Latest Post | Last 10 Posts | Archives
Previous Post: Our grim, grim budget
Next Post: SJR: Illinois should take clean-coal lead
Posted in:
* Rahm Emanuel has a new radio ad targeting African-Americans…
In a radio ad airing on Chicago hip-hop station WGCI, Annette Nance-Holt, mother of slain Chicago Public Schools student Blair Holt, endorses Emanuel.
In May of 2007, a 16-year-old gang member opened fire on a CTA bus. Blair, also 16, dove in front of a classmate to shield her from the gunfire and was killed.
Annette Nance-Holt, a Chicago Fire Department captain, and the boy’s father Ronald Holt, a Chicago police officer, have been committed to stopping gun violence in Chicago’s communities since their son was slain.
“Soon, Chicago will choose a new mayor,” Nance-Holt says in the ad. “I want someone with a strong record of fighting crime and gun violence. As President Clinton’s point man on crime, Rahm Emanuel put 100,000 more police officers on the streets, including hundreds more here in Chicago.”
The ad also uses a quote from Barack Obama. Rate it…
* Emanuel is sticking closely to the script, letting his paid media do the talking and staying away from events that could get him off-message. He’s becoming the Bill Brady of Chicago…
Something’s missing from Chicago’s mayoral candidate forums: Rahm Emanuel.
On at least three nights next week — Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday — just about all of the major candidates for mayor, except the former White House chief of staff, have agreed to sit side-by-side at community forums and take questions from voters or panelists.
But Emanuel is taking a pass, as he has done with other forums this week and last.
“I don’t think he’ll do any of them,” Emanuel spokesman Ben Labolt said of next week’s forums. “He’s been speaking to voters directly where they live and work every day of the week.”
* But reporters did manage to get some news out of him yesterday when Emanuel held a press conference about boosting teacher training…
Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel would not commit to sending his children to public schools if elected Chicago mayor. Fellow candidate James Meeks wasn’t faulting him for that, but opponent Gery Chico talked about “leading by example.”
Emanuel said Tuesday what school his children attend was a decision his family would make. His comments came after he proposed increasing teacher training academies. He said he wasn’t saying he wouldn’t send his three children to Chicago Public Schools.
But the Tribune did a nice job of looking at Emanuel’s chief critics on this issue…
State Sen. James T. Meeks, who has made equitable school financing a hallmark of his political career, did not send his children to public schools. He sent his children, who are now adults, to parochial high schools.
“I don’t want a school system the mayor of Chicago is ashamed to send his own kids to,” Meeks said, while adding that he wouldn’t fault Emanuel for not doing so. “We should have quality schools everyone wants to send their kids to.”
Meeks has also been a major advocate of school vouchers, which would allow parents to send their children to private schools.
Mayoral contender Gery Chico attended Chicago public schools, and his children graduated from Northside College Prep and Von Steuben high schools. Northside was built during Chico’s tenure as school board president, and some critics accused him of pushing for the high-performing school near his home for personal reasons.
* Every time John Kass writes about Rahm Emanuel’s residency he claims he thinks Emanuel should be allowed on the ballot. Then he always adds a falsehood about the law or about history in an attempt to prove that Emanuel probably isn’t a Chicago resident or can’t legally prove he is entitled to ballot access. Kass claimed Emanuel couldn’t have possibly voted absentee because he’d been purged from the voter rolls - except that Emanuel wasn’t purged and all he had to do was sign an affidavit that came with his absentee ballot to legally vote. He claimed that Paul Vallas was kept from running for governor in 2006 because he was ruled a non-resident - without informing his readers that Vallas registered to vote in Philadelphia and had sold his Chicago home.
Today, Kass breezes by more inconvenient facts…
Right now, the story involves the residency drama. All that jabbering and shrieking this week at the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners plays into Rahm’s hands. There’s more to come Monday.
This week, some in the hearing room wore “Indict Rahm” buttons and yelled and yelled and yelled.
