12 Years and Still Going Strong

Today marks twelve years of service for me as the Democratic Committeeman of the 49th Ward.  On this date in 1993, as prescribed by the Democratic Party of Cook County, I was elected by the precinct captains of the 49th Ward to complete the term of recently resigned committeeman Lee Preston.  I had served as the President of the organization for the 5 years previous and won the internal election in a unanimous vote of the Captains.  It wasn’t until several months later that I was officially appointed by the Cook County Central Committee, but while that was the official act, that was also nothing more than a mere a formality.

Most of you would be surprised to know that at the time I became the Committeeman, Joe Moore and I were on opposite sides of the fence.  In Joe’s first election for Alderman I was the Aldermanic Chief of Staff for Bob Clarke, the incumbent appointed Alderman by Mayor Daley when David Orr became the Cook County Clerk.  Between 1991 and 1993 Joe and spoke infrequently at best, but when the opportunity became available to be Committeeman I sat down with Joe Moore and David Orr and asked them to support a new and better local Democratic Party.  From that point until today we have successfully built a local Democratic Party that is strong, fair, representative, and inclusive.

During the past 12 years we have seen an incredible change in America, Illinois, and Chicago.  The entire scene in Washington has gone from Democrat to Republican while in Springfield the reverse has happened and it has become the Democrats holding nearly every office.  The County government has suddenly become a hot bed of political action with floor fights and budget battles.  While the city has not changed in terms of elected leaders, both Mayor Daley and Alderman Moore continue to serve, the city as a whole and Rogers Park/Edgewater in particular have changed.

Even the Democratic Party has changed a great deal over the past 12 years.  Our 49th Ward organization has been on the cutting edge of building an organization that works in the modern era.  That couldn’t have been made any clearer to me than at our last committeeman’s meeting when the talk turned to building organizations without relying patronage and using e-mail and the Internet to reach the voters.

I am very fortunate to serve in a community as wonderful as the 49th Ward is.  The organization we have put together is a collage of the many people in the community.  I am also fortunate that I represent a community that is incredibly progressive, out spoken and fighters for what they believe in.  I have held nearly 100 community meetings asking people to get involved in the organization and again and again people have responded.  I won my most recent election with a strong showing of 61% of the vote in a three way race.  Being the Ward Committeeman is a tough job, my wife certainly can attest to that, but it is a job I love.

It is because of the support of the people of the 49th Ward that I have been able to continue to do the job and for that I am both genuinely appreciative and thankful.  To all of you who have helped me along the way either by voting for me, working with me, or sending your hard earned dollars of support to me I want to say . . .

Thank You for 12 fantastic years!
Here's to 12 more that will be even better!

David Fagus
Your Democratic Committeeman