Can Lightfoot, Preckwinkle connect? Or will the women be political rivals!

It was an intriguing political theory put forth by some – the notion that a Lightfoot political victory for mayor benefits African-American political empowerment by boosting the number of black people in the top government positions.

Lightfoot gets 5th floor office suite; Preckwinkle stays put in her half of city/county municipal building.. Photo by Gregory Tejeda

The way it was described by some, there were those people who wanted Toni Preckwinkle to not bother running for anything in this election cycle.

SHE WAS SUPPOSED to accept the Cook County Board presidency that she was re-elected to back in November – thereby leaving the mayoral post open for another black person to hold. Chicago’s local government structure would literally have its two highest-ranking positions held by African-Americans.

But that didn’t happen, as Preckwinkle insisted on running for mayor. Which creates the potentially awkward position of Preckwinkle and Lightfoot fighting it out for who is the more prominent black woman in our local politics.

Considering that Preckwinkle also holds the post of Cook County Democratic chairwoman, it means that Toni will be in a position where she could theoretically make life difficult for Lori Lightfoot.

She could decide to use the political party structure to thwart a “Mayor Lightfoot” from being able to accomplish much of anything – if she so wishes. Although admittedly, some people will dismiss her as petty and ignorant if she behaves that way,

The mayor 'elect' for a month

IS THIS WHAT is destined to happen, now that Election Day has come and gone – Lori Lightfoot having managed to come sweeping in and usurping the niche that Preckwinkle had planned on playing this cycle?

That of the “good government” type who engages in high-minded talk about the betterment of our society. Instead of the niche that Lightfoot wound up tagging Preckwinkle with – that of a political hack!

The question essentially becomes whether or not Preckwinkle and Lightfoot can “play nice” with each other and figure out ways in which the two can co-exist within the Chicago political structure for the betterment of our city.

Remains as 'mayor' of Cook County

Or are we destined to have the next three-and-a-half years become a period in which the Preckwinkle/Lightfoot rivalry takes on ugly overtones. Will Preckwinkle decide she needs to show us just how big a political “Boss!” she can be.

HERE’S ACTUALLY THE intriguing question, for those people who want to view this now-complete election cycle as one for the betterment of African-American political interests in Chicago.

Would those interests have been boosted more by having both a black mayor and black county board president? Or would they have been boosted had Preckwinkle prevailed and become the first person since Richard J. Daley himself to serve as both mayor and county Democratic chairman?

Would an all-powerful Preckwinkle have been a nice prize for black political interests? Or was it sexism that wound up making some people think that the two positions were simply too much power to put in the hands of a lone woman. Along with the notion that a “Mayor Preckwinkle” also would have created the chance for a “Cook County Board President John Daley” – a notion some black activists would find abhorrent.

How different scenario could be with Wilson win

Keep in mind that back when black political operatives were suggesting that Preckwinkle defer to another black candidate for mayor, the likely favorite was Willie Wilson. Considering how she managed to qualify for the Tuesday run-off while Wilson fell short by merely finishing fourth in the 14-candidate field, it’s not surprising she felt no need to defer to him.

THE RESULT OF all this political scheming is that we now have a mayor-elect who doesn’t come from the current political set-up. Lightfoot has been a corporate attorney and a federal prosecutor, in addition to a one-time member of the Police Accountability Task Force.

Daley remains as county finance chair

In short, the kind of person who might arouse suspicion from incumbent politicos.

But keep in mind that several people bearing the polical label of “Democratic Socialists” managed to get themselves elected to the City Council. There’s going to be an assortment of aldermen anxious to assert the fact that the city technically has a “weak mayor” system of government.

Lightfoot may get the title of “mayor,” but there will be many individuals anxious to tell her just how little she can do while in office. We’ll have to wait and see whether Preckwinkle will be their leader?

  -30-

When an Election Day endorsement doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot

There were those people who expected this election cycle for Chicago mayor to ultimately come down to a political brawl between candidates Toni Preckwinkle and Bill Daley.

Preckwinkle wishes she could claim … 

With that in mind, it would seem like it somehow ought to be significant that the Daleys are now throwing in their lot with Preckwinkle. But not really!

IT MAY MORE well be evidence that an endorsement can be cheap. Just like talk itself.

Actually, Bill Daley has pretty much kept quiet since that night in late February when he fell short of having enough votes to qualify for the ongoing run-off election that will take place April 2.