“The days of running this board as a racketeering-influenced conspiracy organization are OVER!!!!” shouted one man. […]
And so it went, the caterwauling and finger-pointing and everybody demanding to be able to question witnesses. It exasperated Burt Odelson, the election lawyer who put together what is considered to be the most credible challenge to Emanuel’s residency. […]
Well, Burt, you might want to move on, but Queen Sister and her friends want their media face time. And the Daley-friendly (and therefore Rahm-friendly) city elections board has folded them all together.
Yeah. That Daley-friendly and Rahm-friendly city elections board is all to blame for consolidating those cases. There absolutely must be something going on. But this is the response I received today from the city’s board of elections…
The board [consolidated the complaints] to prevent witnesses from being called (and issuing subpoenas to those witnesses) for 30 separate appearances to testify on the same issues. Such consolidation is common.
We also consolidate record exams (aka “binder checks”) when the same candidate is facing multiple and related objections over signatures on his or her petition.
In the Emanuel cases, all of the objections center on residency. Many of the objections are quite literally fill-in-the-blank photocopies of each other.
Kass also forgot to mention the background of the hearing officer appointed by the board. From the Illinois Review…
A Cook County Republican, former president of United Republican Fund, former candidate for Cook County Board, and former Reagan Administration appointee, attorney Joseph Morris will act as presiding officer over challenges to Rahm Emanuel’s bid for Chicago mayor Monday at 11:00 am.
You can read a pretty good history of Morris at the Chicago Reader’s site.
So, yet another conspiracy theory is undone by simple facts.
* Is it me, or did the State Journal-Register just publish an anti-Semitic letter to the editor which was ostensibly about how people don’t care when they offend Christians…
In the halls of schools and government institutions, no one will object to the profane use of Christ’s name (think Rahm Israel Emanuel).
Think: Israel.
Sheesh.
* Roundup…
* Mayor hopeful Chico gets backing of Ald. George Cardenas
* Emanuel Campaign Internet Video: Getting it Done: Pat Kehoe
* Meeks’ residency questioned in Chicago race
* Meeks on TIF money
* Emanuel wants to boost teacher training, but won’t commit to sending kids to public schools
* Emanuel not taking bait on Chicago mayoral ballot challenges
* BBC: Oiling the Machine - Uncovering corruption in Chicago
* Frost took bitter, now savors sweet
* 50th ward candidates talk business
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 10:42 am
Sorry, comments are closed at this time.
Previous Post: Our grim, grim budget
Next Post: SJR: Illinois should take clean-coal lead
WordPress Mobile Edition available at alexking.org.
powered by WordPress.
Was Labolt saying he won’t do any debates, as well as forums? Like, at all? I can understand avoiding some of the “community forums” that are early in the campaign - they’re usually poorly organized and poorly moderated. But debates later on in the campaign too? I know they won’t commit to anything until the ballot is final (which will be their answer, I know their team), but I’d hope that they’d be at least willing to commit to having a debate before the election. As the front runner he has an obligation to show the city he so badly wants to run that he’s not a ‘fraidy cat.
Comment by BSP II Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 10:54 am
Does the author of State Journal-Register’s anti-Semitic letter mistakenly believe that Christ’s name starts with an “F”?
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:08 am
Rahm has had an unfair media advantage. I hope all the black candidates get fair coverage. A blurb compared to a Rahm story is par for the course. The Media has also under estimated Attorney Russ Stewart, a Board of Elections expert. Why?
Comment by Patrick McDonough Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:14 am
O Rahm, O Rahm Emanuel
If you’re a resident, that’s swell;
But will Chicago vote for you
With a surname that is Hebrew?
Campaign! Campaign! Emanuel
On ev’ry colored line of the El.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:19 am
Patrick, I like Russ. He has good analysis, but he ought to stop short of making predictions. He picked Brady by 80K, SDems down to 32 (with Doherty in his own back yard winning - even though Doherty lost big) and HDems down to 61. Maybe that’s why his prediction of Rahm’s demise isn’t being taking as seriously as you think it should be. I dunno.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:21 am
“The Bill Brady of Chicago.” Wow, now there’s some nasty name calling. lol
I would say Rahm is like Bill, if Bill knew what the heck he was doing.
Roger that about John Kass. I’m so sick of that guy pretending to play both sides of the issue, spinning riddles, making up silly nicknames for people, and never backing hard solutions.
