Joe Carmichael is a husband and father raising two daughters in Berwyn. He and his wife, Maura, decided to move to Berwyn to be close to family and to find a nice neighborhood to begin a family of their own.
Drawing from his biracial background, Joe has always advocated for fairness, equality and everyone having equal opportunity. Community is a priority for Joe. When the COVID surge began in the Spring, Joe and Maura hosted charity trivia over zoom to promote social distancing practices as well as helping hardworking people who are struggling due to the financial burden of the pandemic.
As a computer scientist, Joe sees the potential to improve the way we interact with our government by modernizing systems and making interacting with local government easier and consistent for all Berwynites. Joe believes that you should not have to "know someone" to receive public services.
Joe has a BS from U of I in Chemistry along with a MS in Computer Science from DePaul. While achieving his degrees, he enjoyed working in the service industry and connecting with customers. Currently, he works as a software engineer at a small business in the western suburbs.
Joe is an independently funded candidate aligned with the YOUR Berwyn Progressive platform.
I believe we should follow science and utilize the experts in Public Health and Epidemiology to ensure the safety of our community, especially our most vulnerable. Local government should encourage citizens to follow IDPH and CDC recommendations for the safety of everyone in Berwyn. I will utilize federal, state, and local resources to support those most impacted by the economic fallout from the pandemic. I will use resources to support the small business in our community to ensure their sustainability during these unprecedented times. As a community, we should employ the resources for testing and contact tracing prevent our citizens from getting sick.
I believe everyone should have equal access to local government resources independent of their relationship with our government officials. I will use my Computer Science background to bring Berwyn into the 21st century. I will use my professional experience to give citizens the ability to check their permit application status online, ensure streamlined account management for city related bills, and remote access to city town halls, meetings, and information.
I believe the 8th Ward needs to be safer, now. We need to improve communication between the City of Berwyn, including the Berwyn Police Department, and our community. I will advocate for more officer patrol and community engagement in the 8th ward. I will combine technology with our community networks to help monitor, mitigate, and reduce crime in our community while continuing to encourage our community's cohesion.