Democratic Party - 49th Ward

Why One Alderman Should Decide

The issue of “aldermanic prerogative” as the Sun-Times calls it in the June 12, 2008 edition has come front and center as an issue related to the relocation of the new Children’s Museum in Grant Park.  To answer the question up front, I don’t think that location is one I would have supported if I had been an alderman yesterday.  That isn’t the point of my writing here today though.  A big problem I have about this issue is the wholesale disregard for an age old tradition that is vital to the self-determination of communities and the people of Chicago.  This prerogative I am speaking of is the practice of letting the local alderman decide if a zoning change is good or the bad for their ward.

It is a great tool that gives a local community and its residents a fair shot at seeing their interests protected.  It isn’t perfect.  In the wrong hands it can be destructive.  The thing makes it work is that most politicians know that voting against a majority of the voters in their ward is absolutely not a vote for the politicians’ long-term self interest.  Because of this, an overwhelming amount of the time Aldermen and Alderwomen use the “aldermanic prerogative” to do what is best for the community.

The down side is obvious to some and with a little thought would be to all; if only one person gets to make the decision it could very easily open the process to corruption.  By that I mean the real kind where people go to prison not the I don’t agree with you so you are corrupt type so often mentioned by those who just don’t like some elected official.
If you think about this, the opportunity to steal or misuse the power is always going to be there.  Let’s say every vote was based on “merit” as one might call it and every alderman voted up or down request by request.  The way this would go bad is that developers don’t work in only one community.  The big ones work all across the city and will or could have development in every ward without a lot of effort.  It would also be simple to spread a little money around to win the wards that don’t have a project yet.  Chicago is so big most votes would be on properties that the vast majority of the Alderman would have never seen and will never be personally or politically connected to for any reason.

The simple system is to hold one person/alderman responsible for the zoning changes in the ward during each term, evaluate the outcome, evaluate the process for reaching the outcome if that is important and let the voters decide if the choices were made in an appropriate fashion with a proper outcome.

There are some places that people feel are more important to the city as a whole, such as the lake front parks or downtown, but those are also some ones neighborhood just like the streets with street-end beaches are home to some others.  At this point I can’t hope it doesn’t happen because it has and for practical purposes it is done.  What I am hopeful for is that this was a rare occurrence and will not happen again for years.  The local alderman knows his ward.  Our best bet is to trust them and then measure up their decisions, the right ones and the wrong ones, when the time is right.

Thump!!!

That noise we all heard on Saturday around noon was the door closing on the primary season.  The general election started today.  Nobody can question that Hillary did a good job of standing in support of Obama, (despite what I think is her personal agenda).  As we move into the real fight, it is obviously time for all Democrats to unite.  Its going to take some work, but at this point the basic environment required for a Democrat to win is solidly formed and I feel better than I have in a long time that the Democrats are going to win the White House.

All that said, it will not happen without the work.  The best thing we can do in Illinois is to register as many neighbors as possible to vote in this election.  Somewhere between eight and nine of every ten voters registered in the 49th Ward will vote Democratic in November.  If you are committed to Obama, committed to Democratic victory, committed to the vital changes we need in America's agenda then it is time to step up and get some people registered.  The Democrats of the 49th Ward can help you.  Send us an e-mail and we will get you everything you need.

We also can play a role outside of Illinois since Illinois is expected to be completely safe.  We can help in other states where our efforts will be used to swing a state to Obama that might have went to McCain like Iowa, Indiana or Wisconsin.  We in the 49th Ward are committed to continuing to work with the Obama campaign to find opportunities wherever they are.  Let us know how you can help with this important work by send an e-mail to us telling us what you can do and when you can do it.  Maybe those vacation days you need to use can be put towards a good cause.

The Endless Possibilities of Hope

Living in a liberal community with the tremendous racial diversity of the 49th Ward we sometimes forget where America as a whole stands on the issue of race.  In many opinion polls that have been taken during this race for President we have seen a small but still significant number of people who only need a look at Barack Obama to see that he cannot be their candidate.  As far as we like to think we have come as a nation we truly have a way to go.

With that said, nobody should overlook the milestone in American history that we have reached on this historic night.  The funny thing, and in reality the good thing, is that the importance of this milestone is closely related to the age of the person.  While anybody can see the history made tonight, it seems from talking to people that the older you are the more important this milestone is.  I believe that is because the older someone is the more they have seen and have lived in times when racism was not only the norm, but was in some places the law of the land.

