If a legacy can be measured by the grandeur of the farewell given to those who die, then without question Scheketa Hart-Burns, who died unexpectedly on June 19, made quite a mark in this world.
Services for her not only included a horse-drawn procession past Aurora City Hall where she served for over three decades, at her Homecoming Celebration, thousands of mourners from all races, religions and socio-economic backgrounds gathered at Cathedral of Grace St. John AME Church to pay tribute to this trailblazing woman who was determined to be a voice for all people.
If a legacy can be measured by scholarships in her name, the longtime 7th Ward alderwoman again scores big. Most recently, the Scheketa Hart-Burns Memorial Foundation was set up to benefit students and provide aid to the kind of nonprofits she championed her entire life.
Scheketa’s lasting impact can also be judged by the size of the footprint she made right in the neighborhoods of her ward. Aurora’s first Black member of the City Council founded more than two dozen nonprofits, community groups and events, many of which are still going strong, such as the Martin Luther King Back to School Bash held recently that drew a massive crowd despite soaring temperatures, including 150 volunteers who turned out because they knew that’s what she would have wanted.
But there’s another impressive number that is also adding clarity to just how strong the presence of Scheketa Hart-Burns will continue to be felt.
No less than 14 people applied to take over the City Council seat of this charismatic alderwoman, who wore her Christian faith as proudly as those beautiful suits and hats.
Think about it. At a time when some local boards are struggling to fill vacant chairs, more than a dozen people immediately threw their own proverbial hats into the ring.
Since then, Mayor Richard Irvin cut that number in half, then whittled it down to three finalists. And he promised to name Scheketa’s replacement on Sept. 5 when the City Council will vote on that choice.
Read through the bios of all those candidates and you can quickly see that any one of them would be excellent. It was a lengthy but impressive list that included people so active you wonder how they could fit such a huge commitment into their busy lives.
Take John “Drew” Eddy, for example, who finds time with his busy professional life to still coach four sports while also serving on multiple boards that benefit kids and community. Or Cynthia Gamboa, who is not only a business owner and founder of a group to help women facing adversity, during the height of the pandemic she established a volunteer initiative to deliver food to the elderly in the 7th Ward.
And neither of these even made the final cut.
City spokesman Clayton Muhammad confirmed it was “extremely unusual” to have so many people step forward as they did. “And they kept coming in,” he said of the applications. “Had we not cut it off with a deadline, we would have had more.”
Even more revealing, he noted, there was a “true genuine diversity” in race, gender and even geography, with hopefuls stepping forward from all three ZIP codes in the 7th Ward, including DuPage County. And each one, he told me, spoke about “their deep feelings of carrying on Scheketa’s legacy,” whether they knew her personally or just knew of her work.
It’s got to be one of the tougher decisions Irvin has to make. According to Muhammad, the mayor is “taking in the many comments” from the community, which are voiced through texts, phone calls or on social media.
And he’s interviewing all three finalists again before making that final decision.
Of course there’s little doubt the quantity and quality of applicants has something to do with the fact they don’t have to go through an election to get a strong foothold on the City Council. I don’t know how many capable community leaders I’ve met over the last decade or so who insist they would consider a run for office – local or state – if they didn’t have to campaign.
Jacqueline Gibson, who made the semi-final cut for the City Council seat but then withdrew her name when she realized there would be a scheduling conflict with her doctoral program, told me the talent that stepped forward says a lot about the health of the city, particularly the 7th Ward.
People see how much better things are in the ward because of “all the things Scheketa left behind … and they want to continue moving them forward,” she said.
Gibson, who has a demanding but fulfilling career as principal of Cowherd Middle School in Aurora, had originally sought the appointment because, as a close family friend to the alderwoman, she saw up close and personal the impact she had as “a trailblazer” who “was part of everything.”
To Gibson, “Scheketa carried our city” in much the same way the late alderwoman carried those signature jackets across her shoulders.
And, while I may have been surprised by the long and impressive list of candidates, Gibson, who has lived and worked in the 7th Ward her entire life, was not in the least.
“So many are ready to stand in the gap,” she said, “because we know we have to continue Scheketa’s work.”
dcrosby@tribpub.com
