Alderman Carrie Austin of Chicago's 34th ward may be in trouble. One of the hired truck companies have an address right accros the street from her home. The owner of this company has been a longtime supporter. In addition to that she helped them in getting their new office space. The company, A & W Cartage Inc., owned by John Tiger Sr., has not been accused of any wrongdoing and Ald. Austin has denied having benefitted financially.
From Chicago Sun-Times
2)Talking some Chicago politics here...
The information I'm using is from around the 1999 municipal campaign. In the Chicago Reporter I see some good information here. Daley didn't do as well in the black wards as he had in 2003, four years later. Many would hail how he apparently is receptive to minority issues and he is actually doing things in black neighborhoods. They mention how streets are being paved in the 9th ward in 1999.
Then there are other prominent black political figures who claim they are not fooled. That many blacks have complaints about Daley especially in those areas still littered with vacant lots and such. Daley also has appointed many of the black alderman to the city council which leads Lu Palmer to conclude that there is a return to plantation politics...
Lu Palmer, longtime chairman of the Black Independent Political Organization, said Daley has disenfranchised the city’s black leaders. "I can’t name one black person in Chicago who has political power," Palmer said. "I don’t know one black person in the city of Chicago who can make a move without turning to some white
person or white institution to get it approved."
The situation might be slowly changing in light of the current scandals in city hall. Additionally while many experts have called the current city council a rubber stamp city council. This article refers to it as weak rubber stamp with Daley facing more opposition than even Mayor Michael Bilandic who was appointed mayor after Mayor Richard J. Daley's death (Mayor Daley's father) and lost his re-election bid to Jane Byrne with no doubt great thanks to a serious snowstorm which turned into a disaster.
Here's another touch of irony in this article. A prediction was made that Chicago may never again have a white mayor. I think that's going up in smoke, but there are doubts that Chicago will ever again have a black mayor. We'll just have to see.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are now moderated because one random commenter chose to get comment happy. What doesn't get published is up to my discretion. Of course moderating policy is subject to change. Thanks!