Oh yes, this must go viral!!!!

[VIDEO] Ald. Toni Foulkes of the 15th Ward is speaking in this video that is posted over at the website aptly named The 15th Ward. It chronicles the campaign as there is a run off to take place next month. When you watch tell me that you got almost nothing out of what she said. I know that she was talking, talking, talking, and basically said nothing.

BTW, she wouldn't appear on TV with her opponent in this race. I wonder if this video shows why she won't be seen on TV anytime soon.

Check out my post over at Mechanics about this website.

Out of Chicago's 20th Ward...

Four years earlier the incumbent, Ald. Willie Cochran, had defeated the incumbent Aldermen there. You might know her she was the person who referred to either her fellow Aldermen or her fellow politicians as hoes.

Well that former Alderman was Arenda Troutman and she had been arrested for bribery not long before the municipal elections in 2007. Needless to say she took her chances and ran for re-election and was angry that she lost her seat to Ald. Cochran [VIDEO]. She later plead guilty and was sentenced to four years in federal prison.

On Monday Ald. Cochran debated his opponent in the April 5th run-off election - a rapper Che "Rhymefest" Smith - on Chicago Tonight on Monday as they vie for the 20th Ward Aldermanic seat. The 20th is located on the South Side and encompasses the neighborhoods of Washington Park, Englewood, Back of the Yards, and Woodlawn. Basically this ward is close to President Obama's neighborhood of Hyde Park.

The video embedded below are in two parts. Part 1 is what you should've seen on TV that evening. Part 2 is the extended conversation that can only be viewed online. If the embeds don't work links are provided below as well in brackets.

Dorothy Tillman seeks to gain back her city council seat???

Just over three years ago former 3rd Ward Ald. Dorothy Tillman was defeated in her bid for re-election to incumbent Ald. Pat Dowell. Now it looks like she may want to return although in 2007 we saw reasons why shouldn't be returned to the Chicago City Council. You don't have to look further than my 2007 archives, especially between January and April of that year:

While Stroger rides his leather swivel chair into the political sunset, Dorothy "The Hat" Tillman could be cooking up a comeback. In 2007, after 22 tumultuous years as 3rd Ward alderman, Tillman was vanquished by longtime adversary Pat Dowell.

Known for her flamboyant head apparel and defiant ways, Tillman rose to power as a voice for the downtrodden. Dowell and other critics charged she morphed into an autocrat who stymied economic development and ran her South Side ward like a fiefdom.

Tillman, 62, has stayed in the fray. She hosts a lively WVON radio show, deceptively titled "Coffee, Tea, and a Conversation with Dorothy." She and her family have been criticized for alleged mismanagement of Bronzeville's Harold Washington Cultural Center.

Now Tillman is revving up. Last October her daughter, Ebony, unleashed an e-blast that defended Tillman's record and excoriated her successor. The missive, headlined, "The 3rd Ward is Ran by An Ametuer" [sic], boiled with angry accusations and personal attacks. Sounds like a campaign preview.

In March, Tillman delivered fiery words at a nationally televised forum on the black agenda, hosted by Tavis Smiley. Last week, she issued a passionate, three-page press release that ripped the city's black establishment and the Chicago Police Department for "abdicating their responsibility" to stem the city's ravaging street violence. The incendiary statement drew little notice.

Days later, I talked to her by phone. She was still sizzling, demanding more racial diversity among police brass, funds for community policing and stand-up elected officials. Young people are dying, she noted, while "the Chicago City Council sits lock, stock and barrel, doing nothing."

With the citywide elections just 10 months away, is she running for something? Alderman, perhaps? Tillman repeatedly dodged the question. She laughed.

"That's funny," she said. "That's real funny."

Forgot to note that this article actually starts off with Laura Washington, the columnist, talking about the latest controversy involving outgoing county board president Todd Stroger. He decided to buy some more furniture for his county office and at that it appears he's still trying to squeeze some people onto the county payroll. For may people it appears old habits are dying hard. Even if it appears Stroger is getting out of politics.

Anyway a couple of observations about Tillman. Well I just so happened to think about a forum Tillman was supposed to be at in 2007 that she effective blew off. And you know the aide she had in her place was none other than Jacky Grimshaw who now sits on the CTA board. How Grimshaw handled that was abrasive, but while Grimshaw may not be hurting now was also know that Tillman hasn't changed much.

Well Tillman is no longer an Alderman. We do know that in 2008 she had been arrested because she seems to be of a cantankerous sort. So hey someone got the raw deal in that instance.

