Chicago aldermen have lost sight of the real moral fight
Therewas a time when Chicago Aldermen sougth to force the Mayor to share power and work as a team. It never happened under the mayors from Boss Daley to Mayor Lightfoot and its not happeniong now
By Ray Hanania
PAID/Politics, Chicago Mayor and Aldermen, Saturday Jan. 11, 2024
When Richard J. Daley was mayor, there were several campaigns to give aldermen a greater voice in the city’s business.
Some of the aldermanic “rebels” didn’t want to be a rubber stamp, although most aldermen were happy doing the mayor’s bidding. They were bought off with rewards and favors and jobs for their ward organizations.
It was a long fight to change that system, with the goal to make the City Council aldermen partners, having an equal voice in making decisions with the mayor.
This administration is the first time that aldermen can do the right thing and make the running of government a partnership where the mayor and aldermen work together not for their own benefit, but for the good of the people.
I mean, isn’t that what public “servants” are elected to do? Serve the interests of the public, the taxpayers, not themselves and especially not their egos?
Chicago aldermen have gone off the deep end, enjoying a power over the mayor they have never enjoyed in the past. In fact, they are drunk with power and several aldermen are silent over a Lakeview man’s campaign to get signatures to recall Mayor Brandon Johnson. Recall campaigns are not new. It was tried three times under former Mayor Lori Lightfoot and didn’t go anywhere.
They are political stunts, not serious efforts to improve politics.
I have noticed that the rhetoric has become very personal, too, with aldermen and others like Gov. J.B. Pritzker – “Daddy War Bucks” – really going over the deep end to attack Mayor Johnson. Instead of helping Chicago, Pritzker is attacking Mayor Johnson to deflect taxpayers from his own failures in Springfield.
Illinois is one of the worst states when it comes to taxation and excessive fees, and poor services. Pritzker is a horrible governor. We all knew that when he bought his way into the governor’s mansion, offering few good ideas or plans to help taxpayers.
But wouldn’t it be nice if we reset the Chicago City Council and made it work right and then deal with Springfield’s more serious problems? We can’t change Springfield until we change Chicago’s political process.
In an ideal world, aldermen should be using their new-found clout to help the mayor succeed, not take cheap shots. Politics is about compromise. Everybody should get some of what they want to do, for the taxpayers who pay their salaries..
It’s clear, though, that Chicago’s aldermen are enjoying their new found power, maybe a little too much. For the first time, aldermen have reversed the power balance from the 5th Floor of City Hall to the 2nd Floor of City Hall. Aldermen control Chicago City Hall making the mayor’s office the new “rubber stamp.” Mayor Johnson has no choice in many cases but to do what the aldermen want.
It's not a partnership. And it is not good for the taxpayers of Chicago.
Years ago, I remember the constant complaints of anti-Machine aldermen under Boss Daley, Boss Jane M. Byrne, and Daley the Son, Boss Rahm Emanuel and Boss Lightfoot; Mayor Harold Washington never got a chance to implement his ideas although he tried to change the system. Washington was a good mayor who never had the chance to change the city’s political process.
But aldermen today have a chance to change the system in a positive way, instead of swinging the pendulum from Mayoral control to aldermanic control.
Wouldn’t it be great for taxpayers if Aldermen and Mayor Johnson played nice for once, and made it about serving the taxpayers instead of their own interests. Wouldn’t it be nice if they set aside their egos and worked together to address the needs of taxpayers?
Don’t hold your breath, though. More felons have come out of the Chicago City Council than any other government agency. Instead of getting better, Chicago is a worsening mess with rising crime, rising taxces and rising tensions.
ANOTHER TOPIC ON DYSFUNCTION: The Arab American Democracy Coalition (AADC) will host their annual Forum & Brunch at Nikos Banquets at 76th and Harlem on Sunday Feb. 16 from 10 to 2 PM. There will be a lot of mayors and legislators in attendance. And about 400 Arab American voters from across the region.
There will be a lot of great speakers and politicians who want to harvest support of the growing Arab American voter population should be there and make connections.
Not that anyone cares, and not that it is unusual at all, but the Arab American community can’t seem to get their act together.
A new group has formed Call “All United,” headed by State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid to take power in the community. But instead of taking power, all they are doing is what they always do, diluting power by creating another organization that duplicates what the AADC, which was founded in 1983, already doing.
"All United"(which should be called "All DisUnited") is a spin-off of the "Orland United" group launched by Arab Americans in 2024 in Orland Park after the racist mayor there told them to "go to another country." The problem was they did absolutely nothing in the year that followed to change things in Orland Park.
You may have figured this out but Arab Americans don’t work together. They work against each other.
Ray Hanania has covered Chicago politics for 50 years including Chicago City Hall from 1977 through 1992. Email him at rghanania@gmail.com