Here’s what’s going to happen with Rahm and the objections. Hard core conservative Republican Joe Morris will rule for Rahm and then all the wind goes out of the stop-Rahm effort.
Comment by just sayin' Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:25 am
Rahm will send his children to a Jewish day school whether or not he wins or loses the election. It is the best way to learn Hebrew…Hebrew school on Saturday aint gonna do it…
Comment by Loop Lady Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:27 am
Well… newspapers have been printing anti-Muslim/anti-Arabic letters (i.e. Barack Hussein Obama) for the last few years, so why not allow anti-Semitic letters as well?
Comment by dave Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:27 am
Another Rahm commercial without Rahms voice! No speaking on his commercials no speaking to the voters in community forums or debates.
I think it’s because his voice doesn’t match the story board. Tough, dead fish, sharp elbows everyone is afraid of him. Then you hear his voice and it all comes tumbling down. Can someone get elected without speaking in public? Just wondering?
Comment by nortsider Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:29 am
===Can someone get elected without speaking in public?===
Peter Fitzgerald.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:31 am
I read the John Kass column and it did not seem to be as biased as claimed. It did capture the fact that election board hearings in Chicago can be surreal.
Rahm Emanuel’s supporters crying “Unfair” is like the fable of the boy who cried “Wolf” too often.
Rahm has always prided himself on his ability as a political operative to engage in “character assassination” of political opponents. He was also an advocate of “zero tolerance” for Republicans during his tenure as the leader of the House Democratic campaign committee and in the Obama administration. He did not want to discuss possible compromises with Republican legislators, he wanted to defeat all of them and take their seats. This “no compromises” tactic was utilized to overthrow the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.
I never especially liked Carol Moseley Braun in terms of her politics, but I think that she may have been on target when she suggested that Emanuel bears some of the responsibility for the 2010 tsunami on Capitol Hill.
Emanuel has no one, but himself to blame for his current legal predicament. It is not easy to feel sympathy for his plight. America would have been better served in his interests remained focused on the performing arts rather than politics.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:35 am
Its good to know that Rahm and the Chicago Board of Elections are above reproach.
Comment by Living in Oklahoma Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:37 am
==I hope all the black candidates…==
Is it a total pipe dream to hope that sometime in the near future instead of “Black” candidates and “Jewish” candidates and “Hispanic” candidates, we can just refer to those running for important offices as “candidates”?
We seem to get through elections these days without mentioning “Swedish candidates” or “Italian candidates” or Czech candidates. How about consciously trying to move on to the next level.
Comment by Responsa Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:38 am
===Emanuel has no one, but himself to blame for his current legal predicament.===
I don’t disagree, but it still doesn’t excuse all this crud from Kass. You can’t possibly defend this stuff at all.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:39 am
Rich,
He debated Loletta and Carol more than once and on TV. But…
Does Rahm have 13 million?
Comment by nortsider Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:39 am
Same template as the ‘08 national election.
Take a candidate with minimal to no experience, apply a template of aspirations, hopes and dreams. Sell the premise that ‘wrongs’ will be satisfied by the cndidate who is a tabula raza. The voters fill in the blanks and identify with the proffered candidate.
Comment by plutocrat03 Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:41 am
Yesterday, Sweet published a current photo of Rahm’s Chicago registered car in his DC driveway. This is a small thing, but could it have a an effect on the legal case? Anyone have an opinion?
Comment by centrist Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:46 am
nortsider, do you remember his ads? No voice.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:47 am
I think that Rich is on the money as to not wanting Russ Stewart handicapping horses for you if you are place wagers, but his article on the issues connected to legal residency for election purposes seemed okay. Stewart is one of the few to make the point that Emanuel actually extended Halpin’s lease for the rental of the Hermitage Avenue address to 2011 only a few weeks before Daley announced his retirement. That does not sound like someone who was making immediate plans to return to Chicago.
Here’s Stewart’s link: http://www.russstewart.com/12-1-10.htm
This case is not going to be finished until the courts complete the appeals process.