I wonder how Tillman would fare in a 2011 rematch. And believe it or not it'll be a very short time before any Aldermanic hopeful will have to circulate petitions to get on the ballot next year. First, however we need to focus on 2010 here in this state!

Former Ald. Dorothy Tillman arrested in Alabama

I thought this was corruption related at first then I really read the article. It seems somewhat reasonable, but it got her arrested. From the Tribune...

Former Chicago alderman and civil rights activist Dorothy Tillman was arrested Sunday in her native Montgomery, Ala., charged with criminal trespassing after a confrontation with hospital officials about her 86-year-old ailing aunt.

Tillman, best known for her work with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and her colorful array of hats, spent 102 minutes in the Montgomery city jail before a local pastor posted $300 bail, jail officials said.

She was charged with criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor, Montgomery police Lt. Ron Cook said.

Tillman, 60, returned to Chicago and said she planned to seek medical attention Monday for injuries suffered during the arrest.

"They knocked me down on the ground. They knocked my hat off. One of them put his knees on my spine and threatened to Taser me," Tillman said during a telephone interview.

Tillman was arrested at 6:32 a.m. and released at 8:14 a.m., authorities said.

Sounds like someone should have cooled their jets! Well you'd have to read the rest of the article to come to that conclusion.

Co-defendant outs alleged Troutman target

We now know who Troutman was attempting to get a kickback from as she continues to battle corruption charges in federal court. In February she was turned out of office in favor of Willie Cochran for her 20th Ward Aldermanic seat. From the Sun-Times...

A prominent Chicago developer was one of former Ald. Arenda Troutman's alleged extortion targets, one of her co-defendants says in a new court filing.

Troutman is accused in a federal indictment of pressuring an unnamed developer to hire Vincent Gilbert as a consultant on a proposed project in the 20th Ward. In court papers, Gilbert now identifies the development company as ANSCO.

The company, whose president is Andres Schcolnik, has developed several landmark properties on the South Side -- including the Grand Ballroom, in the 6300 block of South Cottage Grove. Schcolnik declined to comment.

Gilbert -- facing prosecution with Troutman -- insists in his court filing that he was qualified for the $5,000 contract he signed with ANSCO in 2005 to do public relations and other work on the project. The indictment accused Troutman of forcing the developer to hire Gilbert even though he had "little, if any, real estate experience."

Later, Troutman allegedly tried to get the developer to make her brother a partner in the unidentified project, telling him: "And then, I'm paid through him, see?"

But the developer was cooperating with prosecutors.

Troutman cleaned out her aldermanic office

When she was vanquished in February or sometime after that. This prompts her successor Ald. Willie Cochran to sponsor a bill that would force those incumbent aldermen who were defeated for re-election or even those who may retire at the end of their terms to insure an orderly transition. Well here's the story...

She also cleaned out her aldermanic office -- including the paperwork and the computer.

So says Ald. Willie Cochran (20th), who defeated Troutman in February, only to be left high and dry.

"I didn't get anything -- period. No computers. No desks. No equipment. No information on developers -- anything. I did not get it. I don't know what happened to it. I had to get everything new," Cochran said Thursday.

"Residents, businessmen would come into our office and indicate that they had submitted paperwork for something -- building permits, letters of support, block clubs, any and everything. They were expecting some action on it and the action was not there. There was nothing there for us [to act on]. We had to start the process all over again."

Cochran has introduced an ordinance that would mandate vanquished opponents cooperate with their successors. It states that any aldermen who leaves office for any reason "is required to make an orderly transition." The mandate would include "an accurate accounting of expenditures and availability of all city funds budgeted for use by the outgoing alderman" and his or her employees.

Troutman could not be reached for comment.

This article starts off with how she drained the budget of a committee she chaired. This city council committee is the Landmark's Committee that has a budget of about $110,000 but there was only $30,000 left. She was also charged with bribery, extortion, mail fraud, and tax evasion. In addition in FBI surveillance she was said to have uttered that most aldermen or politicians were "hos".

This story has only served to make her look even worse.

This is interesting

Capitol Fax Blog comments on city tax stories. Hugh in the comments provides links and a basic gist of some comments made by west side Alderman Denise Dixon.

Speaking of goofy quotes, listen to frosh Alderman Denise Dixon (24th) 2nd round question. She’s identified a major revenue leak in her west-side ward: the City sells land to churches for a dollar, then the churches don’t do anything with it! She’d like to get the property tax base working for us, but the City has sold all the undeveloped land in her ward to churches. Can’t something be done?

