Democratic Party - 49th Ward

Election Day is Tuesday, Feb. 27

One of the most important things you can do to affect the future of our community is to vote.   At this point the election is in your hands.  You have seen the candidates, read their information, seen the blogs for whatever value you give them and now it is time to do your part.  There are 21,710 voters in the ward, after more than 1,100 people were registered to vote and 668 were deleted because they moved or re-registered at the same address since November, (800 of which were done by this organization.)  The simple truth is that registering to vote is not hard any more.  Voting isn't hard either.

The troubling thing is that even with the more optimistic projections a reasonable estimate of turnout across the city would be about 35%.  You can make that number one voter higher by coming out and voting.

The polls are open from 6:00 am to 7:00 pm.  If you don't know where your polling place is or wonder if you're currently registered check it out now.  The information is available on the Internet.

Business As Usual or A New Day?

Last Thursday, (Feb. 1, 2007), the Cook County Democratic Party met and filled the vacancy created by long-time party chairman Tom Lyons, formerly of the 45th Ward, when he resigned. Initially, Committeeman Lyons resigned due to poor health, but within days he passed away leaving a long and productive political career that his friends and family are proud of. 

The election for Party Chairman initially had three candidates, Lou Lang of Niles Township, Ike Carothers of the 29th Ward, and Joe Barrios of the 31st Ward.  In the strange system of Cook County Democratic politics that meant three minorities: an African-American, a Hispanic and a suburbanite.  A minority was guaranteed to make history with his election as Chairman.

Much to my honest surprise all three promised to make great changes and reforms in the by-laws, the traditional ways of doing business and in opening up the party to outsiders and to the public.  After 15 years of experience, forgive me if I am skeptical.  Maybe I would have a little more faith in the promises had they not instantly resorted to one of the least open and most common tactics of the Democratic Party.  The three contenders slipped off into a backroom and made a deal so that each of them would be able to hold a party office. Much to the surprise of no one, their was only one candidate with two new supporters 20 minutes later.  That candidate, Joe Barrios, was elected by a unanimous voice vote by those bothering to vote at all..

It had been said for days the candidates were going to reach an agreement.  As if it mattered I was for Lou Lang.  He seemed the most genuine in his desire to open up the party and bring it roaring in to the 20th century.  No that wasn’t a typo.

It’s a good thing that the local party has the ability to do what is best for its ward or township.

Early Voting Open: Take Advantage of It!

Early Voting is now open for the third election in Illinois voting.  The city has chosen to open an early voting site in every ward this election.  One can only hope that they will continue to have one per ward for all of the future elections.  Until now the closest early voting site was well out of the ward at Warren Park on 6601 N. Western. 

While it is the job of the Democratic Committeeman to win voters into the Democratic camp, this election for Alderman and Mayor as well as City Clerk and City Treasurer is a non-partisan election.

Two of the candidates say they are Democrats on their campaign signs and while the other two stretch the boundaries of being a good Democrat on some issues, I think it reasonable to assume they are Democrats as well.  The party has not taken a stance in local non-partisan elections again this year, but we would urge you to look at the candidates and see which one is the best Democrat for you.

Personally, I am supporting Joe Moore.  He represents many of the parties most important and closely held beliefs as is demonstrated by his work.

Early Voting Sites are as follows:

6601 N. Western,  Warren Park Field House
7340 N. Rogers,    Pottawatomie Park Field House
1210 W. Elmdale, Edgewater Branch, Chicago Public Library
For Other Sites Across Chicago, (you can vote at any of them)
http://www.chicagoelections.com/press/docs/PR-2007EarlyVoting011807-Eng.pdf

The locations are open from 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday through Friday and 9:00am to 12:00 Noon on Saturday and Sunday.  Early voting starts today, (02/05/07), and ends on February 22, 2007.  You do not need to declare a reason for wanting to early vote.  It is your right under Illinois law to do so.