Comment by Honest Abe Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:48 am
===Take a candidate with minimal to no experience===
I think WH CoS is a heckuva lot of experience. Stick with the city race and stop bringing the rest of it in, please.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:51 am
Re: the Rahm radio ad—
The story of their son’s murder and the Holt family’s response to it is well known, heartbreaking, and inspirational. Were I a Chicago resident who could vote for mayor I think I would find this radio ad/endorsement quite compelling.
Comment by Responsa Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:51 am
===Rahm’s Chicago registered car in his DC driveway.===
Since the pic shows IL license plates, I would assume that tilts in his favor.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:54 am
I’m not in the letter-to-the-editor choosing/editing business anymore, but “Israel” is apparently Rahm’s middle name, so I’m not sure it was intended or read as being anti-semitic. Seems like the letter writer was using it the same vein as those who use Obama’s middle name constantly. I went back and forth on allowing that kind of thing through. Obviously, it is intended as some kind of juvenile taunting/implying that the president was a Muslim. At the same time, should using the president’s middle name really be out-of-bounds? It says way more about the writer as it does the president.
Comment by Chris Wetterich Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:58 am
The Rahm Radio ad will play well in Chicago. The logic is totally flawed, but whatever, its Chicago.
Comment by Living in Oklahoma Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:58 am
Joe Morris is a straight shooter. There is not a Democrat in town who wouldn’t be accused of bias. So they did the right thing and assigned it to a Republican. Morris is an excellent choice.
The initial hearings was not as crazy as protrayed. I was surprised Morris kept it under control as much as he did. Camera crews, reporters and gawkers were the majority attending.
Comment by Bubs Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:00 pm
The idea that Joe Morris is wired to Kass’ never-ending Daley Conspiracy is hilarious — except to Joe Morris, to whom I’m sure it’s an incredible insult.
Morris was John Callaway’s go-to, conservative Republican on “Chicago Tonight” for years.
Where someone sends their kids to school should be off limits. What’s wrong with people dragging children into the public arena.
Finally:
–Well… newspapers have been printing anti-Muslim/anti-Arabic letters (i.e. Barack Hussein Obama) for the last few years, so why not allow anti-Semitic letters as well?–
Arabs are a semitic people as well. Children of Abraham and all that.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:04 pm
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 11:54 am:
===Rahm’s Chicago registered car in his DC driveway.===
Since the pic shows IL license plates, I would assume that tilts in his favor.
I wish we could see the rear plate, this front plate certainly has no renewal sticker on it.
Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:06 pm
By the time Joe Morris finishes reading his decision in this case the election may be over. lol People who know Joe Morris know what I’m talking about. There’s enough air there to reinflate the Hindenberg.
Comment by just sayin' Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:12 pm
===this front plate certainly has no renewal sticker on it. ===
The sticker goes on the back.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:13 pm
I don’t like Rahm personally and I also don’t like the way he flew in from DC and was immediately ordained mayor by the press. For a while I was really hoping he would get bounced from the ballot. After taking a semi-close look at the other candidates I just don’t see anyone who is anyhwere close to him in terms of actually being able to do the job.
The radio ad is good. His whole campaign, what there has been of it, has been good. He has a clear field. This guy knows what he’s doing. It is his to lose.
Comment by Bill Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:13 pm
- Rich Miller - Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:13 pm:
===this front plate certainly has no renewal sticker on it. ===
The sticker goes on the back.
Which is why I said I wish we could see the rear plate!
Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:15 pm
You can tell Joe is really digging the attention. Maybe he’ll take a shot at running for something himself.
Comment by Bill Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:16 pm
Rich and Cincinnatus,
According to previous press reports, he has had Illinois license plates for previous years and a sticker for this year but not for previous years (because his lawyer claims you don’t need one if you don’t keep your car in Chicago). So there is no news there.
But my thought is that registering your car in Chicago just when you decide to run for mayor but still keeping it in DC could be used against Rahm. It suggests that his Chicago residency intent is based solely on the condition that he wins the election. That would cast doubt on his intent to return to Chicago during the year before his election, when everyone thought Daley would win. Perhaps this is too subtle a point, but Odelson is a smart guy, and he will use every piece of ammunition he can find.
