From boxing flame-out to center of the ring: Ramirez-Rosa picked for Chicago’s new parks boss

When Carlos Ramirez-Rosa was 7, his father signed him up for boxing lessons at Hamlin Park.

“He had a dream of me becoming the next great Puerto Rican boxer,” Ramirez-Rosa said. “Unfortunately, it did not work out. I went to my first training and I cried the entire day.”

Twenty-nine years after that traumatic experience, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa will be in the center of the administrative ring, running boxing and other recreational programs across the city.

He’s Mayor Brandon Johnson’s choice to replace Rosa Escareno as superintendent and CEO of the Chicago Park District.

“I’m sad about leaving the City Council and serving as alderman. I am. There’s so many wonderful people I’ve worked with at the local level and at City Hall,” Ramirez-Rosa, 36, told the Sun-Times.

“But to have the opportunity to serve the 2.7 million people of this city to ensure that our children have wonderful programming? The 8,800 acres of green space, the 600 parks — to have the opportunity to improve and protect that was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”

Referring to the investigation into rampant sexual harassment and abuse by lifeguards at the city’s pools and beaches, Ramirez-Rosa said Escareno “came in at a very difficult time for the parks” and did an “amazing job.”

But it’s time to take a system that includes 26 miles of lakefront beaches to the next level, Ramirez-Rosa says.

“My conversation with the mayor has been around his priorities for the parks. He wants me to address homelessness in the parks. He wants me to ensure that our parks are safe spaces for young people. He wants me to expand youth opportunities. He wants me to ensure that we have equitable facility and capital improvements, He wants to grow public-private partnerships,” Ramirez-Rosa, 36, told the Sun-Times.

“There is a lot of need for deferred maintenance,” Ramirez-Rosa adds. “There are field houses open during the summer that don’t have air-conditioning. There are a number of projects that, while they have received either state capital dollars or local TIF dollars, we’re still waiting for construction work to begin.”

Ramirez-Rosa pointed to the “coordinated outreach” to remove a homeless encampment at Fireman’s Park and find those residents permanent housing. The same approach was used for more than 100 unhoused people camping at Humboldt Park.

“Parks are places where people can gather and enjoy their families and the outdoors. They’re not permanent camping places. So our task is to make sure that people who are experiencing homelessness are immediately connected with housing and shelter so they do not have to camp at the parks,” he said.

Cristina Pacione-Zayas, Johnson’s chief of staff, has known Ramirez-Rosa since college at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign.

Pacione-Zayas said he was chosen for the Park District job partly because of his “deep community roots” and “track record of being able to bring together various stakeholders” to solve problems. Sensitively dismantling the homeless encampment at Fireman’s Park was a classic example.

“He worked diligently over the course of a couple of years to secure the resources and support to get every single individual housed. It takes a lot of effort trust and persistence to be able to make those changes,” Pacione-Zayas said.

“He masterfully figured out how to put that all together and helped Ald. [Jesse] Fuentes design the plan for Humboldt Park. These are some really distinct experiences that can demonstrate that he understands the complexity of public space, community desires and basic human rights and enhancements.”

The Park District employs hundreds of young people and provides recreational programming for thousands of others.

Ramirez-Rosa was asked what he plans to do differently to engage young people. Complaints that Chicago youth have nothing to do in their own neighborhoods has led some to gather in large groups downtown, with sometimes negative consequences.

“Midnight basketball is a program that’s had a lot of success and is very proven to bring people together in a safe space. There are teen activations with the arts and other types of programming that is enticing to youth,” Ramirez-Rosa said.

“There are opportunities to partner with non-profit organizations that are doing this work and ensure that we are bringing more of those opportunities to the parks in a more consistent manner.”

Ramirez-Rosa said he is a “big believer in listening to community stakeholders.” That’s how he operated in the 35th Ward and where he plans to start as Park District superintendent.

“It’s been 20 years since I was 16 years old. … I’m looking forward to engaging with our youth, hearing what they have to say and hearing what types of programming they would like to see added to the parks,” he said.

Ramirez-Rosa was elected to the Council in 2015 at the age of 25. He was the youngest Chicago alderperson ever, and the Council’s first Democratic Socialist. He departs as the dean of a seven-member Democratic Socialist Caucus.

In 2017, then Democratic gubernatorial candidate Daniel Biss picked Ramirez-Rosa, seen as a rising star of progressive politics, as his running mate. But then he dropped him over Ramirez-Rosa’s support for the movement to punish and isolate Israel with “Boycott, Divest and Sanction.”

It’s a position Ramirez-Rosa has consistently maintained throughout the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, encouraging Johnson to cast the tie-breaking vote in favor of a non-binding resolution demanding a cease-fire. The mayor’s vote alienated the Council’s lone Jewish member and prominent Jewish community leaders, creating a rift that continues.

As for the allegations of bullying and intimidating Council colleagues that forced him to resign from his dual role as Johnson’s hand-picked Zoning Committee chair and Council floor leader, Ramirez-Rosa said he learned a valuable lesson from that controversy.

“Words matter. To be mindful of how your words will be interpreted. You may have specific intent, particularly when it’s something very emotional. But sometimes, it’s good to take a deep breath and be very precise with your language so there’s no confusion that leads to harm,” he said.

Johnson will appoint Council successor

Ramirez-Rosa’s resignation from the Council creates a vacancy Johnson will fill by appointment after receiving recommendations from a community-based selection committee.

Speculation centers around Cook County Commissioner Anthony Quezada, who spent more than six years as Ramirez-Rosa’s neighborhood services director.

The Park District board has scheduled an “emergency” meeting for Friday, presumably to vote on Ramirez-Rosa’s appointment.

Park Board president Dr. Marlon Everett said he has met Ramirez-Rosa, but doesn’t really know him.

“From what I hear, he’s a good kid. I know he’s a Whitney Young grad. He’s from Chicago. It’s a good choice,” Everett said.

Dian Palmer, president of SEIU Local 73, representing 3,000 Park District employees, said Ramirez-Rosa “comes from a long history of labor and that’s fine.”

“I don’t have any concerns about him getting the job. But I do want the parks to be strong and healthy. I want the infrastructure improved. I want programs for our young folks when they’re out of school. I’d like more full-time employees and I’d like them to have health insurance because they’ve dedicated a lot of their lives to the parks,” Palmer said.

Forrest Claypool, who ran the Park District under former Mayor Richard M. Daley, talked about what it takes to succeed in that job.

“It’s the qualities of leadership. The ability to hire really good people. To have a vision for them, to inspire them, to manage them effectively against metrics of performance. It’s blocking and tackling,” Claypool said.
“It’s really hard to know whether someone, with no background in management — how they’re going to perform suddenly being in charge of a very large agency.”