June 30, 2010
CONVOLUTED ALLIANCES IN 2010 COUNTY BOARD CONTESTS
Winston Churchill once said that there are only permanent interests, not permanent alliances. In Cook County's western and southwestern suburbs, and on Chicago's northwest side, there is a thread of permanent alliances based on permanent self-interests. The powerful insider Democrats (the anti-Strogers) from Cicero, Berwyn, Melrose Park, and the 36th Ward, plus their Republican allies in Elmwood Park, Leyden Twp. and the 41st Ward are dominant. The anti-anti-Strogers, led by ex-Ald. Ed Vrdolyak, are seeking to regain their power. The total outsiders, led by Comr. Tony Peraica, detest the insiders and ex-insiders, and they revile him. And the anti-everybody faction is embodied by Cary Capparelli, son of an ex-state rep. These alliances have surfaced in the county board races in the 9th, 16th and 17th districts. The anti-Strogers want to beat Peraica; Capparelli is running against Pete Silvestri, allied with the insiders; Liz Gorman, with the Vrdolyaks, is safe. Also attached with the article is a chart on key county board votes during 2008-10.Full Article...
June 23, 2010
"LOVEABLE" ALDERMAN LAURINO UNBEATABLE IN 39TH WARD
A "loveable" Chicago alderman? Now that's an oxymoron. But a healthy dose of nitrous oxide -- dental "laughing gas" -- seems to have enveloped Chicago's Northwest Side 39th Ward, and "I Love Marge" sentiment -- referring to Ald. Marge Laurino -- is everywhere pervasive. Since 1965, the ward has had only two aldermen -- Tony Laurino, and daughter Marge since 1994. Their philosophy was twofold: Provide exemplary ward services, and take care of family and friends (and precinct captains). Tony Laurino, chairman of the Traffic Committee, on which he stuffed "ghost" payrollers, was known as the "alley alderman." In 1994, the Laurino Dynasty almost collapsed, after Tony's federal indictment; but he died before standing trial, and Marge won the seat in a tough 1995 race. It's been Valhalla since. The ward has a vibrant commercial sector, and is filled with liberals, who voted 72.5% for Barack Obama in 2008. It includes Albany Park, Mayfair, Sauganash, Peterson Park/Hollywood Park and part of Portage Park/Old Irving. Ald. Laurino stresses his constituent service, and everybody seems pleased; her husband is ward Democratic committeeman, and her nephew is state representative. The "loveable" alderman won't be beat in 2011. Full Article...
June 16, 2010
TALE OF 3 CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS: "NATIONALIZATION" IS AFOOT
On Chicago's Northwest Side, in the 5th District (and its 8th and 11th District antecedents), a Republican has held the area's congressional seat for 2 of the past 52 years. The last winner was Michael Patrick Flanagan (R), and he was immeasurably aided by the fact that his Democratic opponent, Ways & Means chairman Dan Rostenkowski, was then awaiting trial, facing a 17-count federal indictment. Flanagan won in 1994, but was ousted in 1996 by none other than the now-disgraced Rod Blagojevich. After Rahm Emanuel, who won Blagojevich's seat in 2002, went to the White House as Barack Obama's chief-of-staff, then-County Commissioner Mike Quigley won the seat in 2009. Quigley is an East Ender, and has minimal appeal in West End the ethnic wards. The 2010 Republican candidate is David Ratowitz, a lawyer and former Army Ranger who espouses a Reaganite philosophy of tax cuts. The Nov. race will be a referendum on Obama, but Quigley is not yet viewed as an Obama stooge, although he was instrumental in the passage of the health care bill. Ratowitz will get 40%. In the 8th (McHenry County) and 14th (Kane-Kendall counties) districts, incumbents Melissa Bean (D) and Bill Foster (D), loyal Obama supporters, will be penalized by voters, as the 2010 turnout will dwindle, and 2008 Obama enthusiasts will be absent from the polls. Foster looks like a loser, and Bean is on the cusp. Full Article...
June 9, 2010
2010 REPUBLICAN "WAVE" COULD THREATEN LYONS
There's a whole world of hurt awaiting Illinois' Democrats in the November election. It's déjà vu all over. 2010 will be another 1994. Symptomatic of the Democrats' plight is State Rep. Joe Lyons (D-19), a Northwest Side incumbent, cousin of the late county chairman, assistant majority leader, holder of a $96,000-a-year county job with Todd Stroger, and 14-year occupant of an overwhelmingly Democratic district. Lyons was unopposed in 4 of the past 7 elections. But Speaker Mike Madigan's prevarication and vacillation on state budgetary matters, and his insistence that any tax hike occur after the Nov. election, has put Madigan Monkeys like Lyons on the spot. "We can't cut ourselves" out of the fiscal crisis, which is a $7 billion deficit, said Lyons. "There must be budgetary cuts and revenue increases." Does that mean an income tax hike for individuals and businesses? "Everything's on the table." Interpretation: That means a tax hike if Pat Quinn wins. Lyons' Republican foe, businessman David Anderson, is implacably opposed to any tax hike. "Since 2000, spending has soared by 40%, but not revenues. We need to revert to 2000 spending levels. That would solve the 'crisis' in 2 years," said Anderson. Madigan has a 70-48 majority. If guys like Lyons are in trouble, Madigan could soon be an ex-speaker. Full Article...
June 2, 2010
"LITTER BOX" POLITICS PERMEATES CHICAGO'S 50TH WARD
There are lots of boxes in which to haul Chicago alderman away: The pine box (death), the ballot box (defeat) and the jury box (indictment and conviction). But, in Chicago's West Rogers Park 50th Ward, there are two other boxes: The litter box and the tinderbox. Ald. Berny Stone, first elected in 1973, has outlived his usefulness, and the ward's non-Jewish majority is getting restive. Stone will be 83 in 2011, when his current term expires. State Sen. Ira Silverstein, who has engaged Stone in a catty and bitchy brawl for the past two years, ousting Stone as Democratic committeeman in 2008, can take the aldermanic post with ease in 2011. But there is also the tinderbox. Jews are a dwindling 30% of the population, concentrated west of California, but are 40% of the registered voters. The majority -- Muslims (Arab and Bosnian), Asians (Filipinos, Koreans, Vietnamese, Chinese), Asian Indians and Pakistanis -- are east of California, and are eager for power. A Filipino, Naisy Dolar, lost to Stone in 2007 by 661 votes; she has moved to Florida. It's analogous the the West Bank (Jews) vs. the East Bank (Muslims) in Jerusalem: Each sector in the 50th Ward rejects a candidate from the other. Stone will lose if he runs. Make Silverstein the favorite. Full Article...
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