Comment by centrist Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:17 pm
centrist, if they kick him off the ballot for his city sticker there will be heck to pay.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:20 pm
Rahm’s lawyer is wrong. If your car is registered in Chicago you have to pay the tax. When he applied for this year he would have been sent a bill for the past years along with fines and late fees. If he didn’t pay them then he owes back taxes to the city and can’t run for office. That is not to say that Rahm can’t pay his fines and have his records “backdated” or “lost”.
Comment by Bill Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:22 pm
Re: the SJR’s anti-Semitic letter…anytime someone says “it’s the reason for the season” I stop reading because it’s obvious that the writer is an idiot.
The truth is, Chanukkah pre-dated Christmas and the winter solstice pre-dated both of ‘em.
Comment by Cynic Al Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:23 pm
Chris, a simple use of the middle name is no big deal, but when it’s used in that context I think it’s relevant to ask whether this was anti-Semitic.
I would delete a comment like that here. You guys can publish what you want, but that letter was not a good thing.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:25 pm
Joe Morris is a blowhard. He was once called upon to deliver a few brief remarks at spoke for a full hour. People began to tire of the oration and started to exit the room. He likes the sound of his own voice too much.
Burt Odelson litigated an election case all the way to the State of Illinois Supreme Court and the court ruled in favor of bouncing a Stickney candidate from the ballot for having an unpaid fine owed to the village. Emanuel (insert vehicle sticker fees for unpaid fine) is in trouble unless the justices are prepared to twist themselves into pretzels and ignore all of their prior rulings. Odelson knows the precedents for the allegations which he has raised. Emanuel wants the law to suit his personal convenience.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:27 pm
“Emanuel has no one, but himself to blame for his current legal predicament.”
I don’t agree with that. So he’s to blame for people trying to kick him off the ballot with objections? What was he supposed to do, NOT go and serve when his President called? Or maybe he was supposed to have kept his home vacant and come home and spend a night there for show every few months. That’s a distinction without a difference in my view.
Look, if it wasn’t residency, Rahm’s opponents would be attacking him for something else, and Odelson would still be the lawyer, milking some claim that is destined to fail.
I put the odds at 99.99% that Rahm stays on the ballot, and 98% chance he’s the next mayor. When Daley and Obama endorse him, it’s over.
All of the noise we’re hearing now is just to sell papers.
Comment by just sayin' Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:28 pm
just sayin’,
I agree with you that if Rahm stays on the ballot, he’ll win (though 98% is a little high–wierd stuff happens). But on the legal case, I think Rahm’s chances are substantially better than 50/50, but nowhere close to 99.99%. The legal system is very hard to predict. The law is complicated. Every judge is different. And politics often(but not always)influences them.
Comment by centrist Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:37 pm
==Or maybe he was supposed to have kept his home vacant and come home and spend a night there for show every few months==
That is exactly what he should have done if he wanted to be considered a resident. He should have also paid his vechicle tax. That’s what Obama did. So did Axlerod. So do most staffers who view elected office in their future.
Comment by Bill Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:40 pm
I think any candidate should have to have a proposed revenue stream for anby new projects that are planned. How does Meeks propose to fund vouchers when the state and city are both broke?
Comment by Jim Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 12:58 pm
“That is exactly what he should have done if he wanted to be considered a resident.”
We’ll just have to agree to disagree on that one Bill. What you really get down to on this is that everyone, even Rahm’s opponents, are agreeing he’s a Chicagoan. It’s all just about what hoops he should have jumped thru when he went to work in the White House. It’s all just about finding the right trap. You want to say that not having a renter, and instead hiring a house sitter or whatever, should make a legal difference. I just disagree. There’s no sound reason to read that distinction into the law.
A buck says Republican Joe Morris will rule the same way.
Comment by just sayin' Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 1:06 pm
Bill,
Would you have the same opinion if a marine returning from Afghanistan had rented out his place while he was deployed? If he didn’t buy a city sticker? Should voters be denied the right to vote for someone who served the nation?
Odelson is going to get crushed on this ridiculous objection, and rightly so. He’s risking his reputation for what? Oh, and who’s paying Burt’s bills, anyway?
Comment by phocion Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 1:10 pm
Come on. If Rahm was a resident of Chicago, where did he live?
