At the risk of sounding hopelessly naive, I don’t mind admitting that I believe political reform in Chicago can come from the City Council.
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There are a few signs of rebellion. Last year the unions got 34 aldermen to take a stand against Daley on the big-box living-wage ordinance, forcing him to exercise his first mayoral veto. The council also managed to drag him, kicking and screaming, to an agreement to ban cigarette smoking in public places.
A majority of independents in the City Council would be nice, but you’d be surprised at how much only a few of them can accomplish. The mainstream media are largely reactive, and they’re always in need of stories driven by flashy personalities. If two or three aldermen dared to denounce, oh, the expensive and unnecessary underground station at Block 37, for instance, or using TIFs to capture tax revenues in wealthy neighborhoods, coverage would follow. Just look at all the excitement roused by our foie gras ban. And reporters are one thing Mayor Daley can’t completely ignore–failing to defend his programs, he might even change them. This is how Forrest Claypool, Mike Quigley, and Tony Peraica are forcing Cook County Board president Todd Stroger to adjust his budgets and policies.
Residents of the 35th Ward may be the luckiest people in town. Whoever wins there will probably join an independent crusade if one emerges in the council. Miguel Sotomayor is running with the support of local reformers. Vilma Colom, the former alderman, is so eager to prove she’s renounced her old machine ways that she’s vowed to vote against TIFs in wealthy areas. And although many of his independent buddies have turned against him over development issues, the incumbent, Rey Colon, has voted against the mayor on several key bills.
