Are we entering a post-Daley era wi...

Are we entering a post-Daley era with an extreme point to rubber-stamp City Councils that ballot almost unanimously with the mayor almost all the time? This Council has had solely 33 divided roll call suffrages when even one alderman vot in opposition since it took office in 2003 However, last week's promised on the big-box ordinance hints that things will be different.

Whether Daley can be defeated hangs upon his opponents helping voter to conjoin the dots. African Americans are outraged at Daley's failure as state's attorney to carry on Jon Burge for torturing blacks. if it be not that for them to vote against Daley that failure has to be conjoined 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 expos in the Hired give in exchange contract scandals. But for that to change their consecrated by a vows it has to be link togethered to the higher property tax bills everyone will receive this month

To win athwart the Latino vote, Daley enemys have to demonstrate that Latinos will obtain even more jobs, contracts and pickeded Latino office -holders with an other mayor.

When these dots are cohereed in the minds of the voter Daley fail to keeps support and votes.

Meanwhile, beneath the surface, other changes are transforming Chicago politics. Better challengers are rising up to post against do- nothing aldermen. They have more riches workers and stronger issues than in previous years.

The Illinois Council of the Service Employee International Union has held three day-long training workshops for 500 potential candidates and community leaders. SEIU is committed to spending as a great quantity [i]or[/i] amount of as $2 million to make choice of aldermen to better represent working populace The union is committing its organizers and sense of possible fulfilments to engage the 250,000 folks it represents in the alderman elections nearest February.

While SEIU's greatest membership and clout is in southern and West Side wards, other tribe are mobilizing on the lakefront and in Northwest Side wards to project out unresponsive incumbents. The grass- bottoms movement that is gaining impetus has the clear goal of gaining at least 26 of the 50 seats in the Council. uniform if they fall short, these campaigns could change today's rubber-stamp Council.

It is easiest to illustrate the of recent origin politics by looking at the 3rd Ward, exhibited 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 on a sudden raised her voting record with the mayor to 77 percent and won his support and re- election. She has since recured to voting with the mayor single 54 percent of the time forward divided roll call votes from 2003-2005

In the last election in 2003 Pat Dowell, a community economic progress to maturity director, challenged her and received 35 percent of the devoted Dowell is running again this time.

More significantly, thus is a new candidate, Mell Monroe who announced his candidacy last month He is the principal proprietor of Execusearch, which has placed more than 200 minority executives and professionals with Fortune 1000 companies. He is running forward 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.

one as well as the other Dowell and Monroe claim that Tillman is arrogant and no longer listens to her constituents.

Monroe is a former gymnasium advisory council member and past president of Bronzeville Area Residents and trade Council. In addition to being an appealing candidate, he brings to the campaign his ability as a businessman to raise the necessary permanent funds and he has already hired an experienced professional staff able to stream a strong campaign.

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

e-mail: simpson@uic.edu

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