Seems like a hard way to get to $300M for next year.

We’re in good hands.

Aldertrack has audio from the budget hearing on Oct 15th and you can hear Ald. Dixon's comments if you don't believe the paraphrasing here.

I don't have a problem with the churches but Dixon brings up a valid point. Surely many of us have heard about this program where the city provides churches with land at just about $1. This might be problematic in those areas with vacant land. Especially if you can use the revunue that could be provided by residential or commercial businesses instead of a non-profit.

Aldermen move to strip Burge of his city pension

Maybe a lot of you have been hearing a lot about a former Chicago police commander Jon Burge. Well I suppose he was living pretty good until this...

Chicago aldermen on Tuesday relived the nightmare of police torture by former Lt. Jon Burge -- and came away more determined than ever to cut off $2 million in annual pension payments to Burge and his Area 2 cohorts and their $10 million legal defense.
"We have to find a way to deal with this man. We can't allow him to live off the fat of this city . . . Jon Burge is not going to lay up and rest and sleep every night thinking he's out of this, because we are not going to quit," said Ald. Ed Smith (28th).

"The will is growing stronger and stronger" to cut off the financial spigot to Burge, who is retired and living in Florida, said Police Committee Chairman Isaac Carothers (29th).

During a daylong hearing that reopened old wounds, a videotape of three Burge victims was played, recounting the now-infamous torture including pulling plastic bags and typewriter covers over the heads of suspects, beating them with telephone books, handcuffing them to radiators and administering electric shocks to their genitals.

Aldermen also watched Burge repeatedly take the Fifth Amendment during a 2004 deposition when asked what he did to those offenders -- and whether he tossed the device used to shock suspects into submission over the deck of his private boat and into Lake Michigan.

The only question Burge answered directly was whether he received a city pension. His answer: "yes" -- roughly $2,500 a month.

Wow!!! 'Ex-aldermen crash college ribbon-cutting ceremony'

You know I don't frequently read John Kass' columns in the Chicago Tribune, but I've read enough to know that Mayor Daley has a tendency to turn on people when they are not of any use to him. And I'm not saying that this happened to these ex-aldermen one of whom had the mayor's support for re-election and still lost, however, they're not in office anymore and they're certain to of any use to the mayor any longer. Also if they were involved in the planning process for the new Kennedy King College, shouldn't they be invited to the ribbon-cutting ceremony?

Look that's not to say I'm a big fan of either Alderman. I believe Ald. Coleman was mostly there for the ride and didn't do much for her ward (as far as I know) and Ald. Troutman well she does have a federal indictment against her, but she certainly had things going against her before that. Still they were the incumbent when the new college was being planned and built they could have been invited. If they had been they certainly wouldn't have stormed the stage upset. From the Chicago Tribune...

Mayor Richard Daley has officiated at scores of groundbreakings and ribbon cuttings since he became mayor in 1989, most of them prosaic and forgettable affairs.

But a ceremony Wednesday at the new Kennedy-King College promises to be scorched permanently onto the mayor's mental hard drive after two angry ex-aldermen crashed the party in the midst of the congratulatory speechifying.

"Didn't even get an invitation to come!" exclaimed Shirley Coleman, interrupting the speech of a City Colleges of Chicago official as she took a vacant seat on the stage a few spots down from the mayor. "Just found out 10 minutes ago!"

From behind dark glasses Coleman fixed a steady glare that appeared aimed Daley's way as she was joined onstage by former Ald. Arenda Troutman, who took the seat next to hers. The mayor looked straight ahead.

When they represented the adjacent 16th and 20th Wards, respectively, Coleman and Troutman were involved in planning for the long-awaited $254 million college at 63rd and Halsted Streets. In 2003, they used a parliamentary maneuver to delay consideration of a zoning change, complaining that not enough of the construction work would be going to African-American firms.

Though she had Daley's support, Coleman was defeated in her re-election bid earlier this year by challenger JoAnn Thompson. Troutman lost to Willie Cochran after her indictment on federal corruption charges.

Officials who spoke Wednesday before the arrivals of the two former aldermen boasted that 174 workers from the neighborhoods around the new six-building campus had worked on the project and that about $90 million in contracts went to minority firms.

"It can be done," Daley said of the minority participation in remarks delivered before Coleman and Troutman invaded the stage. "Remember that. It can be done on every project, public or private."

Daley did not mention either of the former aldermen in his speech.