It’s not as simple as some would have you believe.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 1:20 pm
===It’s not as simple as some would have you believe. ===
That is correct. Also, I don’t think this is a slam-dunk for the guy. I just prefer that those who are writing about it don’t concoct evil plots outta thin air.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 1:22 pm
Bill- I am delighted you agree with me that this race is Rahm’s to lose.
Odelson is a savvy election lawyer, but he’s just raking in billable hours and will evetually lose this fight.
How can you deny ballot access to man who was serving his President, and forgot to buy a vehicle sticker? Let’s see the elected pols in Chicago whose transgressions are as light as that step forward please…that’s what I thought…
Go Rahmbo!!
Comment by Loop Lady Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 2:15 pm
On November 29, the SJ-R printed a letter opposing allowing gays to serve in the military. It contained this statement:
Such individuals, if part of an infantry unit, are just as likely to shoot their commanders as they are the enemy; if an Air Force pilot, to bomb the wrong target; if a Marine, to absolutely and totally destroy the wrong village.
So over-the-top rhetoric does not seem to be a cause of concern. Even the military doesn’t make these claims.
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 2:17 pm
The residency stuff is hilarious. Here we are in 2010, a mobile society, and we’re picking pepper out of fly stuff about rent, vehicle stickers and what-not.
He was a Congressman from Chicago who was White House Chief of Staff. Move on.
It does remind one of some residency kerfulles in the past. The late Ald. Tom Lyons, a very successful LaSalle Street attorney, claimed he lived in some hovel above his ward office, rather than his “summer home” — in Wilmette.
My memory is a little shaky here, but I seem to recall TV news clips and photos of Iola McGowan crawling through a hole in what seemed to be an abandoned, padlocked, West Side building to prove her residence to doubters.
If any of you saw those clips or photos, you understand why I might have blocked that from my mind.
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 2:48 pm
@phocion: There is a big difference between being allowed to vote and being allowed to run. Illinois courts have made this distinction in previous decisions and stated that there is a bona fide publicy policy interest in having residency requirements as a precondition for seeking elected office.
It is not difficult to maintain a legal residence for voting purposes. Many members of the Illinois Congressional delegation do it, but Rahm apparently wanted to make a few bucks. Maybe he was waiting to sell the house until the real estate market improved and prices were better. He could have still leased his house and rented a one room apartment in Chicago. Oh, that’s right, he did that seven months after the last date to qualify for the mayoralty as a one year resident!
Emanuel’s central argument, which amounts to a form of “special pleading,” is that because he worked for Obama, an exception to the existing rules should be made for him or the previous case decisions need to be interpreted in an elastic or expansive way to work in his favor. Explain that to a city employee who was canned from his job when they learned that he and the wife and kids were secretly residing in the burbs.
If the Blagojevich telephone taps are ever played will we get to hear Rahm asking for the former governor to name an interim Congressman for the 5th District? Oops, that is another Election Code provision that Rahm did not understand. The governor does not appoint Congressmen.
By the way, why haven’t Emanuel’s wife and children bothered to relocate to Chicago? If this last minute mayoral bid does not pan out, do they intend to remain inside the D.C. Beltway?
Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 3:09 pm
–Is it a total pipe dream to hope that sometime in the near future instead of “Black” candidates and “Jewish” candidates and “Hispanic” candidates, we can just refer to those running for important offices as “candidates”?–
Responsa, clearly you have a dream. Free at last, free at last….
Comment by wordslinger Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 3:25 pm
In every Chicago municipal election many, many good candidates are kicked off the ballot for tiny, tiny things. In particular I am thinking about a candidate who tried to run for Alderman in my neighborhood. He had done tons of work in the community, was a family man, executive director of a very well-respected not-for profit, had collected thousands of petition signatures, had many local leaders working on his campaign, had quit his job (!), signed a lease on a campaign office …. and then was kicked off because he included the wrong receipt with his papers.
I feel for those who will see their hard work go down the drain if Rahm is kicked off the ballot, but I think there is a certain amount of “what goes around comes around” at work here. If people are really concerned about ballot access — well, where have they been all these years? And yes, we can’t all work on every issue, but I hope that NOW they will try to put some reforms in place to make the system more fair in the future, and not just kvetch about it and then go back to exploiting it when it suits them.