The endorsement proper came from John Daley, as in one of Bill’s brothers and one of the many men who can say they’re a son to one-time Mayor Richard J. Daley.

John is the one who’s saying people ought to cast a vote for Preckwinkle over the campaign of Lori Lightfoot.

WHETHER THAT WILL mean much in the way of generating political support has yet to be determined. We’ll have to wait and see whether anybody is swayed by the idea of the Daley name taking a stance in this run-off.

… to have the political backing of Daley … 

Personally, this strikes me as one of those formality endorsements. As in it’s being done for the sake of saying he took a stance – rather than because he actually cares much about which candidate actually prevails.

Either that, or John Daley himself is incredibly eager for a political promotion.

For John Daley is a member of the Cook County Board. He even has the title of “finance chairman,” which does put him in a position of authority and makes him someone whose judgment on issues often is deferred to.

AND IF BY chance Preckwinkle manages to prevail in the mayoral election, it would create a vacancy for the board president’s position. A spot that would be filled by the other county board members from amongst their ranks.

… and Obama.

Meaning John Daley could find himself in line to become the county board president for the next three-plus years. Considering he’s the Daley brother who often is thought of as the one whose political ambitions are on a smaller scale than those of Rich or Bill, it would be ironic if he wound up becoming the highest-ranking Daley in our local political scene.

In fact, it would be the real kicker if Bill Daley’s mayoral loss set the stage for John to become the county board president.

Of course, the Daley endorsement isn’t the only “big name” one that Preckwinkle would like to have these days. Much has been made of how she wanted to have Barack and Michelle Obama make some sort of statement of support on her behalf.

HOPING THAT THE Obama influence could still linger over Chicago sufficiently enough to sway some people to actually get off their keisters and cast ballots for Toni.

Barack backing didn't help Quinn

Unfortunately for Preckwinkle, the Obamas have decided to keep quiet this election cycle after all. They’ll cast their ballots (via absentee from their home in the D.C. metro area), but they’re not making anything in the way of public statements about who people should vote for.

Then again, perhaps they’re remembering the 2014 election cycle when Obama made a point of a late endorsement in support of Pat Quinn for governor. It didn’t help. We still got Bruce Rauner’s one-term stint as guv.

Perhaps Toni has become so bogged down in the nonsense that could take her down to mayoral defeat that Barack and Michelle just figure it’s better to remain silent, than open one’s mouth and remove all doubt about being a fool.

  -30-

'Mayor Lori' versus 'Boss Toni' could be awkward pairing for next four years

Preckwinkle won't disappear just because … 

Just a thought for those people who are thinking of voting for Lori Lightfoot to be mayor out of a belief that such an act will drive the political party boss Toni Preckwinkle into retirement.

Not only does she retain her Cook County Board presidential post if she loses, she also remains as chairwoman of the Cook County Democratic Party.

… Lightfoot manages to become mayor

MEANING IF LIGHTFOOT does manage to prevail in the April 2 run-off election, she’d have to deal with Preckwinkle as competition on two fronts. And with “Boss” Toni as party chair, she’d have to be capable of showing some sort of respect toward her.

Unless she literally wants to have the party hacks all ganging up on her mayorality in ways that would be reminiscent of the Harold Washington era. Because for all the symbolism of being the city’s first black mayor, it could be argued that he didn’t accomplish much of lasting value because of how early into a second term he died.

If anything, the Washington era was historic for the way in which the city got bogged down in partisan (as in racial) politics; it wasn’t a big plus for Chicago.

That doesn’t necessarily mean I’m saying Toni Preckwinkle is going to turn into some version of Edward R. Vrdolyak; going out of his way to thwart anything that Harold Washington tried to accomplish as mayor.

BUT THIS IS partisan politics. Anybody who thinks they’re going to “get tough” with Toni by having a symbolic Lightfoot smack her around ought to accept that she’s just as capable of fighting back.

And not just with her first campaign advertising spot – the one that basically implies she’s a “corporate lawyer” with ties to Republican politicos.

Personally, I’m not sure what to think of Lightfoot. Other than the fact she has been a federal prosecutorial-type and one-time Police Board member, she doesn’t have a government background to run on.

Could we get partisan brawl reminiscent of 80s?

Which allows many of the people currently backing her (including many of the North Lakefront types) capable of defining her to their desires – not necessarily by who she really is.

WE COULD WIND up very surprised by what a Lightfoot mayorality turns into. Whereas I’m inclined to think that a Preckwinkle mayorality is exactly who she has been during her time as an alderman from Hyde Park and as a county board president.