Montel Gayles, executive director of the public building commissioner, which oversaw construction of the $254 million project, sought to smooth ruffled feathers.

"We believe we sent you an invitation," he said to Coleman and Troutman as he stood on the stage near them. "Whether we sent it or not from my heart I apologize for you not receiving one, but we would not be here today if it wasn't for the work these two aldermen put forth. With no hard feelings and no regret, I am glad they are here. I am glad that they are here to share with us the success of this day. Now with that said, let's move on with our program."

Ald. Walter Burnett's Clout City series...

Yeah I wish I can say he's writing this series but no. Clout City basically take a quote from Ald. Burnett (of the 27th Ward, home of Secretary of State Jesse White) and then they publish it. I'm not totally sure why they target Burnett. It was easier to target a Ald. Burt Nataurus or Ald. Arenda Troutman or even Ald. Dorothy Tillman and only because these individuals either put their foot in their mouths or they're just colorful characters or loud.

Still what is it about Burnett. Well I saw this post from June 8th, Clout City says this about the Alderman...

Walter Burnett, alderman of the 27th Ward, is earnest and straightforward. Or maybe he needs a filter.

Hmm is that why? Look at today's Burnett quote talks about Burnett's support of a certain north side team (well Burnett ward is near north side so it seems appropriate) and his unwillingness to bring it up with the mayor. Well today's comment elicited some scorn by the Clout City readers. Most of the comments suggest that he's terrified of Mayor Daley.

I don't know what to think, but this still makes for some entertaining reading doesn't it.

Fomer Alderman Troutman is hit with more indictments...

The woman who said most politicians are hoes is in even more trouble. From the Chicago Tribune...

A former Chicago alderman has been indicted on charges that she or one of her political committees took more than $60,000 in payoffs to help people get City Hall approval for projects.

Former South Side alderman Arenda Troutman was indicted Wednesday on 13 counts of extortion, bribery, mail fraud and income tax evasion.

She originally was charged with one count of bribery for allegedly taking $10,000 in payoffs from a developer who also was working as an FBI mole. She has pleaded not guilty.

The new federal indictment, released Thursday, adds allegations of multiple shakedowns between 2002 and 2007. Troutman is accused of using a corporation called the "20th Ward Women's Auxiliary" to conceal the payoffs.

The indictment alleges that Troutman used her position on the City Council to obtain "payments and other things of value from persons who were involved in real estate work, with the implicit and explicit understanding that, without such payments and other things of value, her support for land use requests, zoning changes, alley access, sale of City-owned real estate ... would either not be forthcoming or would be delayed."

Steven Boone, a former Troutman aide, and Vincent Gilbert, her former political adviser, also were charged in the new indictment. Boone faces four counts of bribery, mail fraud, and lying to the FBI, and Gilbert was charged with one count of extortion.

As most of you know Troutman was voted out of her 20th Ward seat back in February.

Troutman indicted...

I know I'm late on this story but it was in the news late in the past week so I want to talk a little but about this. Here's a piece of this story...

Five months after charges were first filed against her, former Chicago Ald. Arenda Troutman was indicted Wednesday for allegedly taking a bribe from a developer looking to smooth the way for a project in her ward.

The indictment did not expand the case against Troutman. It accused her of taking a $5,000 cash bribe and a $5,000 check for her campaign fund in exchange for helping to move the project forward.

Troutman allegedly thought she was dealing with a private developer looking to pay her off, but authorities have said the bribe payer was actually working undercover with the FBI.

She could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if she is convicted of the bribery count. Troutman, who lost a re-election bid after she was first charged in January, is free on her own recognizance.

She has repeatedly denied the charges. Troutman's attorneys have said the case amounts to entrapment.

Randall Samborn, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, said Troutman would be arraigned at a later date.

In February she lost her re-election bid to a former police officer, Willie Cochrane. I have strolled thru that ward a few times, I still see campaign posters up. Especially Cochran's. Well in fact in a lot of wards nearby posters are up as if the municipal elections aren't over.

Anyway one evening we drove by her former aldermanic offices. They were boarded up. There are still signs up reminding people of who USED to be their alderman. The fact is that since she no longer has the 20th ward seat, there's no point in having those offices. She is still committeeman I imagine, unless it's decided to take that away from her too. At least before the next Democratic committeeman elections next year.

You know I would ride the L and past 63rd Street you would see a nice little campaign poster on a building. It was very visible, campaign poster probably wouldn't be the correct term. We could see the smile on her face as if this was another election in the page.

