WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

You’ve probably seen the video that Chicago Public Schools students put together, attacking Rahm Emanuel and supporting Miguel del Valle for mayor. When it debuted on YouTube a little over a week ago, a lot of folks began to wonder if maybe it wasn’t really all that grassroots, if the professionals at del Valle’s campaign had nudged the kids to do their bidding. It’s an awfully well done piece of politicking.

Well, it turns out that one of the counseling aids at Roger C. Sullivan High School, the video’s home base if you will, is a former student and friend of mine. I asked Jacquelyn Rosa to tell me a little bit about how the video came about. This is what she said:

“Roger C. Sullivan High School, located on the far north side in Rogers Park, is where I work. This neighborhood Chicago Public high school, like the majority of high schools in Chicago, accepts all students.  Sullivan High school is not a selective enrollment school, there is no lottery; there are no admissions requirements. There is, however, a lack of resources; there are fights in the hallways, and high dropout rates.

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In the next few days, mayoral candidate Patricia Van Pelt Watkins will unveil a comprehensive transportation plan for Chicago that includes a model for seeking more state and federal funds, expansion of rail service, integrating greater bike usage and incentives for car sharing. Most importantly, it seeks to create an integrated approach to railroad freight traffic through Chicago.

“Right now, it takes about two days from almost any point in the country to get to Chicago,” says Watkins. “But it takes almost as much time – sometimes even three days – to get through Chicago.”

Her proposal is far reaching: to redirect railroad lines currently on the street above or below ground, freeing both street traffic that will no longer have to wait for the trains to pass, and allowing the trains to go faster because they’re no longer running through business and residential arteries.

“Currently, Chicago remains the busiest rail gateway in the U.S.,” says Watkins, “accounting for one-third of the nation’s rail traffic and resulting in 38,000 jobs and $22 billion in economic value to the region.

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^{Miguel Del Valle}

Now that the election is less than a month away, here’s something to consider: For just a half sec, set aside what all four major candidates are saying, and imagine each one individually calling a City Council meeting to order.

Cuz at the end of the day, it’s the gavel, stupid.

Sure, who these guys know, what their plans are, what their prior experience has been will be crucial to how each and every one will run this town.

But here’s one thing for sure: Not a one of them is Mayor Daley, and not a one of them will be able to get the City Council to bend to her or his will with the same courtly compliance.

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1. Gery Chico thinks he’s Mayor Daley. It’s not just that Carol Moseley-Braun called him out for taking credit for hiring cops, it’s that it’s a pattern He’s become first person singular about any and all things good that have come from Daley and oblivious – literally unaware – of the most basic things. According to Carol Felsenthal in Chicago magazine, post-debate Chico claimed he doesn’t even know who Burt Odelson is. And I don’t know about you, but a mayor who doesn’t even read the papers is exactly what I want …

2. Rahm Emanuel has been disproving critics who’ve called him bombastic by instead being measured, dignified, and reining in his arrogance.

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^{Jean Quan, mayor of Oakland, CA}

Days before the Illinois Appellate Court knocked Rahm Emanuel off the ballot for the Feb. 22 mayoral elections, I’d been asking friends and acquaintances – on Facebook, via e-mail, in any and all conversations – who they’d pick if they had not one but two ranked choices on their ballot.

The exercise was not, in fact, because I had any kind of presentiment about yesterday’s court decision. Like most folks in town, I assumed the Appellate court would put its stamp on the local legal decisions that had already okayed Rahm on the ballot, and that he would either beat the need for a run-off or be the top vote-getter in the primary.

The reason I was asking was because I’ve been spending the winter in Oakland and a new mayor was recently installed here using a novel system called Instant Runoff Voting. It’s designed to consider the possibility that in a nonpartisan multi-candidate field, it’s very likely that no one will get a majority.

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If you read media reports, you’d think Gery Chico is Rahm Emanuel’s most likely partner in the probable mayoral run-off.

But, off camera, what every campaign has been worried about has been Carol Moseley-Braun’s ability – not to generate black votes (a given) but to force enough white lakefront liberals (especially feminists) to put their doubts aside (about her and about their own racism or lack thereof) and vote for her.

Braun started impressively – more petition signatures by a mile than anybody – and with important financial and business support, including John Rogers. Recently, though, Carol has apparently decided to help Emanuel out by making herself look less mayoral by the minute.

First, there was the utter arrogance around releasing her taxes (and the additional scrutiny that showed all those lakefronters that maybe she’s not so great at handling money). Then there was leaving gay activist Mark Loveless abandoned in a room full of potential supporters. This week there was the absurdity of the non-existent Harvard degree.

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