Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Crain's Chicago Business
by Greg Hinz

Call it a tale of two machines. One continues to lose its strength with age. The other is beginning to flex its political muscle.

The first is Chicago's vaunted, if hoary, Cook County Regular Democratic Organization, which kept power over the county budget late last month only because of last-second help from — of all people — county board Republicans. The other is reborn organized labor, and particularly the fast-growing Service Employees International Union (SEIU), which is making things interesting in Daley Inc.'s Chicago City Council subsidiary.

Everyone from housing developers to hospital operators, business folk and plain old taxpayers ought to monitor closely the jousting between these two machines. The bottom line definitely is on the line.

Start with the county. The question that counted there was whether newbie board President Todd Stroger would mostly cut frontline county workers to balance the books or instead be forced to dispense with highly paid administrators who form the backbone of his home ward organization (8th) and other Democratic fiefs.

Everyone involved in the fray cites different figures and arguments. But there's no question that Mr. Stroger won the key vote because three suburban Republicans broke with an independent bloc and sided with him.

How come? Commissioner Peter Silvestri notes that Mr. Stroger agreed to restore funding for a health plan for the working poor that is particularly important to suburbanites. Fellow GOP Commissioner Elizabeth Doody Gorman emphasizes that Mr. Stroger dropped plans to fire 35 suburban sheriff's police officers and agreed to keep personnel who maintain 570 miles of suburban streets.

But another GOP board member, Tony Peraica, says the three "abandoned" the reform bloc because "they were in a dealing mood. Todd called them into his office and promises were made on jobs, promotions, contracts and probably committee chairmanships."

The other side denies it, with Ms. Gorman calling Mr. Peraica, who ran for president against Mr. Stroger, "yesterday's news."

Who's right? Answers may come when and if Team Stroger gives me the data I've requested on how many administrative posts got cut where, and who holds them. But I can tell you two things for sure: A couple of dozen highway, zoning and similar suburban-focused jobs that some consider GOP patronage were kept in the budget. And highly paid jobs held by eight Democratic ward or township committeemen — to say nothing of county jobs held by their relatives, precinct captains and buddies — stayed in the budget, too.

Meanwhile, at City Hall, the question is how many incumbent aldermen — almost all of them staunch allies of the mayor — will end up losing to union-backed challengers by the time the second, runoff round of city elections concludes on April 17. The best guess now is five to seven, a big number in a body that nearly overturned Mayor Daley's veto of the big-box minimum-wage ordinance.

Though all of labor contributed, SEIU really ponied up, dropping more than $1.2 million into aldermanic contests, according to Executive Director Jerry Morrison. SEIU's best local political friend is Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and his former top aide, Doug Scofield, worked for SEIU candidates in last week's elections.

The very prospect of SEIU having friends in the City Council may give Mayor Daley heartburn, whatever he says. That ought to fit in nicely with the headache the mayor could get if downtown Alderman-elect Brendan Reilly (42nd) starts taking advice from his ex-boss, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, and the anxiety attack he'll surely suffer when Alderman-elect Sandi Jackson, aka Mrs. Jesse Jackson Jr., joins with a couple of other allies of the congressman to make her move.

Maybe Hizzoner can ask his doc for a multipurpose painkiller.

Already there's talk of a new big-box proposal. A tough fight on affordable housing is coming, and hospitals know aldermen can help SEIU organize medical workers. Developers, meanwhile, wonder how much Mr. Reilly will clamp down on them.

Only time will tell how independent new aldermen are of the machines, new and old.