April 30, 2014
EMANUEL, ALDERMAN SQUEEZED BY $27.5 BILLION PENSION SHORTFALL
Mayor Rahm Emanuel is in a serious political bind. Chicago's pension funds have a $27.5 billion deficiency, and the state legislature mandated that the city pay $590 million in 2015 toward reduction. That could mean doubling Chicago's property taxes – which would elicit howls of outraged anger from city voters just before the 2015 municipal election. Emanuel must create the illusion that the problem is “solved” --otherwise, hundreds of ambitious taxpayers will run for alderman next February on a No-Tax-Hike-Ever platform. It would be an incumbent bloodbath. Expect Ald. Bob Fioretti to challenge Emanuel. Other trends: The housing market is rebounding. Democrats will lose the U.S. Senate. Full Article...
April 23, 2014
“COZINESS” ABOUNDS IN SUBURBAN TOWNSHIPS
It ain't over until it's over. The nasty, contentions battles for committeeman in northwest suburban Maine and Leyden townships are but a precursor of equally acrimonious dust-ups in November, as well as in 2017 and 2018. In Maine, Char Foss-Eggeman clobbered Caral Teschky for the Republican post, 5,068-3,010, getting 62.7%. Dan Proft's SuperPAC sent out mailers ripping Teschky's 12% raise as supervisor. Teschky countered by blaming Foss-Eggeman for 2012 Republican losses; she is now targeting St. Rep. Marty Moylan (D-55), and the “township crowd” in 2017. In Leyden, incumbent Democrat Barrett Pedersen, who is also Franklin Park mayor, is allied with the Grand Poobah, Rosemont Mayor Brad Stephens, the Republican Committeeman; they have a non-aggression pact. A group of dissident, anti-Pedersen Democrats are targeting County Comr. Pete Silivestria (R) in November. Full Article...
April 16, 2014
“VOTER SUPPRESSION” KEY TO RAUNER STRATEGY
“Boycott Quinn” That's Republican Bruce Rauner's strategy for defeating Pat Quinn (D) on November 4. If roughly 50,000 pro-Quinn voters from 2010 switch to Rauner in 2014, or don't vote, Quinn loses. Rauner is targeting minorities, particularly blacks, with his “No Vote” strategy. Quinn must win Cook County (including Cbicago) by more than 500,000 votes. Other than Jesse White, there are no black statewide candidates, and every Democrat in Cook County is unopposed. So what's the incentive to vote? Black turnout in Chicago was 470,000 in 2012, and 315,000 in the suburbs; that gave Obama a 993,055-vote countywide win. If 2014 black turnout is under 50%, and Quinn gets 50,000 fewer black votes than in 2010, Quinn loses. Full Article...
April 9, 2014
"COLLATERAL DAMAGE" KNOCKS SHORE OUT OF MWRD PRESIDENCY RACE
A ticket to nowhere. That's the universal perception regarding the $80,000-a year presidency of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District (MWRD), the county's obscure sewage treatment agency, with a $1.2 billion budget and 2,000 employees. Nevertheless, commissioners Mariyana Spyropoulos, Debra Shore and Patrick Daley Thompson eagerly want the job. It takes only five votes (their own, plus four other commissioners) to win it. Shore and her North Shore allies engineered the dumping of Comr. Cynthia Santos, an ally of Spyropoulos, last year, but Santos had the temerity and resiliency to run anyway,and finished first among ten candidates in the March 18 primary (three were nominated), with the slated Josina Morita fourth -- knocking Shore out of the presidency box. Now it's Spyropoulos versus Thompson. As the nephew and grandson of Chicago mayors, young Thompson harbors grandiose ambitions, and cannot afford to lose to Spyropoulos, who has mega-clout in the Greek-American community. The balloting will occur in December. Spyropoulos has the edge. Full Article...
April 2, 2014
OFF-BALLOT WINNERS ABOUND IN PRIMARY
One need not be on the ballot to win an election. Indeed, the essense of political power is to win an election for somebody else. On March 18, ex-Ald. Dick Mell proved that nobody can mess with the Mells in Chicago's 33rd Ward. He delivered 60% of his ward's vote for Jaime Andrade, who won Deb Mell's House seat. In the 41st Ward, the new McAuliffe-O'Connor-Mulroe "non-aggression pact" packed punch. The Democratic "shill" candidate carried the ward, but non-shill Mo Khan won the nomination to face State Rep. Mike McAuliffe (R-20) in November. As usual, "Judgemaker" Ed Burke won 85% of the countywide judicial races. Usually, gender, race and Irish-surnames determine the victors. This year, with turnout at 7% in the suburbs and 10% in Chicago, almost every slated candidate won. An example is Tony Kyriakopoulos in the 10th sub-circuit on the NW Side; he beat an Irish-surnamed woman in a huge upset. Kyriakopoulos averaged 30 votes per precinct -- the hardcore Machine base. On March 18, the hardcore anti-Machine base was even less. Full Article...
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