During this campaign our organization has not only worked hard in the 49th Ward for Obama, but we have spent days in Iowa and Wisconsin, in Ohio and Indiana volunteering to help Obama.  In every state it has been the same, an incredible diversity of the people who have been volunteering.  I believe that Obama has already shown he has the ability to change old ways of thinking.  I believe if he is elected President he has the potential to bring America significantly forward on the issue of building a colorblind society, perhaps even farther than Dr. King has done.

While I have many hopes for an Obama presidency, one of my hopes for the future of the United States is that the open minds that seemingly come as standard issue in so many of the young people I have seen on the campaign trail will someday be the norm and the idea that someone will never be able to be President because of the color of their skin will seem ridiculously old fashion.

Why Hillary is Still In the Race?

I have wondered for several weeks now what she was doing since it was obviously over.  I have thought for the last couple of weeks that a politician as bright as she is and being someone who is surrounded by other brilliant political minds that Hillary was staying in the game for something.  I believe that the thing she is doing is trying to drive enough of a wedge between the two camps that Barack will lose to McCain.

I don’t think she will be asked to be the Vice-President and I don’t think she would accept anyway.  Hillary wants to be the President and if she sets up the 2008 election the right way, she can come into the 2012 race without a significant challenge and be taking on what would be the another term of George W. Bush.  It was her own husband who saw the opportunity in second term election of George 41 in 1992 that people wanted change.  After three terms of very conservative Republican leadership America will want something new.

Who better to step forward and remind people that she was so very close to winning in “08” and that if America had listened we would not have had to struggle through the four more years of Iraq and other conservative policies.  She is trying to do everything she can to weaken Obama without getting any dirt on her hands.  This impossible dream that somehow she is going to win in 2008 is a smoke screen.  We need to come together as a party and move forward and forget about personal ambitions of particular candidates.

As is so often the case, four years can be an eternity with the wrong President in office.  I think that people are starting to catch on to her game and because of that I think we will soon see her stepping aside to graciously support the nominee.  Unfortunately by then she will have done everything she can to set up her 2012 campaign. 

How unfortunate.

Cook County Democratic Party Reforms Are A Success

For the past two days, Sept. 6 & 7, the Cook County Democratic Party met to endorse candidates for the 2008 Democratic primary elections.  It was truly a breath of fresh air.  New Chairman Joseph Berrios promised that as our new Chairman he would open up the process.  I was skeptical to be honest, but Chairman Berrios delivered on his promise.  I am proud of him and his leadership.  For the first time in all of the time I have been a committeeman all 80 committeemen were part of the process of selecting the candidates that will represent the party.

Much of the work of the Central Committee is done is sub-committees.  In the past the sub-committees were hand picked and as a result a small number of people had tremendous influence over who would be nominated.  This time each committeeman was allowed to be on any sub-committee they chose and for the first time I was able to sit on the committee that made the recommendations to the full body.  I don’t think you will find a committeeman who wouldn’t agree that things have changed significantly at the Central Committee of the Cook County Democratic Party.  You may find a few who are not happy with the change, but the vast majority would tell you it is better.

The following is a list of the  Cook County Democratic Party endorsed candidates for the February 5, 2008 election:

                                                                   

Judicial Office (Name of Vacancy)	Endorsed Candidate
Supreme Court (McMorrow)	Anne Burke
Appellate Court (Burke)	Alan J. Grieman
Appellate Court (Campbell)	John O. Steele
Countywide Circuit Court (Glowacki)	Jesse G. Reyes
Countywide Circuit Court (Montelione)	Thaddeus L. Wilson
Countywide Circuit Court (Keehan)	Marilyn F. Johnson
Countywide Circuit Court (Murphy)	Paula Lingo
Countywide Circuit Court (Nowicki)	Michael B. Hyman
Countywide Circuit Court (Thomas)	Joan Powell
Countywide Circuit Court (Healy)	Maureen Ward-Kirby
Countywide Circuit Court (Disko)	Lauretta Higgins Wolfson
Countywide Circuit Court (Lott)	Thomas J. Byrne
Countywide Circuit Court – Alternate 1	Stephen J. Connelly
Countywide Circuit Court – Alternate 2	Diann Marsalek
Countywide Circuit Court – Alternate 3	Sandra G. Ramos
Countywide Circuit Court – Alternate 4	Dennis J. Burke

 

                           

Elected Office	Endorsed Candidate
States Attorney	OPEN PRIMARY
Clerk of the Circuit Court	Dorothy Brown
Recorder of Deeds	Eugene “Gene” Moore
Commissioner – Water Reclamation Dist.	Kathleen Therese Meany
Commissioner – Water Reclamation Dist.	Frank Avila
Commissioner – Water Reclamation Dist.	Dean Maragos

The item that is getting the most news is the fact that the party chose to have an open primary in the race for States Attorney.  In sub-committee the votes were divided between the candidates ranging from 25% to 40% for each candidate.  It may have been possible to try to squeeze the field to the top two candidates and force a situation where someone would have gotten 50% of the vote, but that would have been destructive.  Sometimes the best decision is to not force a decision.  The right decision was made in my opinion.

