Public Servants

Meet two North Park grads who are taking on Chicago’s infamous political machine in their attempts to inject optimism, fresh ideas, and North Park’s mission of service into the 2019 aldermanic race.

Driving to North Park as an incoming freshman, Casey Smagala clearly remembers the conversation he had with his stepfather on Lake Shore Drive.

“He said, ‘this is your opportunity to do something different,’” recalls Smagala C’12, who does not shy away from talking about his family’s difficulties: His mother served time in jail for drug offenses, and his father faced his own addiction problems.

Smagala’s “something different” turned out to be running for alderman of Chicago’s 39th Ward, which encompasses a wide, ethnically diverse swath of Chicago, including North Park.

Smagala, 29, isn’t the only North Park alum to feel the call to serve in government: Daniel La Spata C’03 is running in Chicago’s 1st Ward, an area that includes Wicker Park and Logan Square. Last year, Robert Bady C’91 ran for alderman in north suburban Evanston, losing by the narrowest of margins to an entrenched incumbent. (Bady is currently running for a seat on Evanston’s Ridgeville Park District Board in March and also serves on Evanston’s Historic Preservation Commission).

La Spata, like Smagala, was inspired to run for office because of his parents.

“My mom really pushed us to think about service when we were kids,” says La Spata, who became deeply involved in Urban Outreach, Covenant World Relief, and Cornerstone Ministries during his time at North Park.

Similarly, Smagala embraced campus life, playing four years on the football team (he was captain his senior year) and serving as president of the Student Government Association. Despite his high profile, very few people knew about the addiction struggles of his family back in Constantine, which he says has a severe drug problem. Smagala, currently the director of development for the Albany Park Community Center, says he missed just one football practice in his entire four years at North Park.

Still, he wouldn’t trade the hardships.

“My parents are in manufacturing, my stepmom works at Arby’s,” Smagala says of his ability to understand the struggles of the working class. “The 39th Ward is Little America, you’ve got a bit of everything here. I get the challenges of representing all these groups.”

La Spata, 37, whose mother was a hairdresser, shares a similar viewpoint.

“These people care about housing, development, education, safety, and taxes,” says La Spata, who hopes to apply the values he learned at the New Community Covenant Church, an urban church he has attended since he was a senior at North Park.

“We have always stayed true to our mission of pursuing authentic community and radically advancing the cause of Jesus,” La Spata says. “Can we take the values we live out around solidarity, justice, and compassion, and apply those at the government level? That’s my goal.”

Smagala, whose campaign website features North Park prominently, is frequently on campus as a guest speaker in government classes and to enlist student volunteers, whose hard work he believes could make the difference in the February 26 election.

“When I first toured the campus, and we heard the mission of living lives of significance and service, my parents were like ‘how much is this going to cost?’” Smagala says, laughing. “But North Park volunteers could very well help me earn this seat on the Chicago City Council. This isn’t some esoteric thing; these students are making the world a better place.”

La Spata offers his own take on North Park’s mission.

“At North Park, we were prepared for lives of significance and service,” La Spata says. “We took that mission and planted it in our hearts.”