This clause was submitted by Michael Moreci
Political movements don't happen overnight. Changing a political structure, especially one so entrenched in its own might as the Chicago machine, requires organization, patience, and an ability to concentrate on the long view.
But since Mayor Daley announced that he won't be seeking another term, community organizers across the city have seen the window to climb an effort towards overhaul crack open after days of being nailed shut. And in this context, one name has been on everyone's tongue-Harold Washington.
For many, the old Chicago mayor who tragically died in office represents a myriad things, from progressive politics to community activism to grassroots politics. What gets lost in the nostalgia, according to Harish Patel, are the long days of governance that went into Washington's successful campaign.
"The drive was already accomplished by the time Washington ran," Patel said. "That was in order for years."
Patel is an organiser for Chicago A.D. a collective focused on shaping Chicago politics now and in the future. In the few weeks since Daley's announcement, Chicago A.D. has utilized facebook as an idea-sharing forum and have hosted meetings about the city. What has galvanized Patel is the possibilities for Chicago and the enthusiasm that has swelled since Daley's announcement.
"There's a huge buzz among the younger contemporaries of voters-they've never had a choice, they've never voted. Now it's a completely new ballgame."
Still, Patel is a pragmatist. While he recognizes the coming elections as an exciting time in the city's history, he also recognizes that, in place to tip the machine, it's release to take more than a misstep to the ballot poll.
"You want a trend that can foresee the machine politics of Chicago," Patel said.
"The root cause isn't Daley and what he stands for, but the manifestations of much deeper problems, namely the want of commonwealth and want of choice. That's what the machine stands for."
His goal, like other city organizers, is to learn step one in the operation and rock the cobwebs off the democratic process. Over the preceding two decades, the city's political machine has instilled a languor in its voters. Progressive candidates or those who challenged the car were squeezed out of the process; candidates who fly in air were all but assured victory. Voters recognized this, and they largely stayed home. Although Daley captured 72 percent of the ballot in 2007, turnout was low-43 of the 50 wards reported less than a 40 percent turnout.
But that is probably to change come January, according to Bill Wimsatt, author of Please Don't Bomb the Suburbs. Wimsatt has been involved with political organizing most of his life; in 2003, he founded The Conference of New Voters and currently runs All Men on Deck, a national consultation group that supports progressive candidatesin all levels of government elections.
"People are on sack in Chicago," Wimsatt said. "More than anyplace else in the country."
Despite Daley's long-lasting tenure and the car built around him, progressive politics are active in good in Chicago, according to Wimsatt. What needs to be realized is what Washington did in 1983-put all the pieces of Chicago's tribal politics together and get the community groups united under one vision for the city.
Like Chicago A.D. the Liberal Alliance-Cook County (PA-CC) has been eager to conquer this transitional opportunity.Yet, despite their moniker, their initiative isn't agenda-based. According to Maceo Brown, founding member and co-chair of the PA-CC, the end is to first get people involved in the political process, and that begins with voting. In the weeks since Daley's announcement, the PA-CC has been active across the total city and have already registered over 700 new voters.
The idea, Brown said, is to do more than get people to read or signed up for a mailing list. The PA-CC wants to give up a negotiation with people, to make that fundamental democratic quality of allowing voices to be heard. This engagement, Brown believes, will render to a more active dialogue, from demanding more from candidates to attending ward meetings and asking alderman tough questions.Without this, Chicago can easily slip back into the machine politics.
"We make a prospect to redirect the form of the metropolis over the following 5 to ten years," Brown said.
While Brown agrees with Patel that the forthcoming mayoral election is simply the beginning tone in the action of shaping Chicago's future, it is an important one. Regardless of what candidate wins, it'll be a new beginning for the city-not just for the people, but the city council as well.
Many aldermen have been hamstrung by TIFs, a plan that may finally be one of the darkest marks against Daley's legacy. As pointed out by Brown, TIFs have been exploited as leverage against aldermen, especially those who went against Daley's plans.With the TIF stranglehold breaking up, as proclaimed in the recent budget report, city aldermen will give more reason to base on when keeping the mayor's office in check.
"There necessarily to be a very clean break from the past," Brown said. "We want to get a better dialogue between the mayor's office and the city's council."
They key necessity, as stressed by Patel, Wimsatt, and Brown is to assert active participation and a strong, focused movement.The non-government organizations are looking not just towards this upcoming election, but the next as well. When it comes to citizenry involvement in politics, one of the most important tasks is staying active after the votes have been cast, as Patel pointed out.
"It's not only about getting behind someone who is progressive, but building something to preserve the liberal candidate accountable."
In the meantime, establishing a firm foundation over the upcoming months is vital, if but to see that this window for change doesn't get nailed shut again. Both Brown and Patel believe that Chicago has an abundance of strong, community-based organizations-the vault is getting all those tapped into a shared network.
"We want to think short term and long term," Patel said. "We want to produce and keep a place where community-based groups take a say in what happens on the 5th level of city hall. Washington's ideas of bringing the government land to the region still rings a toll in a lot of people."
This sport is supported in office by a Community News Matters grant from The Michigan Community Bank and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. More information here.
- Mechanics
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