The one unfortunate thing that happened was the inclusion in the new by-laws of a clause that allows for Committeemen who did not support the endorsed slate can be stripped of the right to serve on a committee.  While there has been dramatic change and definite improvements in the process, this clause means that there is still room for improvement.  Maybe once they try to enforce this they will find that it is not advisable and will revise the by-laws. 

Mar Dinkha IV Blvd.

On Sunday July 15, 2007 I had the honor of being part of a celebration of Mar Dinkha IV's 50th anniversary of becoming a priest.  It was an honor to be a part of this event.  I didn't go expecting this to be something truly memorable but it was.  As a Roman Catholic, the people of the Assyrian Church of the East are my religious brothers and sisters.  This man is a leader of the faith with a long and distinguished history.  In his presence I felt the goodness coming from him.  It was the same goodness that had so many in the audience smiling and cheering.  As I said in my comments on the church stairs, "a man who has served as a priest for 50 years has had a profound impact on the lives of thousands."

It was clear that the people who are members of the church believed this.  They were very moved by this man and his presence. This was an event that I will not forget anytime soon.  There was real passion for this man of God and I am happy to have been a part of this ceremony.  An honorary street naming is a little bit of recognition for a man who has done immeasurable good for the world.

More about Mar Dinkha IV

A Real World-wide Image Problem for Chicago

My wife recently returned from a visit to NYC and as we have heard the Michael Abbate video of him allegedly beating a small female bartender for not serving him more liquor was shown in New York.  As almost everyone in America, and now most of the televised world now knows, Chicago has a problem with police officers using the power of the badge to service their personal needs.  This is a huge public policy issue, and one can only hope that the State’s Attorney will follow up on these cases appropriately and that Mayor Daley’s proposed reform will help address these problems.

What I find fascinating is that this issue has given Chicago a very serious black eye on the world stage at a time when the city is competing for the opportunity to host the 2016 Olympics.  My question is this, where is the outrage?  Where are the continuous blogs from those so terribly troubled about the reputation of Chicago.  Where are the Alderman who had so great a fear about the city being ridiculed for something this terrible?

They all showed up for foie gras, when it promoted their political agenda, but I guess this real and serious problem isn’t quite as useful.  I believe that the foie gras story was exploited because the Tribune had its own agenda for the recent local elections supporting, as always, the local business community and wanting to make some elected officials look foolish.  At the local level nearly every blogger who wrote about the outrage of foie gras ultimately showed their colors and came out for Gordon.  There has been coverage in the papers, none or almost none on the blogs but I hope that the coverage starts or continues and intensifies to show that the policy this city has for addressing police malfeasance is broken, the department’s culture of not addressing these problems is partially to blame and that the citizens find this unacceptable.

Moving Forward Rather Than Standing Still

Don Gordon has gone on and filed his complaint regarding the election and it will make its way through court system until it reaches a conclusion.  If history is a guide, it will not change the election results in any significant way.  No matter what happens it could be days or could be years until a final decision in reached.  As a community we cannot afford to stand by and wait.

There are many things to do in the 49th Ward as we move past the campaign and into the next four years.  I don’t believe that anyone is content with things exactly the way they are.  I believe that while there are differences in the level of importance we assign to things, the differences in what things need to be done is small.  Things that most agree upon are perhaps a good place to start.  These are my top five not in any order of importance:

1.)  Crime should continue to decrease. 
2.)  Affordable housing should continue and increase. 
3.)  The lakefront must continue to be protected and preserved in a way that benefits those neighbors immediately at the lakefront and all of the rest of the 49th Warders which means more access, programs and activities.  (Maybe even the much debated dog park idea can be addressed with some space it the ward set aside for it.) 
4.)  We need to develop a strategy to increase the desire of people and business owners to invest their hard earned money into our business strips.  People will not invest because the Alderman says so or asks nicely.  It has to be in their financial interest. 
5.)  We need to preserve single family homes when it makes good sense and make smart choices on the very few occasions when it doesn’t.

Those things I list above are in and of themselves difficult tasks to accomplish.  But there are more.  CTA, Schools, Bad Landlords, a Boys & Girls club are just a few more.  And there are more, some of which are directly related to an Alderman and his power, and others that will require support from other politicians and branches of government. 

