 8 treatments of chemotherapy, I was cleared and have been since that time. Another struggle in my life was when my dad was killed in a car accident. I was 21 years old when the accident took place.
A mayor is an elected public official who serves as the chief executive officer of a city. The position of a mayor is vital as they act as the head of the local government, playing a key role in the decision-making process and providing leadership to the community. A mayor is also in charge of putting strategies into action to help make the community safer and more accessible for everyone including people with disabilities.
In this case, a civil relationship should be created between the mayor and city council in order to create space for necessary conversations between both sectors. As the city council retrieves concerns and questions from the community, they should be able to freely and easily express those to the mayor in order to lead to solutions.
I love the city because it is a very diverse community. Our city acts as a melting pot of cultures that creates a safe place for people of many backgrounds to come in. We also have a lot of bungalow-style homes and are located only 7 miles from downtown Chicago. There are also many ways to get to downtown Chicago quickly through CTA and Metra trains or Pace and CTA buses. On the other hand, for those who do not need public transportation, Highway 55 is conveniently only 3 miles south of Berwyn, and 290 is just north of Berwyn.
Our infrastructure is over 100 years old and desperately needs to be reconstructed. Additionally, some of the alleys and streets need to be repaved and redone. We will need to create a master plan for these upgrades that includes divvying up how our funds will be used across these necessary actions. Our chamber will need to create a plan to bring more mom-and-pop businesses, as well as small businesses, since many of them closed up during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic.
It is important to have a business-type relationship with the state government so that it invests in our capital plan by offering funds. In order to start in this direction, we have to show that we are fiscally responsible.
The relationship should mirror the one we need to create with the State. Just as it is vital to have a business-type relationship with the state government, it is as important to create a similar one with our federal government in order to be able to allocate funds efficiently. In order to create these relationships and garner the necessary funds, we have to show that we are fiscally responsible.
Why was Cinderella so bad in soccer? She kept running away from the ball. HA HA
The mayor's office has to have a great relationship with the law enforcement, which includes the understanding that the city has it's back and will be supportive of the needs to become a top-notch department. By creating this atmosphere, the businesses and residents will feel better secured.
Congressman Danny Davis, Cook County Commissioner Stanley Moore, and Your Berwyn, a political organization in Berwyn.
To repeat, my first goal in office will be to build transparency between our elected officials and the community. Therefore, within my first 90 days, I will conduct a forensic audit to assess the city’s finances and identify areas of waste. I also want to ease the financial burden on residents by hiring a grant writer to secure additional funding through federal, state, and county opportunities. Every dollar we save or bring in can go toward improving services and supporting our community
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
