March 20, 2013
IN DES PLAINES' MAYOR'S RACE, A STAR IS BORN

ANALYSIS & OPINION BY RUSS STEWART

In the northwest suburban Des Plaines mayor's race, it's Barbra Streisand redux, redundant and reduplicative. The Hollywood icon surely doesn't know that Des Plaines exists. However, two of her signature movies, "A Star is Born" and "The Way We Were," are paradigms of the April 9 contest, where 75-year-old former mayor Tony Arredia is struggling to overtake hyperenergetic 26-year-old Alderman Matt Bogusz.

Vote your age, Arredia's campaign exhorts, fervently hoping that oldsters will prefer a fellow oldster over a callow youngster. Arredia is the Streisand candidate, hearkening back to the way we were, as mayor from 2000 to 2009. Bogusz also is the Streisand candidate, poised on the cusp of an explosive political career -- a star is born. If Bogusz wins, he will move on to state representative, county commissioner or statewide office, especially with an 8-year term limit on the mayor's job.

Also running for the $9,000-a-year post is Alderman Mark Walsten, who is getting absolutely no traction. If a movie were scripted about his campaign, it would be titled "Dead On Arrival."

If there's a gender vote, as when women vote for a female candidate, is there also a geriatric vote, in which seniors vote for a senior? "That's just not happening," said Bogusz, a walking, tweeting campaign machine who works precincts 6 hours daily, has 60 campaign volunteers and boasts an expansive Internet and Facebook presence. Elected 3rd Ward alderman in 2009 with 73 percent of the vote, Bogusz is the chairman of the City Council Finance Committee. In his first term, Bogusz's fiscal conservatism -- which he calls "running the city efficiently" -- has made him well known and favorably viewed.

"It's the older voters, who have lived in Des Plaines the longest, who are most critical of and least likely to vote for Arredia," Bogusz said. "They have bad memories. They remember what a disaster he was as mayor. They don't want to bring him back. It's time to move beyond the politics of the past."

Bogusz is an ally of Marty Moylan, who was Des Plaines' mayor from 2009 to 2012, when he was elected a Democratic state representative from the Park Ridge-Des Plaines 55th Illinois House District. Moylan has endorsed Bogusz, as has the Daily Herald. Arredia, who term-limited out in 2009, was an alderman and a retired bank executive; he was picked by the City Council to replace the late Paul Jung in 2000, won a full term in 2001, beating Eldon Burk with 64.3 percent of the vote in a turnout of 10,353, and was re-elected unopposed in 2005.

According to one astute and impartial Des Plaines observer, the 2013 contest is a grudge match, pure and simple. Both Arredia and Walsten are livid about Moylan's alleged betrayal and dismissive of Bogusz.

Arredia "has a huge ego," the observer said. "He thinks he was our greatest mayor" and he "views himself as the architect of Rivers Casino" -- a cash cow which Des Plaines landed despite serious competition from Rosemont. Since it opened in 2011, Moylan snagged and hogged most of the glory, which he used effectively to win his tough House race. "(Arredia) wants vindication and recognition," the observer said. "That's why he's running." Walsten is a longtime pal and an early backer of Moylan in 2009. "He expected his buddy (Moylan) to anoint him as his successor," the observer added. "Now he's angry. That's why he's running." They both view Bogusz as a whippersnapper who should wait his turn -- like in 2021.

Arredia deserves some accolades. The casino generated $461.7 million in gross gambling receipts in 2012, making it Illinois' most lucrative, well ahead of Elgin ($212.4 million), Aurora and Joliet. The first $10 million in gross receipts goes to the state, with 40 percent of every tax dollar beyond $10 million to "underprivileged cities" and 60 percent to Des Plaines. Des Plaines got $10.8 million in 2012, and it expects $13.6 million in 2013.

Some people view Bogusz as "brash and arrogant," the observer said, but that has been "neutralized" by the farcical "Mayor of the Month Club." After Moylan resigned on Dec. 31, the eight aldermen, who earn $3,000 a year, were empowered to choose an acting mayor. To garner cable television face time and press, a bit of a salary kick, and, in the case of one pro-Arredia alderman, to boost her re-election, a majority of the eight aldermen decided to give four of their brethren between 15 and 45 days in the job. Bogusz opposed the stunt. "We need continuity, not vanity, if only for a few months," he said, calling what they did "foolish."

