Will Council's rubber stamps gather dust?

August 3, 2006

BY DICK SIMPSON

Are we entering a post-Daley era with an end to rubber-stamp City Councils that vote almost unanimously with the mayor almost all the time? This Council has had only 33 divided roll call votes when even one alderman voted in opposition since it took office in 2003. However, last week's vote on the big-box ordinance suggests that things will be different. Whether Daley can be defeated depends upon his opponents helping voters to connect the dots. African Americans are outraged at Daley's failure as state's attorney to prosecute Jon Burge for torturing blacks. But for them to vote against Daley that failure has to be connected with the low levels of affirmative action hiring and set-aside contracts for blacks. Whites are unhappy about the conviction of Robert Sorich and other Daley operatives for running patronage schemes and the rampant corruption exposed in the Hired Truck contract scandals. But for that to change their votes, it has to be connected to the higher property tax bills everyone will receive this month. To win over the Latino vote, Daley opponents have to demonstrate that Latinos will get even more jobs, contracts and elected Latino office -holders with some other mayor. When these dots are connected in the minds of the voters, Daley loses support and votes. Meanwhile, beneath the surface, other changes are transforming Chicago politics. Better challengers are rising up to run against do-nothing aldermen. They have more money, workers and stronger issues than in previous years. The Illinois Council of the Service Employees International Union has held three day-long training workshops for 500 potential candidates and community leaders. SEIU is committed to spending as much as $2 million to elect aldermen to better represent working people. The union is committing its organizers and hopes to engage the 250,000 people it represents in the alderman elections next February. While SEIU's greatest membership and clout is in South and West Side wards, other people are mobilizing on the lakefront and in Northwest Side wards to throw out unresponsive incumbents. The grass- roots movement that is gaining momentum has the clear goal of gaining at least 26 of the 50 seats in the Council. Even if they fall short, these campaigns could change today's rubber-stamp Council. It is easiest to illustrate the new politics by looking at the 3rd Ward, represented by 20-year controversial incumbent Dorothy Tillman. She is known for her broad-brimmed hats, her fiery orations, her past as a civil rights leader and her push for reparations for the descendants of slaves. When she was about to be challenged in the 2001 election, she suddenly raised her voting record with the mayor to 77 percent and won his support and re-election. She has since returned to voting with the mayor only 54 percent of the time on divided roll call votes from 2003-2005. In the last election in 2003, Pat Dowell, a community economic development director, challenged her and received 35 percent of the vote. Dowell is running again this time. More significantly, so is a new candidate, Mell Monroe, who announced his candidacy last month. He is the principal owner of Execusearch, which has placed more than 200 minority executives and professionals with Fortune 1000 companies. He is running on a platform of creating a family friendly community where high-quality education resources are available to everyone along with greater public safety, and giving residents a real voice in ward activities. Both Dowell and Monroe claim that Tillman is arrogant and no longer listens to her constituents. Monroe is a former school advisory council member and past president of Bronzeville Area Residents and Commerce Council. In addition to being an appealing candidate, he brings to the campaign his ability as a businessman to raise the necessary funds, and he has already hired an experienced professional staff able to run a strong campaign.

Defeating Tillman would not bring tears to the mayor's eyes, but defeating other old-time Daley loyalists would. In the coming election, there are strong challengers with real money and the ability to get their opposition message out in wards all over the city, such as the 43rd and 50th wards of Aldermen Vi Daley and Bernie Stone. Perhaps, the times they are a-changing.

 PAID FOR BY THE CITIZENS TO ELECT MELL MONROE

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