"I see trees of green ... I see snowflakes, too," sings Maria Pappas, only a little off-key, accompanying the Louis Armstrong song "What a Wonderful World." "Red roses, too. Nothing's blooming! For me and you. And I think to myself, what kind of city is this? ... Hey hey, this is WVON, 'Black Houses Matter!'"
It's just after 11:30 a.m. last Monday. The Cook County treasurer is sitting behind a microphone in the River City studio of the historic Black radio station, doing what she likes to do best: reaching out to ethnic communities, trying to give back money overpaid in property taxes.
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"And we are killin' it, killin' it!" she says. "Get these numbers, kids. From 3/20 of 2020, until 3/15 of 2024, we are up to ... almost to $300 million. We're at $285,571,000. How about that?"
Pappas has brought along five staffers, including one in the chair across from her.
"I've got Maurice Torrance with me this morning," she says.
"Like the street," he observes, in classic radio sidekick fashion.
"Maurice is my guy," Pappas says. "He's in charge of the tax sale in Cook County. He's in the legal department."
Pappas began the radio show on AM 1690 in 2020, designed to prompt taxpayers in the Black community to find out if they've overpaid their property taxes. Last year, she added "Latino Houses Matter" on WVON's sister station, WRLL-AM 1450.
"We are ready to roll," Torrance says. "And treasurer, for all those callers out there that are saying, 'Oh no, I never overpay, I never double pay,' just how easy it is to do so? Let's say your mortgage company does and you do, too. Guess what? That's an over-payment. Or if you pay, and the wife or spouse doesn't tell you that they pay, too — it's happened to me already. Guess what? You overpaid."
The show is simulcast on Facebook Live. Pappas, who publishes an annual calendar illustrated by photos of herself wearing chic outfits, stands up and vamps for her viewers. She is wearing a cornflower blue coat, large round earrings and a spiky silver pixie hairdo.
"Don't throw eggs at me, this is phony fur," she says. "I bought on sale. I got it for 40 bucks. This is not one of these designer things. ... I have something very special to tell you this week. I have a good friend, and she told me to go to — get this! — 7214 N. Harlem. This is called Juju's, J-U-J-U apostrophe S. Vintage, Antique and ReSale Shop ..."
Pappas takes two prearranged calls from people receiving refunds.
"Denise! Denise! It's Pappas!" she cries. "How are you? Are you retired?"
Pappas leads her guests easily in talking about their jobs, church, love life.
"You got a husband?" she asks, hearing the answer no. "Good, so you're going to get this money. And you don't have to split it with him."
There's a definite game show aspect, with cash register sound effects ka-chinging and Pappas' enthusiastic banter.
"Hey Denise, have they told you exactly how much you're getting?" she enthuses. "Well, I'm going to tell you."
Actually Torrance does.
"For tax year 2020, Denise, you're going to be getting back quite a bit of money," he says. "$560.12 plus an additional $900, adding on top of that we also have tax year 2021, for an additional $565.66 plus an additional $1,000 ..."
"Girl, are you sitting in your chair! Denise!" cries Pappas. "What are you going to do with $3,000. You've gotta go to JuJu's ..."
WVON is grateful for the radio treasure that fell into their laps.
"I didn't come up with this program, she did," says Melody Spann-Cooper, president and CEO of WVON. "People love the show. To go from 0 to 180 in three years, returning over $200 million to Black homeowners and now doing it on our Spanish station, that's remarkable."
I observe that while most politicians can't pry open their yaps, Pappas can't shut up. She a natural radio host.
"She's crazy, and she'll say anything, right?" says Spann-Cooper. "She's like that organic politician that's in it for what politicians should be in it for: for the joy. And to make a difference in people's lives. Her personality, that's the dessert. People love her wherever she goes. When she shows up in the Black community, it's like, 'There's Maria Pappas!' She's just a powerful force, a powerful political force."