In the 2012 campaign, facing Republican Susan Sweeney in a Republican-leaning district, Moylan relied mightily on his budget- and cost-cutting record as the mayor to attract conservative voters. According to statistics furnished by Bogusz, the city's share of the property tax levy increased by 5 percent in 2001, Arredia's first year as mayor. It increased a total of 26.2 percent from 2002 to 2008, averaging 3.7 percent annually. During Moylan's 4-year term, the city's tax levy increased by 0.5 percent in 2009 and not at all in the next 3 years. The city's debt, which was $66 million in 2002 and $102 million in 2005, is now down to $58 million. "Instead of living within our means and paying for what we could afford," the mayor and the council "borrowed for every project," Bogusz said. "We were paying $100,000 to $150,000 a year in interest on the bonds," he said.

Also, Bogusz said, the city's cash on hand, which was $4 million in 2001 and $1.5 million in 2008, is now $18 million. The 2012 operating budget is $125.8 million. The payroll is down to 400 employees, a 10 percent cut since 2009.

"It was a big mess when I took over," both fiscally and ethically, Moylan said. Arredia's city manager was convicted of a felony related to the financial machinations of onetime undersheriff Jim Dvorak, and the Police Department is being sued in federal court for taking $200,000 in federal grant money for stepped-up DUI enforcement and then allegedly falsifying DUI arrest reports. Although he was an alderman from 2005 to 2009, no ethical blame has attached to Moylan.

Two other issues surfaced in the race.

Term limits: More than 70 percent of Des Plaines voters backed two-term limits in a referendum. Arredia opposed them. "He's had his 9 years," Bogusz said.

City manager: The incumbent is Mike Bartholomew, who has the authority to hire all department heads. The aldermen can hire and fire the city manager. The mayor, therefore, is not a full-time position. Both Arredia, who is retired, and Walsten, who formerly owned a home inspection business, promise to be full-time mayors. Bogusz, an advertising executive with a Loop firm, promises only to give "full-time effort" to the job. According to Bogusz, Arredia intends to hire Tom Becker, a former alderman and finance director, as the city manager. "We don't need him back in government," Bogusz said.

Attempts to contact Arredia and Walsten over a 2-week period by phone, e-mail and Facebook were unsuccessful. Neither has a Web site with their platforms or stances on issues.

The outlook: Des Plaines' population is 58,364, spread through 57 precincts  -- equivalent to a Chicago ward. To win, a precinct-canvassing operation coupled with door-to-door campaigning and targeted mailing is obligatory. In the nonpartisan, hotly contested 2009 mayoral race, Moylan swept to an easy victory. In a turnout of 9,583, Moylan got 4,139 votes (43.2 percent of the total). He had a base in his ward, and he outworked his opposition in the precincts. Finishing second with 2,666 votes (27.8 percent of the total) was Alderman Dick Sayed, who was thought to be the pro-Arredia candidate. Sayed will be the acting mayor for 2 months.

Bringing up the rear, with 2,219 votes (23.2 percent), were Mark Thompson, the Maine Township Republican committeeman, who had the endorsement of Republican state Representative Rosemary Mulligan of Des Plaines, whom Moylan succeeded, and Mike Lake, a failed aldermanic candidate, with 559 votes.

There is an interesting subtext: Bogusz, a Democrat who has nary an ill word about Barack Obama's federal policies, talks like a young Ronald Reagan on local fiscal issues, but he has a bunch of liberal mentors, including state Representative Elaine Nekritz and state Senators Dan Biss and Dan Kotowski. Moylan, age 61, better watch his back. Bogusz has designs on that House seat, or something bigger, very soon.

My prediction: Bogusz will win handily. He's out-hustling, out-campaigning and out-thinking his opponents. He's out every day with a four-person team, knocking on doors, and downloading information (pro, con, undecided) into his iPod. Each contact is then followed up.

"I need a mandate" to govern, Bogusz said. "I need at least 58 percent." He will get it, due to his discipline, issue positioning and relentless work ethic. Only four wards have aldermanic races in 2013, including Bogusz's home ward, thereby boosting turnout, Walsten's and Arredia's wards don't have races. In a turnout of 10,000, Bogusz will get 5,700 votes, to 2,600 for Arredia. "A Star is Born."