May 9, 2007
REPUBLICANS "SURGE" IN COUNTY SUBURBAN RACES

ANALYSIS & OPINION BY RUSS STEWART

Call it a countercyclical phenomenon. Or an aberration. But Republicans did exceedingly well in three suburban municipal elections -- and in Carbondale in Southern Illinois.

While the Bush Administration's popularity continues to deteriorate, while problems in Iraq look intractable, and while the Republicans seem primed for another pasting in 2008, it was a good year for Republicans in suburban Park Ridge, Morton Grove and Harwood Heights on April 17. Here's an analysis:

Park Ridge: In a search-and-destroy mission, Republican Mayor Howard Frimark gets a medal for "mission accomplished." The nascent Democrats, after winning in 2003, were poised to seize control of city government, but Frimark isolated, neutralized and vaporized them. In other words, they no longer exist.

Frimark, elected mayor in 2005, confronted a City Council in which Democrats and their allies held a 9-4 majority among the 14 aldermen, with one vacancy. They stripped him of his powers of appointment and looked to oust him in 2009. But, in a stroke of brilliance, Frimark put a referendum on the 2006 ballot to reduce the City Council from 14 to seven, effective in 2007, with 4-year terms. It passed with 53.3 percent of the vote.

Ten of the 14 incumbent aldermen chose not to run, including six outspokenly anti-Frimark Democrats. Only one, Rex Parker, chose to seek re-election. On April 17 Parker lost to pro-Frimark Tom Carey by the hefty margin of 1,043-654. The new City Council contains six pro-Frimark aldermen, one independent and no Democrats.

Frimark serves through 2009. He won by 4,889-3,224, with 60.2 percent of the vote, in 2005. There will be no aldermanic races in 2009, as all terms run through 2011. Independent Alderman Frank Wsol could run for mayor. Without ward races, turnout in 2009 will be abysmal, and Frimark should win easily. The mayor could run for state senator in 2008 against freshman Democrat Dan Kotowski (D-33) or for Maine Township Republican committeeman in 2010. Whatever his future, Frimark is one smart politician.

Harwood Heights: The "Gang of Four" is now the "Gang No More."

In 2003 Democrat Peggy Fuller was elected a village trustee, along with two of her allies, George Alex and Mark Dobrzycki, beating the slate backed by Mayor Norb Pabich. Joined by Trustee Mary Duffy, the so-called "Gang of Four" seized control of village government and emasculated Pabich, a Republican elected in 2001 by 87 votes. Harwood Heights elects three trustees every 2 years.

In 2005 Fuller ran against Pabich for mayor and won by 28 votes in a turnout of 1,969. Fuller got 895 votes, to 857 for Pabich and 217 for Joe Scott. The village has 10 precincts, so she beat him by about three votes per precinct. Fuller ripped Pabich as being ineffectual, and in a village experiencing an influx of Polish Americans, she was aided by the support of Dobrzycki, who enticed many Poles to support her. After the election, Fuller had a 5-1 majority among the trustees, as two pro-Fuller candidates also won. As mayor, she has been as inept and as dithering as Pabich.

It was back to the past in 2007, as anti-Fuller Republicans won two of three trustee spots. The winners were Democrat Dobrzycki, who lost a 2006 bid for state representative, Mike Gadzinski, the Norwood Park Township Republican committeeman, and Therese Schuepfer, an ally of Republican Trustee Arlene Jezierny. The vote was 833 for Dobrzycki, 827 for Schuepfer and 712 for Gadzinski. Losers were pro-Fuller incumbents George Alex (620) and Bill Heinzinger (653). But the "Gang of Three" doesn't neutralize her power. On a 3-3 vote, Fuller breaks the tie. It will be bickerers' heaven for the next 2 years.

Interestingly, Gadzinski and Schuepfer drew support from a diverse array of Northwest Side political powerhouses, including the late Rosemont Mayor Don Stephens, state Representative Mike McAuliffe (R-20), who beat Dobrzycki in 2006, Alderman Brian Doherty (41st), Alderman Bill Banks (36th) and state Senator Jim DeLeo (D-10), who all sent in workers.