Unfortuately on election night she wasn't smiling. And she's not dancing either.

Jackson: Alderman expense accounts too low

7th Ward Alderman elect Sandi Jackson hasn't even taken the oath yet and she already has a gripe about the benefits of being an alderman...

On Tuesday, the incoming alderman who's expected to be the star of the freshman class complained about having to front expenses that should be covered by her $33,280-a-year aldermanic allowance.

Jackson said she has hastily arranged a fund-raiser for Thursday to raise the $50,000 she contends should be covered by taxpayers.

"I just discovered that, unlike any other governmental entity, the city does not provide aldermen with funds to start up their offices," said Jackson, who will be sworn in Monday. "I think that's awful."

In 1999, aldermen raised their annual expense allowance for the first time in nearly 20 years -- from $23,280 to $33,280.

Since then, aldermen have complained repeatedly about running out of money in mid-year, forcing them to either dip into their political funds, go into their own pockets or go hat in hand to Finance Committee Chairman Edward M. Burke (14th), who controls a contingency fund.

I could look at this as whining, but I can see her point. Especially if an alderman is expected to oversee services to their respective ward. They should have an adequately staffed and furnished office to take care of the needs of their constituents.

Election sends message: Black officials have to deliver

The Sun-Times' Laura Washington talks about the municipal election both the February 27th and the run-offs from last week. And to be sure she even takes a dig at current Cook County board president Todd Stroger...

That brings us to the New Black Vote. Is it my imagination, or have black voters been poorly served by their elected officials? Remember, it was black voters who put the Toddster in charge of Cook County government. We voted him in, and now he's laying off nearly 500 doctors and nurses who care for the county's poor. We voted him in, and he's hiring more relatives and public relations flacks while shutting down the county's long-term care at Oak Forest Hospital.

This is the beginning of the end of the age-old argument in black politics that "you don't want to put a brother out of a j-o-b." Our elected officials have to deliver.

Well we'll see I mean we're stuck with him until 2010. Still how about those aldermanic elections. Like I said earlier if you're looking to become an alderman you should be taking notes on how to run a campaign and then maybe you should be taking note on what your alderman is doing and then figure out what not to do. Some of the aldermen who lost probably should have been doing that all along.

There's is plenty of analysis here and strangely Washington never really discussed the new black vote. Who are they? Do they have money, better education, own a home, a professional job, or are the truly fed up with their lives in their wards?

Anyway let's tackle one important issues. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. has been rumored to be interested in running for mayor. He could have done it this time around and decided not to go for it. Perhaps he figured it wasn't his time yet, but maybe he got the process started by getting involved in the recent city council contest...

In the February vote, Sandi Jackson swept the 7th Ward floor with Darcel Beavers. The architect of that win, her husband, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., was feeling his oats. Chicago's biggest black boss, former 7th Ward Ald. Bill Beavers, is toast. Jackson knew that victory could ignite his own political blitzkrieg. He dispatched his arsenal of polling, billboards and troops into neighboring wards where political incumbents talk up a pro-black economic and social agenda but, whenever push comes to shove, side with the Machine.

Junior removed a key obstacle to his mayoral aspirations. He also endorsed a white insurgent over a longtime black alderman, a move bound to boost his bona fides with white voters who bitterly complain that black leaders are narrowly sectarian. The Black Nationalist crowd already despises Jackson; they'll never forgive him for backing a dyed-blond aldermanic wannabe over a "sistuh" in the 2nd Ward.

You know maybe this new black vote could care less about what your skin color is and more about are they doing the job. The 2nd ward is changing maybe there weren't enough black votes there that could keep Haitchcock in power. I heard that the ward is about 40% white and maybe a good number of them were fed up with her. And that means a ward represented by a black alderman since 1915 is now to be led by a white alderman.

Here's more...

People in Madeline Haithcock's ward couldn't get her to respond to the simplest of complaints. People in Dorothy Tillman's ward knew they paid for the edifice she built in honor of Harold Washington, but it is run by Tillman's daughter. They live near 47th Street and the L, where they're afraid to walk in the dark.

The people tired of listening to Shirley Coleman whine that her opponent was an ungrateful ex-alcoholic instead of doing her job.

The first two were basic complaints that I've only read about both. This last sentence about Ald. Coleman is interesting. I read somewhere that she was pegged as a not very effective legislator.

The neighborhood she represents, Englewood, is slowly changing but it's been struggling for years perhaps her stewardship of that ward left a lot to be desired. What probably helped out a lot of these Aldermen is the support of the Mayor and that didn't help the ones who got defeated this time around. So in Englewood not only will there be something of a physical change but a change of leadership as well.

