To understand politics in Chicago, you start with one basic fact–there’s one all-powerful mayor and 50 very wimpy aldermen.
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Daley lets the aldermen control the little stuff in their wards, while he directs the big stuff–budgets, patronage, promotions, construction projects, and housing and education policy. The mayor’s control of the big stuff has been responsible, in recent years, for the hideous rehab of Soldier Field, the construction of the vastly overbudget Millennium Park, the destruction of a municipal airport under cover of darkness, the continued rise in property taxes, the overpriced and much delayed Brown Line reconstruction (which is causing long delays on the Red Line), and the Pink Line addition coming at the expense of other services on the west side, as well as sweeping education and public housing policy changes that allowed Daley appointees to hold thousands of kids back or kick thousands of families out of their homes. All took effect with little debate, much less opposition, from the rollover council.
Recent events might suggest the aldermen are coming around, that they’re ready to have their say. Don’t be fooled. True, the council passed an ordinance banning smoking in restaurants and bars, but only after Daley watered down the bill. And yes, the foie gras ban slipped through over Daley’s objections, but it didn’t have much more significance than the council’s resolution against the war in Iraq.
Obviously, the rest of the council got the message too. Three other aldermen flipped (George Cardenas, Danny Solis, and Shirley Coleman) and Shiller came on board, killing any hope the council had of overriding Daley’s veto. The council’s flirtation with independence ended and things went back to normal. Daley will let the aldermen oversee neighborhood permits, and he’ll control everything else.
