January 22, 2003
"FIRST FATHER-IN-LAW" MELL BECOMES A CAMPAIGN ISSUE
ANALYSIS & OPINION BY RUSS STEWART
Veteran Northwest Side Alderman Dick Mell (33rd) never tires in the pursuit of political power, and, as Illinois' "First Father-in-Law," he arguably is at the zenith of his political power. With son-in-law Rod Blagojevich installed as the state's governor, Mell's political playing field has expanded from just Chicago to the entire state.
But before Mell plucked Blagojevich from obscurity and made him a state representative in 1992, and before he engineered Blagojevich's election to the 5th U.S. House District seat in 1996, and before he helped orchestrate Blagojevich's stunning, out-of-nowhere election as governor in 2002, Mell reveled in meddling in the affairs of other Chicago wards. Mell's army of precinct workers were regularly dispatched to various wards to support Mell-anointed candidates.
One of those anointees was Vilma Colom, who in 1995 was elected alderman in the newly created Puerto Rican-majority 35th Ward. The ward adjoins Mell's 33rd Ward, and Mell dispatched his troops to elect Colom in 1995 and to re-elect her in 1999. Mell, and Mell's exercise of political power, is an issue in this year's aldermanic races in the 35th and 38th wards. Here's a look at those contests:
35th Ward (Logan Square: Irving Park to North Avenue, east of the Kennedy Expressway, west to Lawndale): "(Colom) is a pawn of Mell and of the developers," charged Rey Colon, who got 39 percent of the vote against Colom in 1999. "She follows his lead."
Gentrification is a huge issue in the ward. The explosive growth of property values in Wicker Park, just east of the 35th Ward, and the encroachment of white property buyers and rehabbers into the area west of Western-North Avenue (extending west to California-North), has begun to jack up rentals. Those who buy brownstones, two-flats or apartment buildings either evict the tenants or raise rents; that means Hispanic tenants are forced to move further west. For those who live in the area, and for the politicians who represent them, the issue of affordable housing is paramount. The Hispanics who, 10 years ago, lived in low-rent apartments in Wicker Park, are long gone; will those renters living around Kimball-Fullerton and points north also be gone by 2010?
Interestingly, Home Depot is a symbolic issue. The anti-development crowd believes that once a Home Depot comes, rehabbers are not far behind. It's not an issue of jobs for local residents; instead, it's an issue of property owners buying supplies to upgrade their property. Under the City Council's 2001 remap, which was controlled by Mell as chairman of the Rules Committee, roughly 30 percent of Mell's old 33rd Ward -- the Hispanic-majority area south of Belmont to Belle Plaine and west of Kedzie to Irving Park -- was added to the 35th Ward.
Mell had not objected to the opening of a Home Depot in the Kimball-Addison area, which was then in his ward. That area now in the 35th Ward, after the remap, and Colon faults Colom for not opposing it. Colom said that it was a "done deal" in the 33rd Ward, with Mell having approved the rezoning, and that she could do nothing to stop it. Colon argues that there is already a Home Depot at Elston-Logan, along the River near Goose Island, and one at Cicero-Armitage. "We don't need another one," he said. "We need to preserve affordable housing."
Another issue, according to Colon, is crime. "Crime is down citywide, but it is up in our ward," he said. The incidence of major crime in the 25th Police District is the second highest in Chicago, and that in the 14th District is the fourth highest. "She is not working with the local police and CAPS, and she has not been part of the solution for the past 8 years," charged Colon.
Colom vociferously rejects Colon's allegations. "Crime is down (in the ward), school performance is up, my block clubs are effective, and local businesses are prospering," Colom said. She said that 38 new businesses have opened in her ward since 1995, including 20 new restaurants, and that she has presided over "balanced development." As to Colon's assertion that as alderman he would call wardwide "Town Hall" meetings to discuss zoning matters, such as the Home Depot situation, and that Colom should have done likewise, Colom said it is not economically feasible. "We do not have the funding and the resources to notify everybody (in the ward) and to hold meetings on every zoning change," she said.
