Meet The 7 Candidates Vying To Replace Ald. Walter Burnett In The 27th Ward

NEAR WEST SIDE — Seven candidates are competing to take over the 27th Ward’s top spot after veteran Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. (27th) resigned last month.

The Mayor’s Office is looking to fill the vacancy left by Burnett when he resigned in July after 30 years in office. The bustling ward, which has seen huge growth in recent years, includes the West Loop, Cabrini Green, Goose Island, River West, Fulton Market, Near West Side and parts of Humboldt Park and Garfield Park.

Applications to fill the aldermanic seat closed Friday. Seven people submitted complete applications, which required a resume, cover letter and at least three letters of recommendation from community leaders, business leaders or residents of the 27th Ward.

Three people submitted incomplete applications and will not be considered, according to the Mayor’s Office.

Candidates must have lived in the 27th Ward for at least a year prior to taking office, be registered to vote in the ward, and be able to passionately advocate on behalf of 27th Ward residents, among other requirements.

A hand-picked selection committee will review applications, interview candidates and make a recommendation to Johnson, who will appoint someone to fill the vacancy. The appointment must then be confirmed by the City Council.

That committee is comprised of Ald. Michelle Harris (8th); John Bosca, president of Neighbors of River West; Keith Muhammad, community engagement coordinator for the Greater West Town Project; and Armando Chacon, president of the West Central Association.

Burnett is a finalist to lead the Chicago Housing Authority, though that process has stalled because of federal regulations that could push back his appointment by a year, the Sun-Times reported.

Here are the seven applicants vying to replace Burnett. Click here to view their resumes.

Cynthia D. Grunst-Bednarz

Cynthia D. Grunst-Bednarz is a longtime 27th Ward homeowner and licensed real estate broker with roots in the West Side. Born in the city in 1970 to two high school educators, she has lived in the ward since 2000 with her husband, Gregory, and their two daughters, both graduates of Chicago Public Schools.

Grunst-Bednarz ran for 27th Ward alderperson in 2019. She lost to Burnett, who garnered 69.8 percent of the vote to her 30.1 percent, according to the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

Grunst-Bednarz has been a licensed real estate broker since 2015 and previously worked as a Chicago Public Schools substitute teacher. She previously owned a home care business for older people and spent two decades in account management roles in the food and logistics industries.

Grunst-Bednarz has a master’s degree in business administration from Loyola University Chicago, a bachelor’s degree in science from Northern Illinois University and an Illinois real estate broker’s license.

According to her resume, Grunst-Bednarz has participated in the Garfield Park Community Council, Nobel Neighbors and H.O.W. United, among other groups.

Walter Redmond Burnett

Walter Redmond Burnett, son of former Ald. Walter Burnett, is also vying for the position.

Burnett is the principal of Hannibal Valley Company, a Chicago-based real estate and hospitality consulting firm focused on community-rooted development, cultural programs and strategic growth. It was created in 2023.

Burnett previously spent five years at Goldman Sachs in New York City, where he was an acquisition associate in real estate and an investment banking analyst in leveraged finance. According to Burnett’s resume, he underwrote multimillion-dollar transactions across asset classes, including a $161 million refinancing for One Hotel West Hollywood and a $2.2 billion capital raise for Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings.

Burnett is a graduate of Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business with a degree in finance.

Separately, Burnett is on the boards of The Renaissance Collaborative and The Bloc. He is also an alumnus of Black Bench Chicago and a member of the 27th Ward Young Democrats and Sky Art.

Daniel J. Goldberg

Daniel J. Goldberg is an assistant state’s attorney in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office, where he specializes in cybercrime prosecution, according to his resume. Since joining the office in 2022, he has served in multiple divisions, including felony review, domestic violence, appellate and misdemeanor courts.

Goldberg previously worked with the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office Gang Bureau in Phoenix, where he argued motions, conducted research and supported gang-related prosecutions.

Goldberg earned his law degree from Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, where he was president of the Jewish Law Student Association, and he graduated summa cum laude from ASU’s Barrett Honors College with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

Additionally, Goldberg is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association Assembly and serves on the boards of the Gastrointestinal Research Foundation and the Illinois Holocaust Museum’s Young Professionals.

Jeffery Kelly

Jeffery Kelly is the founder and executive director of the Chicago Youth Association, where he mentors young people, supports academic growth and promotes civic engagement. Since 2021, he has led outreach campaigns, coordinated volunteer opportunities and built a culture of empowerment among youth participants, according to his resume.

Kelly also works as a package liaison with Luxer One in the West Loop, managing relationships between property managers, residents and the company. He previously served as lead civic researcher with West Side United, analyzing government policies, demographics and legislative proposals to support community advocacy.

From 2016-2018, Kelly was a community organizer with the Garfield Park Community Council, leading fresh food programs, neighborhood cleanups, community gardening projects and anti-violence campaigns. In 2022, Kelly interned in Sen. Dick Durbin’s office, assisting constituents, conducting research and supporting legislative staff.

Kelly is a graduate of Roosevelt University with a bachelor’s degree in political science.

Salvador Lopez

Salvador Lopez is the managing attorney and principal partner at Robson & Lopez LLC, where he has practiced since 2012. He prosecutes state and federal lawsuits against banks, defends consumers in financing cases and represents homeowners in property tax appeals, according to his resume.

Since 2018, Lopez has also served as a senior hearings commissioner for the City of Chicago Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection, presiding over discipline cases involving licensed businesses.

Lopez previously worked as a staff attorney at Legal Aid Chicago, representing low-income clients, veterans, older people and people with disabilities in housing, discrimination, bankruptcy and consumer fraud cases. Earlier in his career, he was a hearings attorney at Nash Disability Law and a law clerk in the Cook County Public Defender’s Office.

Lopez is an active member of H.O.W. United, a volunteer attorney with Chicago Volunteer Legal Services and Legal Aid Chicago, and a former member of the Illinois Legal Aid Online advisory council.

A U.S. Navy veteran, Lopez served during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. He is fluent in Spanish, according to his resume.

Maryiam Saifuddin

Maryiam Saifuddin is a senior manager at Centene in Chicago, where she helps design and improve health insurance products for millions of people nationwide, according to her resume.

Saifuddin previously worked at United Airlines, where she analyzed revenue trends and helped leadership respond to the sharp decline in air travel during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier, Saifuddin spent several years at the Houston Food Bank, where she managed more than $1 million in grants, launched a food scholarship program that grew to serve hundreds of families and helped connect health care clinics with access to fresh produce.

Saifuddin’s policy work includes research with Anderson Economic Group, where she analyzed the financial impact of pension restructuring on more than 350 public schools in Michigan, according to her resume. As a fellow with the Sunlight Foundation in Washington, D.C., she authored resources on smart technology, data management and privacy ethics that were shared by organizations including the ACLU and Apolitical.

Saifuddin earned her master’s degree in public policy from the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy and her bachelor’s degree in biological sciences, with a concentration in neuroscience, from the University of Chicago.

Michelle Strassburger

Michelle Strassburger is president of M.S. Designs Inc., a Chicago-based interior design firm she has led since 1997. She specializes in residential projects, model merchandising, hospitality and public amenity spaces, providing architectural review, concept planning, design development, project budgeting and consultation, according to her resume.

Strassburger served as president and interior designer at The Childs Dreyfus Group in Chicago from 1985-1997.

Strassburger earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts with an emphasis in interior design from the University of Iowa. She was also a Democratic election judge in Chicago’s 27th Ward during the 2020 presidential election, a longtime participant in Neighbors of River West and a member of the West Central Association.

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