Fuller once made noises about running against DeLeo in a Democratic primary or against McAuliffe. She encouraged Dobrzycki to run in 2006. She threatened the McAuliffe/Doherty/Banks/DeLeo "nonaggression pact." So 2007 was a "surgical strike" designed to undermine her power, and it succeeded. Jezierny, an ally of McAuliffe, is primed to run for mayor in 2009, although Gadzinski may be so inclined. If they both run, Fuller wins; if they unite, Fuller loses. Expect a Jezierny-Fuller contest and a Jezierny win.

Morton Grove: Democratic Mayor Rick Krier has been having a lot of very bad days. One was April 17.

Back in 2005, longtime Democrat Krier ran for mayor as a "reformer," criticizing the incumbent Action Party regime, an alliance of village Democrats and Republicans. He was supported by the Caucus Party, which is the moniker used by the Niles Township Democrats to elect Democrats to municipal office. Krier beat the Action Party's mayoral nominee, Dan Staackmann, a village trustee and an avowed Republican, by 2,435-1,955, getting 55 percent of the vote.

As mayor, Krier has been a near disaster. His 2007 budget of $53.3 million raised taxes to fund police and fire pensions and passed by a 4-3 vote, with Krier breaking the tie. The expiring fuel and beverage taxes were renewed. The village's property tax levy was increased by 25 percent over 2 years. Controversy surrounded the Waukegan Road TIF District and the Dempster-Lehigh development, with critics seeking to eliminate the TIF district and allocate the funds to other projects. Krier also failed to eliminate the hated garbage tax.

A clear signal of Krier's diminished popularity was the April election for three trustees. The newly created Reform Party, a faction of the Caucus Party, fielded three contenders: Sherwin Dubren, Bill Luksha and Bruce Tarpey, who got 458, 437 and 461 votes, respectively. The Action Party, now a wholly-owned Republican subsidiary, won all three seats, with Staackmann leading the field (1,746 votes), followed by former township Republican committeeman Shel Marcus (1,561) and John Thill (1,547). The three pro-Krier Caucus candidates ran up dismal vote totals: Carol Gail (862), Dale Senensky (795) and Dayal Patel (680).

Even if the Reform and Caucus votes were combined, the Republicans still had a clear majority. Voters are not happy with Krier. Staackmann is primed to run again in 2009. Yet he lost mayoral races in 1997 and 2005, and some Republicans want Trustee Dan DiMaria to run.

The early outlook: According to Dubren, there will be a Reform Party candidate for mayor in 2009, which means Krier loses and the Action Party candidate wins. But if both Staackmann and DiMaria run, they split the Republican vote and Krier wins. Don't be surprised if the Action Party mandates a primary and lets them fight it out.

Carbondale: In a huge upset, incumbent Republican Mayor Brad Cole beat Democrat Sheila Simon, the daughter of the late U.S. Senator Paul Simon. In a town with a population of 25,597 and with a transient Southern Illinois University student population of 25,000, Cole's party affiliation and career baggage should have made him toast. Cole, age 35, was a deputy chief of staff to Governor George Ryan, and he won his first election as mayor in 2003 by 21 votes.

In the Feb. 27 municipal election, he had just 819 votes (37.8 percent of the total cast), to 1,176 (54.3 percent) for Simon, in a turnout of 2,164. Two other candidates ran, setting up an April 17 runoff between the top two finishers.

Simon, age 45, expected an easy win, but she ran a woefully inept campaign. As an SIU law professor, she figured she had the student vote in the bag. She was endorsed by prominent state Democrats, including Barack Obama, Dick Durbin, Pat Quinn and Lisa Madigan. Rumors were swirling that Simon would be the next namesake Democratic legacy to leap into statewide office with a bid for lieutenant governor in 2010 -- a job her father won back in 1968.

Simon had been elected to the City Council in 2003, and there are only 27 precincts in the town. She had 4 years to prepare for the mayoral race. How hard could it be to recruit and dispatch three or four workers into each precinct? The answer: Too hard. She lacked manpower. And when she criticized Cole for certain city expenditures, she looked like a fool when it was noted that she voted to authorize them.

Cole's vote zoomed from 819 in the primary to 2,301 in the election, while Simon's rose from 1,176 to 1,699, in a turnout of 4,000. Republicans in Springfield, primarily House minority leader Tom Cross, poured in a lot of money. With Simon now on the sidelines, it will be Cole who moves onto the statewide scene. Expect him to run for lieutenant governor or comptroller in 2010.

On another matter, word is that Republican Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica, who lost a close race for Cook County Board president in 2006, is planning to run for Cook County state's attorney in 2008.