I’m thinking these thoughts based on a recent poll I saw – the results of which say that Lightfoot is leading Preckwinkle by roughly a 2-1 voter margin. As in this election could turn into a butt-whuppin’ of the sorts that Daleys usually administered throughout the years to the people who had the nerve to challenge them.

But it is early in the process. We still have nearly a month for various factors to come into play for people to make up their minds – particularly since the election last week showed two-thirds of those who voted didn’t want either Lightfoot or Preckwinkle as mayor.

Meaning I’m not sure what we should be thinking in terms of which of these two is the front-runner.

THERE ARE THOSE who think that some establishment types, particularly those who wanted William Daley to be in the run-off election running will back Preckwinkle. Because, or so the thinking goes, that one of the people who’d be in the running to replace her as county president would be John Daley.

Could there be a Daley family win?

As in a Daley brother – and another son of the one-time mayor Richard J. – the last person who was both mayor and party chairman simultaneously. The real establishment types would have wanted a “Mayor” Daley, but may settle for having the county board presidency.

Of course, the thought of that happening may well scare some voters into picking Lightfoot just so that the Preckwinkle post doesn’t become vacant for another Daley to have.

Which could result in Chicago politics becoming a Lightfoot/Preckwinkle brawl between mayoral opponents for the next month, and between “Mayor Lori” and “Boss Toni” for the next four years!

  -30-

Is Chicago in for Daley III, with Daley IV waiting in the wings of City Hall?

We, the electorate of Chicago, may get to see just how addicted we are to having the concept of a “Mayor Daley” in charge of our city.

The next 'Mayor Daley?'

For William Daley, the brother of former Mayor Richard M. Daley and a son of long-ago Mayor Richard J. Daley, is indicating that he now wants to get into the mix of people likely to run for Chicago mayor come the Feb. 26 municipal elections.

NEWS REPORTS INDICATE that Bill Daley likely will kick off his campaigning for City Hall come Monday; wanting to be the guy who replaces Rahm Emanuel – who back in 2011 was the guy who replaced his brother, Rich, at the helm of municipal government.

It seems that Bill thinks Chicago has gone long enough without a “Mayor Daley” in charge.

The trick would be to see whether Chicago voters really are that enamored of the Daley name to send another of the grandchildren of Michael Daley to City Hall – with Michael being the Irish immigrant father of Richard J. Daley – who rose high above his Bridgeport neighborhood roots to become the so-called “legendary” mayor of Chicago.

Of course, legendary is the polite way some people express the idea of tyrannical – as in a political boss who ruled with an iron fist for more than two decades until his death in 1976.

Hizzoner's son

I REMEMBER SOME speculation eight years ago when Rich Daley chose to retire following 23 years in office that even he was realistic to accept the notion that Chicago was tired of the “Mayor Daley” concept and in need of change.

But could eight years of Emanuel and his own strong-arm style of politics have been the key to get many establishment-minded Chicagoans ready to return to the idea of a Daley in charge?

Daley who avoided top spot

Could the Sout’ Side politicos be ready to reassert themselves as the ones in charge of Chicago – following eight years of a mayor from the Ravenswood neighborhood?

Not that Bill Daley is a political amateur. He served at the federal level during both the Clinton and Obama presidencies. Albeit, as the lesser of the two presidential chiefs of staff from Chicago that Obama employed. Along with being the campaign manager who desperately tried to get Al Gore elected president in 2000.

Could the Bridgeport alderman be next?

AND HIS MOMENT of “glory” during the Clinton years may have been when he was introduced as the new Commerce secretary – only to pass out unconscious during the introduction ceremony. Officially, the lights were on so intensely that the heat got to him.

My point is that both of these posts presented enough moments where Daley critics could find reason to ridicule Bill and to claim that he’s not even at the level of his brother, with neither reaching the stature while in office of their father.

What may actually be more significant is that Bill Daley is the guy who has often talked of wanting to run for political office in the past – most often putting his name out there as a possible governor of Illinois.

Yet Bill Daley has always found reasons to back out of actually running, making some political observers question whether he has what it takes to endure the gristle of an electoral campaign.

THEN AGAIN, BILL Daley in the past always talked about wanting to be governor. Perhaps the desire to run for the top post at City Hall could be what sways him to want to stay in the campaign all the way through Election Day.