Oh yeah I want to go back to Bill Beavers for a second. His machine certainly took a hit during the February municipal election. He may take another hit still for helping to orchestrate Todd Stroger into his dad's, John Stroger, county president seat. I think what happened during that period of time last summer up thru November last year might have hurt him.

I would wonder if Beaver hadn't of decided not to leave the Chicago city council for a seat on the county board and stood for election himself, would we be talking about Sandi Jackson as Alderman-elect of the 7th ward of Chicago? Also could this election become a barometer for the 2011 elections? Might this be the start of a new era in Chicago?

All I can say is these next four years are going to be interesting.

There are a lot of stories about the runoff from Tuesday

I really would like to list them all and maybe I still will. There is a lot to talk about from campaign managers, to why some of these incumbents lost, to even the role labor has played in the Chicago municipal election, and the role they will play when these Aldermen-elect take office this year. You just have to like this new air of fresh faces.

I can always be cynical and ask how long will it take for these fresh faces to be a part of the machine, but I won't. I think I'll keep my optimism. There are a lot of serious problems to be addressed in many of the city neighborhoods and I hope they will be addressed.

Howard Brookins is still the Alderman of the 21st ward and I expect that he will continue to develop his ward. The new faces in my wards of interest 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 15th, 16th, & 24th wards are where I'd really like to see where the new Alderman are going to take their wards. I liked it when I heard that Ald.-elect Sandi Jackson said that she wanted a Neimann Marcus in her 7th Ward (South Shore/South Chicago). I can always be a doubting Thomas, but that's vision.

Hopefully the new aldermen in those wards and other wards that will have new Aldermen will avoid the mistakes of the people they defeated. Hopefully they won't ignore their constituents as the incumbent they have beaten have. Hopefully if the ward is truly struggling they can be aggressive in making a change in their ward for the better.

A lot of things to consider with this new city council and I for one am looking forward to it.

A couple of good columns today...

From Kristen McQueary of the Daily Southtown, taking aim at the elections that took place in the south suburbs. She really talked about the shenanigans in the suburb of Harvey. Why did the voters choose Mayor Eric Kellogg despite the problems with his administration. Let's have a looksie...

As much as I hoped to credit this newspaper's year-long "Eye on Harvey" series for a Kellogg loss on election day, it didn't happen. Residents re-elected the guy we've been lambasting on a weekly basis and whose government we had to sue to gain access to city financial records.

What does this mean?

a) The Daily Southtown has zero clout in Harvey.

b) Corruption, nepotism and incompetence are OK.

c) The voters of Harvey are remarkably uninformed.

d) All of the above.

I'm going with "D," all of the above.

In the end, the Southtown's almost-daily coverage of mismanagement in Harvey -- family members on the payroll, police department ineptitude that required outside intervention, missing city revenue, dozens of expensive federal lawsuits -- actually worked to Kellogg's advantage.

We were viewed as being too tough on the hometown guy; the "white" newspaper down the street beating up on the black mayor. Even Kellogg's opponents admitted as much.

There's also the question of vote accuracy. The Cook County clerk last week flagged questionable absentee voting in Harvey, and it's long been a Harvey tradition to bus-in and "reward" voters who cooperate.

Still, Kellogg's commanding win over his opponents diminishes any credible claims of widespread foul play.

I doubt Kellogg's re-election will soften coverage of his administration on the news pages here, but let the guy savor his victory. Tomorrow it's back to work.

Certainly, it's not the first time voters disregarded newspaper coverage and ignored editorial endorsements. Todd Stroger won the Cook County Board presidency despite a spate of disapproving news stories and only one major newspaper endorsement.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich won a second term despite an overwhelming, years-long wave of damaging headlines, from federal and state investigations to contract scandals to Blagojevich's personal finances and the indictment of a close friend.

So voters, what are you trying to tell us, the news media? Buzz off? Get lost?

Or is our "we told you so" moment still on the horizon?

Originally I was going to run off at the mouth seeing this one, but it was better to let her tell her story. Eventually the wrong doing with the Kellogg administration will catch up to him. It's only a matter of when. If it's not the next election it will certainly be an indictment. We'll see.

I want to point out my favorite columnist Mary Mitchell's column. This is her take on what happened in the 3rd ward and why...

Earlier in the day, she talked about what she would face if elected. She would have to pull off "a sensitive balancing act," she said. "I have to have a White Castle to White House mentality."