This new term is an opportunity to put many ideas on the table and have them looked over.  I would urge all of those who have some idea of how they would like to see things go forward to make written suggestions and send them to the Alderman’s office. I would hope that there are hundreds of these e-mails that come in so it might not be realistic to expect responses to each, but I do think that two things will come from this.  One is that the Alderman will get a very direct and a more refined sense of what you want.  Second is that in these suggestions will come good ideas that will lead to things that actually happen.

The start of a new term is a good time to take stock of where things are and where you would like things to go.  Send your thoughts and ideas.

Outside Interests

There are some who are quite concerned that union folks, namely SEIU, are in the neighborhood volunteering for one of the candidates.  They go so far as to suggest that there is no reason for them to be here based on that foolish theory that some have fallen in love with that goes something like "nothing is important if it isn’t between the boundary lines of the ward."

That theory leads to some very interesting policy positions.  One of many things an Alderman has done forever at city council meetings is vote to approve or deny any number of ordinances or resolutions that have nothing to do with the 49th Ward.  Would people who believe in this boundary theory suggest that the 49th Ward Alderman vote present unless he can verify that it impacts the ward?

There has to be a balance and a recognition that even if you are not a delegate to the United Nations, or sent to Washington, DC,  Springfield, IL, or any other level of government, but the city you are still a citizen of the United States and you have a right if not a responsibility to stand up and be heard on the most important issues of our time.  A resolution like the Iraq War resolution is not unimportant.  It is also not terribly difficult or time consuming to prepare, introduce and vote on.  It is an issue that thousands of 49th Warders care about and hundreds have shown their support for ending the war.  This was a simple statement about the war and how the city residents feel about it. In this case it is obvious that Bush isn't listening to anyone let alone this resolution, but it still sent a message that was important.

Many have said that the living wage bill is foolish because it will never apply to a business in the 49th Ward.  The candidate opposing a the living wage ordinace has said this in public citing the fact that there is no footprint that would suit this type of development.  Let me just point out that it doesn’t have to be a 49th Ward store for 49th Ward residents to work there.  When the living wage ordinance is passed by the city council and the county board and it becomes the first step towards raising minimum wages to living wages it will absolutely be for all of the people in the 49th Ward (even those who earn 10 times the living wage) because it will help to put more money in peoples pockets and create more disposable income.

No Alderman is elected to the Chicago City Council with the sole purpose of representing only their ward. The obligation is to represent your ward and the city.  Who ever wins this elections is going to do that regardless of what they say today and it would be a dramatic change from all Chicago history if they didn’t.

As to the objection to union folks I started this post with, there are thousands of union members in this ward.  There are hundreds, if not thousands, of SEIU members that live in the ward and by the way, some of them work in the ward for various employers as well.  But if your real point is that organizations from outside the community shouldn't be here maybe you should start with your own candidate who has take money and support from the restaurant association and if he hasn’t already will be taking money and support from the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, an organization that has a downtown address and a complete list of downtown interests that will do nothing for the 49th Ward.

And if you think that both sides don't have supporters from beyond the borders ask the resturant team where Chef Didier Durand was on February 27.

Debates With A Purpose

Before some group starts planning new debates I propose we all demand that the debates be more interesting and that the format be less self serving. I don’t know about you, but 6 more debates with the same 10 questions for the 7^th, 8^th or more time cannot possibly be enlightening. The topics and agendas addressed in the initial debates are important and valuable, but a second high school debate and a second BizArts debate is not really necessary. I would also argue that it is unnecessary to again have community sponsored debates that, to varying degrees, use the debate to showcasing their organization by having detailed questions from the group’s members take up much of the time. These groups have justifiably had a chance to highlight what is important to themand some of the public. It is the communities turn and the debates should serve the public interest.

In my mind, the purpose of a debate is to illustrate the subtle or in some cases dramatic differences between candidates. With only two candidates now there should be more difficult and specific questions, requiring more specific answers and there should be direct interaction between the two candidates. A format that focuses on a single or similar topics rather than the scatter shot questions across the entire spectrum that we have seen so far would be more insightful into the candidates, their positions and their thought process. Maybe someone with political savvy and no direct interest in the ward such as Rich Miller or Laura Washington from the Sun-Times could moderate.

Another possibility would be to randomly involve the public without screening the questions or allowing a more partisan panel to make decisions. Maybe Ginderske and Adams could be part of a screening panel or be co-moderators.

In the end I would like the debates have a purpose and to bring out some voters that really have a decision to make. Most debates, in this ward or any other, turn out to be a pep rally for each of the candidate’s volunteers. If the audience was asked at any of the first round debates who was genuinely undecided I would guess that maybe 15% didn’t come with their decision made. What is the point if that is going to continue to be the trend.