It all originates with Dick Daley

Being “Mayor Daley III” could sound more important to him than that of “Gov. Daley,” even though that always had the potential for a political power punch since it could have resulted in a combination of Mayor Daley (as in Rich) and Gov. Daley (as in Bill), along with brother John Daley deciding to rise up from his Cook County Board seat to run for county board President.

A Daley trifecta, albeit one that would have terrified Illinoisans from outside of Chicago. But to those who would have been enamored by the idea of so many Daleys in charge, the idea of Bill Daley being on the ballot for mayor may be a fantasy come true.

That is, unless you’re willing to wait a generation for 11^th Ward Alderman Patrick D. (as in Daley) Thompson, a nephew to both Rich and Bill and grandson to Dick, to make a run for putting the mayoral post back in the Bridgeport neighborhood.

  -30-

Will ideologues ruin Preckwinkle reputation the way they did Ogilvie?

Presuming that Cook County Commissioner John Daley and three others who indicated last week they changed their minds about the pop tax keep to their word, it would seem the tax meant to ensure the county can cover its financial obligations for health care services and other expenses will wither away.

If signs like this really stirred up anti-pop tax attitudes, will their hostility carry over to hurt Toni Preckwinkle come 2018 Election Day? Photograph by Gregory Tejeda

It creates the potential vote by the Cook County Board later this week of 12-5 (or maybe 13-4) in favor of an ordinance to rescind the penny-per-ounce on pop and other sweetened beverages. Which county board President Toni Preckwinkle will veto – but is a strong-enough vote to over-ride her – if it holds fast.

NOW SOME PEOPLE are not considering this sufficient suffering for Preckwinkle. They’re determined to stir up resentment at the polling place – getting enough people to vote against her re-election bid next year because she had the nerve to realize that the county has financial obligations that must be met.

PRECKWINKLE: Remains firm on pop tax

People in the real world don’t get to tell bill collectors we don’t have the money so we’re not paying. In reality, we have to come up with the finances to meet our obligations. We need to pay up!

Which is why I have consistently thought (and still believe) that this pop tax that adds about 20 cents to the bottle of Coca-Cola I occasionally buy is something we all have to pay – if we really need to have those carbonated beverages in supply.

It also is why I’m not terribly sympathetic to the lobbying efforts of the American Beverage Association – which represents the pop manufacturers who probably don’t want anyone else managing to get a larger cut of the money paid by people when they feel the need to buy pop.

THEY WANT IT for themselves. Understandably, but not a high-minded cause by any means.

OGILVIE: Insisted Ill. needed income tax

The trick is to see how, in coming months, this issue plays out. Will people really hold a grudge against Preckwinkle – and carry out their revenge on Nov. 6, 2018 by voting ABP?

The one thing that Toni has going in her favor is that as of now, the Anybody But Preckwinkle vote literally has nobody else to pick. People who were contemplating seeking the Democratic nomination for Cook County Board president have decided not to do so. As for the Republicans, their political party may get bogged down in the mass of anti-Trump and anti-Rauner rhetoric to put up a serious challenger.

But there are those people who can manage to get worked up at the “T” word just as much as many ideologue-minded Republicans will get worked up at the “A” word tying the governor to abortion.

Is there a 'Dan Walker' type for county?

I’M SURE THERE are those looking back to the 1972 election cycle – the one in which incumbent Gov. Dick Ogilvie lost to Democrat Dan Walker; in large part because one of the major accomplishments of Ogilvie’s one term in office was that Illinois implemented its original state tax on residents’ incomes.

Ogilvie (himself a former Cook County Board president who used that post as a springboard to the Statehouse Scene) argued that the state’s finances had become so unstable that the tax was necessary. Financial experts will argue that the tax turned out to be essential.

Yet there were enough people who voted against Ogilvie because of that tax that he wound up losing re-election.

Could governmental history repeat itself by stirring up enough people p-o’ed by the thought of paying a few more pennies each time they buy pop (which is expected to add up to a few million dollars to balance out the county budget)?

Daley name still influences our government

OGILVIE WASN’T HELPED by the fact that Dan Walker and his walk across Illinois caught the imagination of many as a viable alternative (although I know many of the same ideologues who still denounce Ogilvie’s income tax view Walker as an even worse choice).

As I already stated, as of yet, there is not really a credible challenger to Preckwinkle – although it’s always possible that there’s somebody currently out there passing about nominating petitions to try to get on the ballot for the March 20 primary.