That was clear at her election night celebration, where supporters reflected every region of the ward -- from the South Loop to west of the Dan Ryan Expy., from public housing residents to those who live in expensive greystones

On Tuesday, the battle for the ward came down to old school vs. new school -- old school being Tillman, a civil rights icon who shaped what was once a vast wasteland of dilapidated high-rises and neglected greystones into one of the hottest neighborhoods on the South Side -- while Dowell, a former city planner, represents emerging black leadership.

"A lot of single people in cars have been pulling up and coming up to the polls and voicing their opinion," Isaac said. "Many of them feel that Dorothy Tillman let them down.''

After all the speeches, coffees and fund-raisers, elections boil down to who can get their supporters out to the polls.

I tagged along as Dowell went from precinct to precinct checking on how things were going. There were concerns that her workers may have been targets for intimidation.

For her part, Tillman, if she were in the fight for her political career, was making a good showing -- at least when it came to outsiders. She scored a big coup when she got Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) to endorse her campaign since doing so appeared to contradict his own presidential theme of representing "change."
...
Old school voters were plentiful in nursing homes, senior citizen residences and the few standing public housing buildings at CHA's Dearborn and Ickes homes. Tillman used a tried and true method of getting them to the polls. She brought vans. She made promises.
At Dearborn Homes, a van with loudspeakers on top blasted old school jams in the middle of an empty parking lot.

"She came out here and promised to bring back Old School Sundays," said a young woman who lives in one of the buildings.

Old School Sundays was an impromptu music fest shut down by police after several people were shot. Maybe Tillman's promise was enough to bring out some voters, but many of the young people who cared about the issue were likely unable to cross gang turf to cast ballots.

Dowell knew the real battleground was in Bronzeville on 47th and King Drive.

When she arrived there about 4 p.m., her signs had disappeared. A supporter quickly came to the rescue. She spotted two boys playing on the sidewalk and offered them $5 apiece to put the signs back.

They skipped away to complete the task, unaware they were major players in a battle for the future of the South Side's mecca.

Late Tuesday, Zakiyyah S. Muhammad summed up the mood at Dowell's gathering: "It's a new day. Out with the old. All the king's men and all the king's horses couldn't save Dorothy and all of her forces.''

Well Bronzeville is gentrifying so there is bound to be a clash between the old poorer resident versus the much more well to do. What did Tillman in certainly was that she no longer had the projects along State Street and she's Alderman of a significantly different ward with some constituents across the Dan Ryan. So the municipal election season in Chicago is just about officially over.

How about some videos...

AlderTrack has a number of videos from the Aldermanic runoffs yesterday. There are footage from last minute campaigning, victory speeches, and heaven forbid concession speeches. Here are some of my favorites...

LeRoy Jones Jr. running for Alderman of the 21st Ward defeated by incumbent Ald. Howard Brookins Jr. This footage was taken outside his headquarters.

Ald. Shirley Coleman's campaign RV and from the music they were jammin'. Well I'm sure the music and the optimism didn't last.

Gotta love this one with the music from The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. This documents the battle for the 3rd ward where Pat Dowell became the new Alderman beating the incumbent.

The woman herself, Pat Dowell, interviewed on AlderVision.

Pat Dowell's victory party. A change is a coming there. As far as I know or read Ald. Tillman has yet to concede.

4 Aldermen lost

Some predictions I have seen out there has come true.

2nd Ward Alderman Madeline Haithcock, see yah!!!
3rd Ward Ald. Dorothy Tillman, see yah!!!
16th Ward Ald. Shirley Coleman, bless yah!!!
24th Ward Ald. Michael Chandler, I hardly ever knew yah!!!

So far it's those four and there's no dispute. If I had posted this last night it would have been six, there are a couple of races that are way too close to call. Are the rules for the runoffs that you must have at least 51% or better?

Ald. Ted Matlak is losing in the 32nd ward to Scott Waguespack, but just barely by 122 votes. In the 49th ward Ald. Joe Moore almost seeming to be losing his race for most of the night only to see before I went to bed last night that he got a small lead on his opponent Don Gordon with 138 votes separating them. I can see what they mean when they said turnout was to be the key.

So seven alderman are out and let the shakeup begin. Most of these alderman had the problem of constituent services. The unions were working overtime to show their muscle and in some of these wards in the municipal elections and the runoffs they were successful.

