The Chicago City Council used to be called the Gray Wolves. Now they're more like a squad of Aldernannies, and Ed Burke, once the most vicious wolf of all, has become Head Mistress.
It's cute, Burke's rebirth as Aldernanny extraordinaire, a kindly older gent who is so concerned with Chicagoans' health. He's softened with age, perhaps, or maybe as he moves into his twilight years, he's come to see just how precious life is.
Take for example the helmet law ordinance he proposed, requiring motorcycle riders in Chicago to wear helmets. This was in 2004. Not a bad start, considering some studies indicate up 60 percent of motorcycle accident victims listed a government program as the primary source of payment for their hospital costs. To you and I, wearing a helmet on your head when you're on a small, exposed, two-wheeled vehicle amongst many larger, enclosed, four-wheel vehicles may seem like the apogee of common sense, the lack of which should be punished by head trauma; still, if taxpayers are ultimately footing the bill for those costs, tell'em to wear a damn helmet.
As chair of the powerful Finance Committee in the City Council, Burke, who represents the South Side 14th Ward, is among the two or three most powerful men in the Council. Once a Daley nemesis, Burke has resigned himself to a go-along, get-along attitude and now often helps move the Mayor's agenda through the Council. He certainly helps move his own agenda through the Council, expertly wielding his position on Finance to crush or entice other aldermanic initiatives.
You know, like ethics initiatives. What time did Burke have to support ethics ordinances that would have forced more serious (like, any) financial disclosure requirements for aldermen when he was pushing an ordinance to make sure Chicago did not fall prey to the creeping menace of parasailing, an activity that is rapidly destroying the lives of so many inner city kids, especially in his Back of the Yards-centered ward?
Burke, one of the leaders of the Vrdolyak 29 during the Council Wars — indeed, one of the "Eddies" who ruthlessly whipped votes against then-Mayor Harold Washington in one of the most politically cynical episodes in the history of the country — has a soft spot in his heart for people's health. Burke, whose father died of lung cancer, is a vociferous opponent of smoke, whether it come from cigarettes or power plants; Burke lead the fight to clean up two South Side power plants, Crawford and Fisk, that have been shown to increase asthma rates and hospital visits on the near Southwest Side. But Burke has a softer spot for business, and to date has been unable to effect real reform at those plants.
But he has gone hard after those hookah joints. Burke, after being the primary mover of a smoking ordinance that has no doubt infuriated fashion-plate and chimney Alderman William Beavers (7th), has just recently introduced an ordinance to make sure that people can't eat or drink in a smoking lounge, despite the fact that a smoking lounge would, be definition, really only be inhabited by people who smoke (of whom I am no longer one).
Burke's new legislative tendencies — going after loud ice cream trucks and dogs that bark for more than 10 minutes — must be a pleasant surprise to bleeding hearts like Alderman Joe Moore (49th), a stand-up guy with a faltering ward and definitely to Alderman Burt "Czar of the Ordinance" Natarus, the cuddly alderman of the downtown 42nd Ward known more for his confounding malapropisms and general codgerliness than for anything else — as the mastermind behind diapers for fancy cab horses and rousting street performers, for example.
Banning foie gras. Come on. As Chicago government has gone from a strong council/weak executive model to a weak council/strong executive model, the least they could do is try to stir things up. Even if they don't want to cross the Mayor, as almost no aldermen do, certainly their concern for the taxpayer should pop up.
When Mayor Daley, who loves these scratch-my-belly-feel-good ordinances, reacts negatively, you know something's awry. Even the Mayor couldn't believe the Council was wasting its time on a foie gras ban, saying in the Sun-Times, "We have children getting killed by gang leaders and dope dealers. We have real issues here in this city. And we're dealing with foie gras? Let's get some priorities. Our priorities should be children, the quality of education. It should be seniors. We should worry about the gas price. We should worry about the global economy... I think we have four restaurants that serve foie gras."
Was Alderman Burke busy muzzling barking dogs on July 27th of 2005, when an ordinance was proposed to drop the lawsuit trying to null the Shakman Decrees, which put a stop on political hiring? From his throne atop the mighty Finance Committee, resplendent in gold, couldn't he have shown his concern for people then, including people like Northwest Side city worker Frank Coconate, whose family and livelihood are under threat because of an alleged political firing? Burke voted against this measure.
Ald. Burke, who has also come under fire for the myriad apparent conflicts-of-interest his private, lucrative law firm is involved in — including being co-counsel on a federal case representing the Chicago City Council Finance Committee — may have missed his calling. He should've been a chef.
You see, now Alderman Burke wants to go after the fatty oils used to fry French fries. I agree that Chicagoans, perhaps Americans in general, are too fat. I think our lifestyles and consumer culture, which have commodified food to the point where eating is just an annoyance in our lives, is a big part of that.
But dammit, I don't want Alderman Ed Burke to do a damn thing about that. I don't want anybody on the City Council to do anything about it, not yet. Not while even loyal aldermen, like Walter Burnett Jr. (27th), feel the need to plead for fair housing in Chicago, pointing out to the Mayor that "there are people on your own staff who were hard pressed to find housing they can afford."
I want the City Council to make Chicago work for our families. I want the City Council to go after the lifestyles that push kids into the largest gang network in America, not the lifestyles that push kids to get their Italian beefs dipped. How about patching up streets in all of our neighborhoods? That'd be a nice start. How about using some of his vaunted Finance Committee muscle to get real property tax reform in school funding, rather than just the property tax "reform" he gets the high-profile clients of his law firm? When Alderman Burke is catching the vapors because a Venezuelan subsidiary has some relationship to voting machines used in Chicago, a good number of the residents of his ward are faced with debilitating energy costs because Chicago and Illinois continue their sweetheart deals with the big energy concerns. I like a strong alderman, I prefer one who runs his or her ward well, meeting constituent needs, keeping things clean, and balancing development. That's leadership. Slapping hands that reach for that last cookie, leave that to the mommies.
waleeta / June 21, 2006 1:43 PM
What's wrong with foie gras? Other than its gross-ness.