But could she wind up going into our local political history as the woman who pushed for a tax to ensure that Cook County met its expenses – only to be penalized at the polling place?

In a world that could seriously elect Donald J. Trump as president with only 46 percent voter support, anything is possible.

  -30-

Did Cook County sales tax hike become political equivalent of Sox/Cubs brawl?

The Cook County Board narrowly voted in favor of President Toni Preckwinkle’s proposal to boost the county’s share of sales taxes, and I couldn’t help but notice the breakdown among how county commissioners voted.




PRECKWINKLE: She got her (or Stroger's) tax hike

All of the African-American and Latino members of the county board supported the idea, along with certain white members who had one thing in common with their non-white colleagues.

THEY WEREN’T FROM the North Side or its surrounding suburbs.

It would seem that Madison Street, the informal dividing line between South and North sides, also applied here. Forget about any support for the increase of the county sales tax from 0.75 percent to 1.75 percent on the North (supposedly more affluent) side of the city.

South of it, it would seem that political people were in line with the thought expressed by Commissioner Stanley Moore, who said that while he doesn’t like a tax increase, he is showing his “faith” in Preckwinkle’s judgment that she’s not guiding the county into a political sinkhole.

It is a potential sinkhole for him, since his county district includes neighborhoods such as South Chicago, the East Side and Hegewisch, along with suburbs such as Calumet City and Lansing that are located directly on the Illinois/Indiana border – where local governments tend to think the sales tax is something meant only for state government to use.

JUST THINK OF how low the Illinois sales tax would be if there weren’t local and county governments staking their own claim to it. Seven percent, to be exact – instead of the 10.25 percent it will be now.

If anyone is likely to feel a direct blow to their political futures for supporting this, it is Moore – who only got onto the county board when he was appointed to replace William Beavers following his indictment and conviction on charges related to his desire to use campaign contributions while gambling at casinos.


MOORE: Will his 'faith' come back to bite him?

I suspect that for Robert Steele (whose mother had a stint as county board president), Jerry “the Iceman” Butler and Deborah Sims, the same faith was a factor, as it would be for Jesus Garcia (how would Rahm have used this against Chuy if the mayoral campaign were still ongoing?) and Luis Arroyo.

As for white commissioners, John Daley of the Bridgeport neighborhood is a political establishment type who likely was consulted before the sales tax hike was even introduced.

WHILE JEFFREY TOBOLSKI of McCook and Joan Patricia Murphy of Crestwood also come from parts of the county that align with the South Side.
 

DALEY: Wound up backing Toni

The only Sout’ Sider, so to speak, who didn’t back Preckwinkle was Elizabeth Gorman of suburban Orland Park, although she was a Republican who had consistently said she would vote against a tax hike – and wound up being the lone abstention on the grounds that she’s quitting her political post next week to take a better-paying job outside of politics. Just like there's always a lone South Sider or two who winds up  going goofy and rooting for the Cubs.

Whereas all the opposition to the tax hike came from the North Side and suburbs.

Even from people like Bridget Gainer and John Fritchey – both of whom are people with urban constituencies that usually think highly of Preckwinkle and her Hyde Park ways. As are Richard Boykin of Oak Park and Larry Suffredin of Evanston.

THEN, THERE ARE the Republicans who naturally would oppose anything that Preckwinkle would put forward – particularly if it was an idea identical to something they dumped all over former County Board President Todd Stroger for.

SCHNEIDER: Voted the party line

Do you know how badly Tim Schneider, who also is Illinois Republican Party chairman these days, would be castigated by his GOP colleagues if he were to back this proposal – no matter how badly the county needs the revenue?

The same likely goes for Peter Silvestri of Elmwood Park, a former mayor, and Gregg Goslin of Glenview, a former legislator. I’m sure some will argue it is a matter of a more affluent North Side not needing to rely on government as much.

Although I’m wondering if it would be easier on all of us to have our South Side vs. North resolved on the ball fields each summer – it certainly would be a lot cheaper on our pocketbooks!

  -30-

Is political unity a problem? Would we be better off w/ state or federal split?

I remember one time when I happened to be entering the Cook County Building at the same time as county Commissioner John Daley.

PRECKWINKLE: A concensus leader?

We engaged in a couple minutes of chit-chat, and I made a wisecrack about how much more peaceful county board meetings had become since the departure of Todd Stroger as board president.

TO WHICH DALEY made a serious response about how “rational leadership” (in the form of current board President Toni Preckwinkle) can bring about more peaceful relations among politicians.