Thankfully in the 21st Ward they weren't successful. Ald. Howard Brookins will have another term to continue his work in helping to build up his ward as he had done during his first term. His ward would have gotten a Wal-Mart a few years ago and he voted against the big box ordinance.

On the other hand his colleague Shirley Coleman who switched her vote on Big Box (she voted for it before she voted against it) was defeated. She promised a Wal-Mart in her ward and according to the Tribune urged her voters to reject the "economic racism of labor". Well the voters there for whatever reason rejected her.

Ald. Haithcock's relection bid was one of the more interesting contests. She attempted to use a restraining order against her opponent Bob Fioretti and for a little while that gave him an endorsement from the National Organization for Women (NOW). He would have had it before the February 27 municipal elections, but because of that they rescinded it. Before the runoffs they removed it again because he couldn't explain the relationship with the woman involved in the restraining order situation. He proved he didn't need NOW and Ald. Haithcock is now for certain a loser in this election. I almost hated to say that, but her actions most likely did her in.

Ald. Tillman seems to have had nothing but problems in this election. In her third ward this guy was making videos about life in her ward and he was cutting her up good. There were stories about her handling of 3rd ward issues including using money to clean statues instead of working on the streets. And nepotism as the Harold Washington Cultural Center, a place that seemed to not have been the boon for the ward as it was expected.

While her ward certainly doesn't seem to be the safest, it's changing. Not sure whether to give her credit for it or not, but it was. There's new building down there and I'll give her credit for one thing she had great respect for the history of the 3rd Ward neighborhood of Bronzeville, the historic black neighborhood. Did I mention that debate she blew off and sent a surrogate who dealt with the crowd arrogantly?

Finally I want to go back to the 32nd Ward. I've been reading up on what's going on there. Ald. Matlak is supported by a rather old school political operation and I wonder if they might be ready to kick him to the curb thanks to his performance last night. If I understand correctly Ald. Matlak had problems with constituent services and zoning seemed to be a problem in his ward. I've seen pictures of two-flats or condos being built next to single family homes.

One thing that would do him in was gentrification. Reading about this, the 32nd ward Democratic organization is run by the Democratic Committeman Terry Gabinski and this machine depended on controlled ethnic votes to win elections, but with the original Polish and Lithuanian residents moving out and yuppies moving in the ward is changing and it certainly helps that the homes that the former residents lived in are being razed in favor of condos and highrises. Even worse these residents want better services from their Alderman too, like they did in other wards.

So it looks like seven incumbents are out and while it's a small number it's not a bad one. For the most part those who should be out are out. There are some who should be out but still aren't yet. And anyone looking for an aldermanic seat should be writing notes and looking at what should and shouldn't be done. Especially after you win the election.

MORE STORIES
"Hibernator" Ted Matlak may lose 32nd Ward Runoff
Unions score key victories in council
Vote tells story: Tillman's council run nearing end
Voters give more aldermen the boot

This is interesting timing for endorsements

The Sun-Times has released their endorsement list for the aldermanic runoffs today...

2nd Ward: Bob Fioretti

3rd Ward: Pat Dowell

15th Ward: Felicia H. Simmons-Stovall

16th Ward: JoAnn Thompson

18th Ward: Lona Lane

21st Ward: Howard B. Brookins Jr.

24th Ward: Michael Chandler

32nd Ward: Ted Matlak

35th Ward: Rey Colon

43rd Ward: Michele Smith

49th Ward: Joe Moore

50th Ward: Naisy Dolar

Chicago aldermanic runoffs are tomorrow!!!

Don't forget for those of you in those wards where there are runoffs. There are runoffs in the 2nd, 3rd, 15th, 16th, 18th, 21st, 24th, 32nd, 35th, 43rd, 49th, and 50th wards. There has been a lot of news as we head into tomorrow.

Aside from the blogs of the 49th ward that race has been relatively quiet. We've heard more from the 2nd, 3rd, 32nd and 43rd wards in the lead up to those runoffs. The 2nd has the most drama especially over a restraining order, the 43rd was over "buying" votes, the 3rd presented a form of arrogance on display, the 32nd is probably not much different that the 49th ward it's mostly about the constituents complaining about their inattentive Alderman (though unlike the 49th ward the prevailing maching there has a prevailing interest in keeping their man in office), and the 50th is over a man who probably should think about retirement and probably should avoid outright playing the nepotism card.

I'm not going to make any predictions here. I intend to follow the results as best as I can. There were shake-up back in February with three Alderman losing their city council seats I think there will be shake-ups but the question will be who. Either way we shall see.