Comment by Lakefront Liberal Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 3:28 pm
This isn’t the first time Rahm has had a residency incident. Remember when he lived in Rosa Delauro’s and Stan Greenberg’s basement?
Comment by Cincinnatus Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 3:47 pm
Wordslinger mentions the late Tom Lyons’ summer residence in the North suburbs as opposed to the apartment he kept in the 45th ward, but how can we forget the late, great John Marcin? The Chicago City Clerk spent little or no time in Chicago, but always managed to hold on to a legal voting address in the 35th Ward. The upstart Joe Kotlarz finally deposed Marcin when he was in his eighties, but Kotlarz ended up doing jail time later.
Comment by Honest Abe Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 4:02 pm
Sorry I’m late to this, but Bill’s comment at 12:22 is wrong. According to the City Clerk’s website:
“By ordinance, vehicles that are principally garaged in the city more than 30 days must have a city vehicle sticker.”
So it does not matter where the car is registered. It matters where the car is parked. In Rahm’s case, his car has been parked in DC. Therefore, he’s not liable for wheel taxes the past few years.
The vehicle sticker issue is not going to fly. It doesn’t prove/disprove residency and Rahm didn’t need to buy stickers for the years in question. Move on please, but try to get the facts straight.
Comment by 47th Ward Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 5:05 pm
Thanks for taking kass to task. He needs it done a lot.
Comment by DJ Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 5:33 pm
Rich, you gotta take a breath on Kass. He’s a columnist, you know ‘opinion’. I read his column and didn’t get your objections. The fish story? is that not true? I don’t know, first time I’d heard it, and who cares, but is that it? the quotes ascribed to RE?
I like Kass because of his snark about the way Cook and Chicago are really run. After the Berrios story, you don’t think there’s a need for snark? Gotta keep a sense of humor man. Don’t buy into the ‘combine’ stuff, no prob. it’s OPINION.
Comment by Park Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 6:42 pm
===He’s a columnist, you know ‘opinion’.===
Opinion writers don’t get to make up facts.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 6:49 pm
Also, I do “opinion” as well. And it’s my “opinion” that he needs to be called out much more often on his fact-free fantasies.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 6:53 pm
@Anon 3:09:
The law says you don’t lose your residency if you’re away on business of the United States. Chief of Staff to the President would fall under that category, as would military service. A Chicago police officer or teacher who is called up for military service or to serve the President wouldn’t have to give up their residency.
The law says nothing about renting out your home while in service. Most people can’t or don’t want to leave their homes empty while they’re away, be it for financial or security reasons.
There is no indication Emanuel was not coming back to Chicago. On the contrary, all the evidence is that he intended to return. Kept voter registration, DMV registration, Driver’s License, personal effects, etc. in Chicago. His kids are in D.C. to finish out their school year.
Comment by SR Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 7:31 pm
Anon 3:09, please don’t take this the wrong way, but first you should try to read what I wrote. I was referring to residency for candidates, not voters.
Secondly, having litigated a number of election law cases before electoral boards, circuit courts, appellate courts, and the Illinois Supreme Court (never having lost one), I am confident in my assertion that the objection in this case is simply not supported by the law.
Perhaps, anon, you were fooled by the folksy style of my argument. But the bottom line is that when one is “on business for the United States” the residency requirement for candidates is inapplicable. Look it up, really.
I don’t know what your “special pleading” assertion is all about, but the fact is the law and facts are on Rahm’s side. Odelson is lapping up the publicity, but he will lose this case and the voters will ultimately choose.
And to Lakefront Liberal - amen. THe state legislature can do a much better job to guarantee ballot access. That they don’t speaks volumes their narrow self-interest in keeping potential challengers off of the ballot. Perhaps Mr. Kass could spill some ink on that issue rather than behave as an armchair election law attorney like so many others.
Comment by phocion Wednesday, Dec 8, 10 @ 7:35 pm
@honestabe - while he may raise good points, be careful with Russ Stewart - he doubles as a columnist for the northwest side newspaper and an attorney for candidate, so sometimes his columns aren’t exactly neutral
Comment by Amy Thursday, Dec 9, 10 @ 7:55 am