I couldn’t help but remember that moment when I learned Tuesday of the new study by the University of Illinois at Chicago. It seems that the county board has become about as compliant as the City Council.

During the first three years of Preckwinkle being in charge of county government, the county board backed her 73 percent of the time. That compares to 88 percent of the time that the City Council went along with the desires of Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

“Since she has been in office, the board now looks more like the ‘Rubber Stamp’ City Council of Rahm Emanuel, with Preckwinkle rarely losing a vote and with more agreement and cooperation with the board on issues,” the study reads.

PERSONALLY, I’M SURPRISED the level of support is that low for Preckwinkle. While I’ll be the first to admit I’m not a constant attendee at county board events and functions, I can’t recall that many moments when Preckwinkle didn’t prevail.

EMANUEL: Consensus, or strong-arm?

In fact, most of the actual county board votes on issues are structured as an “aye” or “nay,” rather than a specific roll call with actual votes recorded for each commissioner.

It is too easy for Preckwinkle to come out and say that board voted for her on just about everything!

DALEY: Wise observer?

The study has a slight tint of attitude in thinking that our government officials ought to be challenging each other – perhaps because one of its people included political science professor Dick Simpson; whose own political credentials include being one of the few aldermen who used to vote “no” on a regular basis when Richard J. Daley was mayor.

I’M A LITTLE more skeptical about political opposition – perhaps because I see just what it can be when we get people so entrenched in their own interests that they’re unwilling to listen to anybody else.

BOEHNER: Consensus? Or hard-headed?

Now I realize it can be just as bad to have a single tyrant-type figure who can strong-arm everybody else into doing what they want (which is what exists in many suburban municipal governments where few people pay attention). But are things really any better in Congress, where a Republican caucus is so determined to prevent anything desired by President Barack Obama that nothing gets done.

That may be a case where the ideologues have House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, strong-armed. But he often comes across as a willing and complacent accomplice in the inactivity.

 

OBAMA: Rubber-stamp Congress a fantasy

When it comes to the Springfield Scene, we definitely have a jumbled mess – leaders of the Democratic Party persuasion who can’t coordinate and a Republican Party leadership that thinks the solution is to dump Dems so they can strong-arm state government the way they did back in that fantasy spring of 1995.

THE BOTTOM LINE is that we have a state government these days that is very much dysfunctional – to the point where they’re passing state budgets that they know are flawed. But they just don’t want to accept reality and make tough decisions.

By that way of thinking, the activity around the Cook County Board these days comes across as ever so rational.

It’s almost a shame that Preckwinkle has heavily suggested she’s seeking re-election this year. Perhaps her approach to government could serve the people well at another level.

  -30-

Are we, the people, best off with more, or less, from our political officials?

Watching the Cook County Board at work on Wednesday made me wonder if we’re better off with more, or less, of their presence.


County wishes us 'happy holiday.' Do we like their present?

The issue at stake was the county board approving a schedule for their meetings for 2014. Under the measure that finally got approval, the county board next year will hold one meeting per month – with the exception of August.

THAT’S THEIR SUMMER break. No one is going to take that break away from them. It’s sacred!

But that is a change from past years. Until recently, the county board made a point of meeting twice per month (with the exception of August). This year, they made a point of meeting every three weeks. Which meant some months had two meetings and others had only one.

They’re now going to be down to one session per month for them to quibble over issues, while also spending endless hours pontificating over symbolic resolutions in which they praise each other’s friends.

It can get so mind-numbing that I have to confess, a sheriff’s deputy had to nudge me at one point Wednesday because I had fallen asleep.

SO THE FACT that there will be fewer such meetings? That could be interpreted as a good thing, or a bad thing.

Believe it or not, that was the issue at stake as county board members argued amongst themselves Wednesday (the final vote was 10-6, in favor of having fewer meetings).

County Commissioner Bridget Gainer, D-Chicago, may well have hit what many non-political people will consider the key question – she said that the county board members will continue to get the same salaries, even though they’re now expected to show up for fewer meetings.

Agreeing was county Commissioner Timothy Schneider, R- , who said, “The perception will be that we’re doing less work.”

A LOT OF people won’t want to have to take into account that an elective office is not some job where one punches a time card and gets paid by the hour, AND that it’s a post where one is basically on call at all times. Attending the meetings alone aren’t what the job consists of.

