Elgin City Councilman Anthony Ortiz stands out in the class photo for the 2025 Edgar Fellows with his light blue Chicago White Sox hat.
No one would recognize him without a hat, Ortiz had joked with former Gov. Jim Edgar, the founder of the prestigious program.
Ortiz got to mingle with Edgar along with other dignitaries during the weeklong leadership training program held from Aug. 3 to 7 at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus.
“This program brings together leaders from across Illinois who are committed to collaboration and tackling challenges that impact our communities,” Ortiz said. “This new network of colleagues will give me fresh perspectives and a trusted group to turn to when tackling tough issues in Elgin.”
Along with networking, he learned key lessons that will help him in his role as a councilman, he said. A lesson that resonated with him is the need to compromise.
“We have to compromise to get done what we need to get done,” Ortiz said. “There’s always a better outcome if you take your time and work with everyone. While “not everyone will get what they want, it will be the best for the city of Elgin.”
Edgar Fellows brings together state and local leaders with political, racial, ethnic and geographic diversity to talk about topics like restorative justice, Illinois’ electric capacity, immigration, Medicaid, and the state budget.
Edgar started the program in 2012.
“Each year, the Edgar Fellows Program brings together a group of leaders with different backgrounds and different politics from across Illinois,” Edgar said in a press release. “Though they each have their own unique life experiences, they find out that they have more in common than they have that separates them. It’s what the Edgar Fellows program is all about, finding common ground and respect, so that our Fellows can work together to help shape a better Illinois.”
Illinois State Sen. Cristina Castro nominated Ortiz. There were 200 applications this year, Ortiz said. Only 40 people were chosen, he said. He’s the second city council member to be a fellow. City Councilwoman Tish Powell was part of the 2013 class.
Edgar started the fellowship program because while state Republicans and Democrats were moderate, politics were divisive in the 1990s. He wanted to bring together both sides to talk and work together on issues, Ortiz said.
Politics have become more divisive, Ortiz said.
Today, “both sides don’t want to talk to each other because they get backlash from their party,” Ortiz said.
The fellowship program breaks down political barriers to help lawmakers focus on issues, have discussions, and find solutions, Ortiz said.
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“We talked about immigration. We talked about health care and Medicaid,” Ortiz said. “We all have different opinions on how we would fix the problems.”
The fellowship program is a “great way to get different-minded people to talk and come up with a solution,” Ortiz said. “After a couple of days, we felt we were talking on the same level.”
The sessions featured speakers like former WGN-TV meteorologist Tom Skilling, lobbyists, and state leaders, including Emanuel Chris Welch, speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives. Exelon officials were also present and spoke about ComEd’s rate increase, Ortiz said. Exelon is ComEd’s parent company.
ComEd increased its rate due to an energy shortage, a rise in electric supply costs, and rising demand, especially from data centers, Ortiz said.
Immigration was another topic. The opinions varied along partisan lines, but “what I liked about it most is they (both sides) were able to talk candidly and not be afraid to agree with the other side,” Ortiz said.