As to Colon's "Mell pawn" allegation, Colom dissembled, saying that Mell has "been in my office only once," but she did not deny the assertion that Mell's precinct workers came to her aid in past elections. "I appreciate his support," she said.
Colon is trying to make the presence of Dominic Longo in Colom's campaign an issue. Longo is a longtime city worker and political operative who was convicted of vote fraud in the 1980s; he was active in Blagojevich's 1996 congressional campaign, and in 2002 he helped run Bob Bugielski's race for state representative. "I do not keep track of everybody who works for me," said Colom, who did admit that Longo is "helping with literature distribution" in her campaign.
The 35th Ward is more than 70 percent Hispanic, with roughly two-thirds of the Hispanics being Puerto Rican (as are Colom and Colon); 25 percent of the ward's residents are white and 5 percent are black. Colon, a former Chicago Park District official, lost to Colom in 1999 by 4,819-3,044, a margin of 1,775 votes. In 1995 Colom won the seat by 4,786-3,311 over police officer Louis Lara, a margin of 1,475 votes. It is safe to conclude that Colom has not entrenched herself.
Colon was fired from his job at a local YMCA in late 2002, which he claims was the doing of Colom. Both candidates filed more than 2,000 signatures on their nominating petitions. According to independent observers, Colon has more backing from neighborhood groups than Colom does, and that could be critical. Colon is endorsed by state Senator Miguel del Valle's organization, and by many activists associated with the Logan Square Neighborhood Association and the Organization of Palmer Square; Colom is endorsed by Mell, Mayor Rich Daley, U.S. Representative Luis Gutierrez, state Senator Iris Martinez (who is her campaign manager), County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado and the Hispanic Democratic Organization, which is an arm of Daley's operation.
The outlook: It is tough to oust any incumbent, especially in a low-turnout election, as Feb. 25 is expected to be. But Colon's anti-Mell, anti-Daley, anti-Home Depot, anti-development message is resonating, and there is a sizable anti-Colom base vote in the ward. My prediction: Colom will win by fewer than 500 votes.
38th Ward (Northwest Side: Portage Park west to Harlem-Irving, north of Belmont to Gunnison): There are few friends in politics, and those who try to befriend Mell (so-called FODs, Friends-of-Dick) find it to be a one-way street. Mell is notorious for making promises to everybody before an election, in order to get the supplicant to work in the election, and then developing amnesia after the election.
Chicago police officer Chester Hornowski is a longtime FOD, and he spends a lot of time hanging around Mell's office. Hornowski ran for alderman in the old 30th Ward in 1991 and lost - getting no help from Mell. He also has run for many other offices over the past two decades, both as a Democrat and a Republican. He's now running for alderman in the 38th Ward, as his precinct in the Old Irving Park area of the 30th Ward was remapped into the 38th Ward.
Hornowski made some headlines last month when Deb Gordils, who is running against Mell for alderman in the 33rd Ward, charged that, while on duty, he took photos of her house, allegedly to assist Mell's attempt to knock her off the ballot. Mell promptly disavowed any association with Hornowski and endorsed 38th Ward Alderman Tom Allen. For Hornowski, being a FOD is a no-way street.
Allen, seeking his third term, is unbeatable anyway. During the 1990s the ward was in a state of flux: the Polish immigrants in the Belmont-Central area were moving out, Hispanics were moving in, and the rooming-house situation (with multiple families occupying houses) was mushrooming. But now, Allen said, the ward "has stabilized."
Among his accomplishments, Allen pointed to the streetscaping of Irving Park and the ward's east end, with new sidewalks and planters; the downzoning of dilapidated manufacturing properties to residential in Old Irving Park and along Milwaukee Avenue, where 120 new housing units were built; construction of a new Austin-Irving Library; $60 million in physical school upgrades; development of the old Read-Dunning property; and the conversion of a church at 5800 W. Dakin into a cultural center.
"We have had balanced change, and the ward is stable," Allen said.
The outlook: Allen was unopposed in 1999, and he got 65 percent of the vote in 1995, when he had three foes. At the moment, Hornowski's campaign doesn't even have a pulse. Allen should win with more than 80 percent of the vote.