Take commissioners John Daley and Deborah Sims, both D-Chicago, along with Joan Patricia Murphy, D-Crestwood, who all used the word “efficiencies” over and over – as in the county board now works more “efficiently” and therefore does not have to meet as often.

Murphy literally went so far as to argue that she could better use time in her suburban office so as to deal with all the people who call her, claiming to have problems with government.

She also argued that the county board will be meeting about as often as the City Council – a fact that county board President Toni Preckwinkle (the former 5^th Ward alderman) confirmed.

“I DON’T KNOW why we have to put in more time downtown than the city does,” she said.

As for government meetings, they often are scripted to a heavy degree. Often, the times when officials spout off and criticize each other are the only impromptu moments So the idea that government officials get paid for their work at meetings?

Nonsense!

If that were it, then we ought to demand a repayment of their salaries. What they do there isn’t worth it.

WATCHING THIS DISPUTE on Wednesday actually brought an odd image to my mind – that of one-time Illinois Senate President James “Pate” Philip.

PHILIP: Was he right?

Some people remember the DuPage politico for his blunt-spoken ways. But I remember him for the fact that he was the motivation behind the General Assembly cutting the month of June off its schedule – ending its spring session business around Memorial Day instead of the old traditional June 30.

Philip often gave the impression that he viewed excess government meetings as merely an excuse for government officials to do something stupid or otherwise harmful to the public interest.

Watching the county board at work on Wednesday made me wonder if perhaps he was right!

  -30-

I doubt Rahm is quaking in his boots; he’s Hizzoner for some time to come

I find it amusing, and distorting, to hear about these new polls claiming that Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s approval ratings among Chicagoans is on the decline.

EMANUEL: Going nowhere anytime soon

As though someone is trying to create the impression that the people are ready to put Emanuel’s head on a pike in front of the Picasso statue come the 2015 election cycle.

WHICH MIGHT WELL be what the Chicago Teachers Union wants to believe. Although I suspect there are certain elements in Chicago that would love to tell the teachers union to “Stuff it!,” and would probably turn out in force to back Rahm to make that very statement.

Not that I think they’re necessarily approving of the efforts Emanuel has made with regard to the Chicago Public Schools that would involve the closing of schools in several inner-city neighborhoods.

They’re just not going to want to be seen on the same side as teachers union boss Karen Lewis – even if she is making sense on several points.

For those who think that the declining African-American support for Emanuel means a black candidate might have a chance, I'd argue that the "black" candidate in 2011 would have done much better if it had been anybody other than Carol Moseley-Braun! Which is why I seriously expect the 2015 municipal elections to be a snooze when it comes for mayor.

FOR ONE THING, those approval numbers in the Chicago Tribune-sponsored poll that is stirring up this talk aren’t deadly.

Emanuel still has significant support. Some of the people who previously were undecided about him are now saying they don’t approve. But I’m wondering if things will change in the coming two years that will put them back in the neutral column.

But most importantly, who would dare to challenge Emanuel?

Any teachers union-inspired opposition to Rahm Emanuel could be about as effective as Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., was when he made his mayoral challenge to Richard M. Daley. Photograph provided by Chicago Teachers Union

 

The sad thing about the Chicago electorate is that we seem willing to accept incumbents. We get suspicious of those people who want to “Throw the Bastards out!,” even if we’re leading the screaming.

NOBODY IS GOING to be willing to engage in a head-to-head run against Emanuel – except for some fringe-mentality candidate who is going to justify his (or her) politically-suicidal campaign on the grounds that they’re bringing up a pet issue and inspiring a debate that otherwise would not take place.

That is why the 2011 election cycle was so crucial for anyone with mayoral aspirations.

Richard M. Daley had stepped down, and the post was open. It could be a free-for-all without the risk of upsetting an incumbent. Anybody who didn’t have the nerve to take on Rahm Emanuel when he didn’t have the benefits of incumbency is likely too cowardly to even dream of taking him on two years from now.

In fact, there’s only one name I could think of that would have a chance of beating Rahm in ’15. And that name is “Daley.”

WHETHER IT WOULD be a return from retirement for Richard M., a decision by brother William that “mayor” in 2015 would make more sense that “governor” next year, or perhaps county Commissioner John (who has served on the county board as well as the Illinois Senate) that he’d like to be a part of city government.

Maybe Metropolitan Water Reclamation District board member Patrick Thompson (who counts all three Daleys among his uncles, and old man Richard J. as his grandfather) isn’t quite ready now – but he may be someday.

