Cicero’s longest serving town president, Larry Dominick, is facing off against challenger Esteban Rodriguez, the former executive director of a youth-focused nonprofit, in a Feb. 25 town primary in which immigration policy has become a pivotal issue.
Dominick — who has served as town president since May 2005 and last ran uncontested in 2021 — has focused his policies largely on public safety. He spent 20 years with the Cicero Police Department, including time as deputy superintendent, and as town president has touted a reduction in street gang activity.
Dominick — who did not respond to repeated interview requests from the Sun-Times — also oversaw the groundbreaking of the town’s first disability-accessible park and an overhaul of the town’s senior programs.
The programs ensure seniors have their yard work taken care of, in addition to a water discount and transportation to appointments and senior-specific events. Rodriguez said he wants to add mental health care to the array of services.
“They’re amazing programs our seniors deserve,” Rodriguez, 37, told the Sun-Times. “[Dominick] took it on and made it what it is today. Many municipalities are copying and modeling after it, but that doesn’t mean there still isn’t room for improvement.”
Rodriguez stepped down in January as executive director of Corazón Community Services, a Cicero-based nonprofit. When he was younger, he said, he benefited from a range of violence prevention, health and academic assistance initiatives offered by Corazón. He Rodriguez is running on the Cicero Residents United slate, which seeks to increase the town’s outreach to get information and services to residents.
Rodriguez has also focused on immigration as an issue, accusing Dominick of making the town hostile to immigrants, specifically those without legal status. He took aim at the town’s “Safe Space Resolution,” which he says should have been made into a full-fledged ordinance with legal teeth. Signed by Dominick in November 2008, it prohibits cooperation between Cicero authorities and federal immigration agents, while also preventing Cicero police from asking about immigration status or enforcing federal immigration laws.
Town spokesman Ray Hanania defended the resolution, though Rodriguez worries about enforcement and says the resolution doesn’t address the Trump administration’s tactics in applying immigration policy, such as utilizing other federal agencies for immigration arrests.
“It’s just fancy words that have no backing,” Rodriguez said.
Dominick, a former Cicero Streets Department worker, has sparked controversy in recent years for threatening to bar anyone who didn’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance from speaking during public comment periods at town meetings. He also called for the reinstatement of the death penalty in Illinois, specifically for those convicted of killing police officers, in addition to decades-long sentences for those who point a weapon at, or shoot at, an officer.
He also faced scrutiny a decade ago for a series of hirings and firings that were alleged to be political, leading to a $650,000 settlement with a former town employee. His oldest son formerly served as the executive director of buildings and grounds for Cicero School District 99 and was a member of the Clyde Park District Board of Commissioners, while his ex-wife previously worked as director of the Cicero Health Department.
Beyond that, Rodriguez says issues like water infrastructure have gone unaddressed for years despite the town recently receiving $96 million in federal funds to address flooding. It comes in part as the result of the town’s special commission on flooding convened in Oct. 2023. Rodriguez said that was too late for town residents who had been dealing with flooding long before that.
Rodriguez said he entered the race because “I knew no one was going to challenge him again,” adding: “People want change and they see that in me.”
Voting for the Feb. 25 election began Feb. 10 and will run through election day. The Cicero Community Center, 2250 S. 49th Ave., and Cicero PSO building, 5410 W. 34th St., will be open for early voting 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, as well as 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sundays; Election-day polling places will be open 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.; a list can be found here.