“Mom, the day I become crooked is the day I get out of office.”

That’s what Jordan Kagan said to his mom when she found out he was running for the alderman seat in the predominantly student 7th ward.

“My mom was not super-positive about me getting into politics because of its crooked image,” Kagan said. “But I told her that I have worked hard to maintain my honest image and I wouldn’t do anything to wreck it.”

Kagan, a sophomore business major, said he decided to run against Jeff Monroe, 7th ward alderman, in October 1989 because he felt the ward needed a strong alderman who knows city issues well.

Kagan said his goals include helping to raise money for a DeKalb civic center, passing tougher housing ordinances so contractors do not get away with the “bare minimum” and working with the Human Relations Committee to battle racism.

He also said the controversy surrounding DeKalb taverns needs to be discussed further even though it is clear no one on the current council wants additional bar hours.

“I spoke in favor of the extended hours on Thursday nights, but we should be satisfied with what we have,” he said.

Monroe is a relatively good leader, Kagan said, but he has only seen him working on the Environmental Committee.

“I am also interested in environmental issues, but I have seen a lot of issues that needed to be looked at during his term that he overlooked, such as the students in limbo over the Stadium View II apartments,” he said.

“I personally talked to 50 people around there and they did not even know that Monroe was the alderman in their ward,” he said.

Kagan served a full term as a Student Association senator last year and served on the Community Affairs Committee as the voter registration chairman.

Kagan said last year in the SA only 15 out of 44 senators who were elected in the fall finished their term.

“This shows a lot about when I start something, I finish it,” he said.

Kagan said that if he is elected he will stay in DeKalb for the full term.

“It is no problem for me because it looks like I am already on the four-and-a-half or five year plan,” he said.

Editor’s note: A profile of incumbent Jeff Monroe will appear in Monday’s issue.