THOMPSON: The mayor in '27?

It’s something about that “Daley” name that just makes some Chicagoans think they belong at City Hall.

Although I’m not under the impression that any Daley is seriously thinking of running for mayor. Rich isn’t coming out of retirement, and I doubt his brothers would want to be bothered. They have different goals on their minds – although I’m not convinced that William deserves to be thought of as a serious gubernatorial candidate.

SO WHO’S GOING to be the next mayor of Chicago? Probably the same one we already have.

The man’s ambitious enough (and full of himself) to the point where he probably believes he’s benefitting the public. And nobody’s going to have the nerve to challenge him – regardless of what any stinkin’ Tribune poll has to say!

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Battle of the political siblings – will we soon ‘begat’ another Stroger or Sawyer?

John Stroger and Eugene Sawyer have both moved along to the Great Beyond, so to speak. Yet their names don’t seem to wither away from our political scene.

We’re talking about a couple of South Side officials who rose to top-level posts – Cook County Board president and mayor, respectively – whose sons now are seeking a vacancy in the city’s political universe to try to advance their own careers.

FOR IT SEEMS that Todd Stroger – the former legislator and alderman who served a term as county board President himself – wants a political comeback.

He doesn’t like being a political nobody – which he became following his loss in 2010 to Toni Preckwinkle. Now, he’s talking about wanting to be the replacement for William Beavers, who likely is going to have to serve some time in a federal correctional institution following the “guilty” verdict reached by jurors recently on tax-related criminal charges.

But even if the committeemen from the South Side and nearby suburbs are willing to agree to let Stroger back into the universe of Chicago politics, he’s not going to have the post handed to him on a political platter.

For one of the other people who’s letting the committeemen know he’d like the post of Cook County commissioner from Chicago’s Southeastern portion and nearby suburbs is Ken Sawyer.

HE’S A COUSIN to 6^th Ward Alderman Roderick Sawyer – who is a son to the late alderman-turned-mayor upon the death of Harold Washington.

If that isn’t enough people with ties to the Sawyer family, it also seems that the current alderman’s chief of staff, Brian Sleet, also has some thoughts dancing about his head of being able to call himself commissioner, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

Which may be lower-ranking than alderman or congressman, but sure beats the heck out of being a hired staffer to an elected official.

Are we literally going to get factions of the Sawyer and Stroger families engaged in a civil war of sorts – with all the committeemen of the sixth and seventh wards trying to negotiate the best deals for themselves in exchange for their support from the special committee created by Cook County Democratic Chairman Joe Berrios to screen candidates for the post to which Beavers still had just over another year-and-a-half to serve?

HOW UGLY COULD it get?

Personally, I’d get a kick out of it if someone else came into the mix – and neither a Sawyer nor a Stroger wound up getting the position.

But let’s not forget the Book of Royko and all those “begats.” The mere existence of a familiar surname is bound to sway many of those who will have a say in this decision.

And for those whose distaste for Todd Stroger is just too intense for them to consider backing him for the post, I can’t help but think that someone whose ties to Sawyer ought to be considered the frontrunner.

ALTHOUGH I WONDER if the idea of having a Sawyer as alderman and as county commissioner will scare some people into thinking that too much political power will lie in one family. Then again, when the name was “Daley” and there were simultaneous sittings on the county board AND the mayor’s office, few were bothered.

Then again, that “Daley” name contains a certain appeal to a certain type of Chicagoan to the point that I’m convinced it will crop up again in a third generation – yet another “begat” for us to beget.

There’s also the fact that I’m certain there are some people who take all the Stroger trashing that Todd endures as some sort of bias. They’d be willing to disagree with it – particularly if they still have some sort of debts (not necessarily financial) owed to the family.

There also would be one way in which bringing Todd Stroger onto the county board would be all too appropriate.

FOR BEAVERS WAS usually the one county commissioner who was willing to defend Todd in some way. He’d usually mock talk of financial problems by saying they were created by the eagerness of some county officials to do away with the hike in the county’s portion of the sales tax that Stroger pushed through during his term in office.

Now that Beavers is gone, we’d lose what public opposition we could have to county board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Unless we have Todd Stroger sitting in that front row seat within easy eyeshot of
“Madame President” herself.

At the very least, it could make county board sessions for the next year or so all the more interesting – unless you get excited by the repeated efforts of commissioners to get their government colleague, Jerry “the Iceman” Butler to sing!

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