Common Knowledge

New Deal

“Things are only impossible until they're not.”

--Jean-Luc Picard--

“It is the duty of every citizen according to his best capacities to give validity to his convictions in political affairs.”

--Albert Einstein--

“Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.”

--Paul Valery--

Okay. Next Tuesday, February 27, 2007 is time to put up or shut up. Next Tuesday the registered voters of Chicago will have a grand opportunity to put all of our gripping into action. It will present “us” with a very simple choice: the machine or merit.

That statement may seem like hyperbole, but upon further inspection it is not. The last several years there have been scores of newspaper articles about abuses of city government. Articles after articles have been written about the corrupt system of hiring cronies and about ineffective government at the city, county, and even the state level. In my opinion the corruption, cronyism, nepotism, and ineffectiveness is directly related to how officials are truly elected in Chicago, Cook County, and Illinois.

The political machine in Chicago and Cook County has been the 800 pound gorilla in the elections since Harold Washington died in 1987 and prior to when Harold Washington was elected in 1983. The political machine has been the bearer of a great many gifts and treasures to a few at the expense of the rest of the city and county. I want to be clear. I am not asserting that every elected official from Chicago is a machine politician nor am I asserting that every politician that was elected by the machine does not meet or attempt to meet the needs of their constituents. However, I am asserting that Chicago, Cook County, and the entire state of Illinois desperately need more independent, creative, inspired public officials. The machine does not produce those type of public officials. The machine fosters an environment of corruption, cronyism, nepotism and ineffectiveness because politicians are chosen on the basis of their loyalty to the machine as opposed to their ability to recognize and address the issues of their constituents. The best way to start stockpiling city, county, and state government with the type of public officials that have the wisdom, wit, and wherewithal to address the issues of their constituents is to get away from machine cronies and start electing independent candidates.

How many times have you, your neighbor, or someone you know complained about the quality of our public schools, the quality of city or county services, or the quality of our neighborhoods? How many times have you, a friend, or a coworker complained about property taxes, city sales taxes, or city or county fees? How many times have you, a family member, or a complete stranger complained about city, county, or state corruption? Well, Tuesday’s elections present a golden opportunity to stop whining and start doing something about the problem.

Next Tuesday, fifty aldermen, the city treasurer, the city clerk, and the mayor are all up for election. Please vote your conscious. Please vote your issue or issues. Please vote according to your principles, but please do not vote for someone based on party affiliation or big name endorsement or machine connections.

The third ward is a perfect example of what this article is about. I live in the third ward. I have lived here for nearly five years. I attended college right up the street over a decade ago. When I was in college the third ward was plagued with empty lots and lack of commercial development. When I moved into the third ward in 2002, the ward was plagued with empty lots and a lack of commercial development. Yes. There has been some small improvement in the third ward since I was in college in the late eighties/early nineties, but in my opinion it is not enough to warrant the retention of the same alderman for over two decades when she has not even begun to scratch the surface of all of the issues that face the third ward.

The third ward is in a critical state of flux right now. It is changing due to gentrification. There are a great many issues that come along with that reality. Questions will be addressed by either deliberate decisions or blind neglect. The neighborhood is becoming more expensive so what can be done to help the poor, middle class, and people living on fixed incomes to stay in the ward if they want to stay? There will be a lot of opportunities for commercial and residential development so how will that happen? Will developers be allowed to develop property in an ad hoc piece meal manner? Or will there be an organized plan that is designed to produce thriving, healthy, and safe neighborhoods? These are just a sample of the many questions that the alderman of the third ward must face and address. The health, safety, and very composition of the third ward will be affected for decades by the actions of the third ward alderman in the next few years.

That is why am going to vote for Pat Dowell. In my opinion Pat Dowell has the intelligence, creativity, and commitment to address the issues that are facing the third ward. Pat is a former city planner. She also has a long track record of commitment to the third ward after working at Mid South for many years in an effort to help the third ward to become a better place. She has a long record of qualifications to be able to address the issues that are facing the third ward. The only thing she does not possess is the backing of the machine. Like I said, it is time to rage against the machine and start choosing people based on merit instead of cronyism.

It Is All About The Issues

“The ability to focus attention on important things is a defining characteristic of intelligence.”

--Robert J. Shiller--

“Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river.”

--Nikita Khrushchev--

“Do not trust all men, but trust men of worth; the former course is silly, the latter a mark of prudence.”

--Democritus--

On Saturday Barack Obama announced what everybody already knew: he was running for President. Before I go any further I must state that I can not pretend to be totally unbiased when evaluating the current field of candidates for the 2008 Presidential election. As I have mentioned in a previous article I have known Senator Obama since 1996 when he took time out of his busy schedule to speak with me when I was a young community organizer trying to find my way. That was then and this is now. I can not help but have an inclination to want to support Senator Obama. However, that would make me a hypocrite. I have to keep the tires first.

I have ranted about how the African-American community must start voting solely based on issues. I have declared that we must get away from voting based on charisma, image, or endorsement. I have charged that too many of “us” have no integrity when it comes time to choose our elected leaders; too many of “us” sell out our votes for jobs, access, or thirty pieces of silver. I can not now turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to my own advice simply because Senator Obama is running for President.

Senator Obama is intelligent. He is articulate. He is not given to the baggage of having spent years on the Hill in Washington. He is a fresh face in a sea of the usual suspects. He is a breath of fresh air in an arena that needs to be aired out. Yet, I am still not sure why he is running for President. I am not sure what he really stands for. I am not sure where he stands on issues of importance to me and my community. I have to admit that although I do not know any of those things my first inclination is to be confident that Senator Obama’s positions will suit my needs. That is a mistake.

I have to fight those inclinations and challenge Senator Obama to speak to my and my community’s issues like any other candidate. The African-American community can not afford to waste our votes by voting based on misplaced party loyalty; misplaced loyalty based on the race of the candidate, or misplaced loyalty based upon the word of a preacher. We can no longer sell our votes. We can no longer barter our votes. We must vote solely based on issues of importance to “us.” And right now I have not heard where Senator Obama, Senator McCain, Senator Clinton, Senator Brownbeck, Former Senator Edwards, Senator Biden, Governor Richardson, or any other of the 2008 Presidential candidates stand on issues of importance to me and my community.

I want to be clear. I do not think that Senator Obama has to be held to a higher standard than any other candidate. I am stating the opposite proposition. I feel that we as a community should hold every candidate for every elected office to the same standard. We must require them to speak to our issues in order to get our votes. Once they are in office we must require them to address our issues in order to keep our vote.

The truth is the Obama campaign should welcome this requirement because it will give them an opportunity to show that he is in fact a new breed of politician. It will also give them an opportunity to silence the politically convenient charges made by some preachers and petty politicians that he is not “black enough.” I guess only time will tell whether we as a community will create a new “price” for our votes or whether we will continue to sell our votes at the same discounted price.