Monday, November 22, 2010

Ladies & Gents, Meet Your New Alderman

As of 4:04pm, there are ten candidates who've turned in nominating petitions in the 46th Ward. They are: James Cappleman, Michael Carroll, Marc Kaplan, Andy Lam, Caitlin McIntyre, Don Nowotny, Molly Phelan, Befekadu Retta, Diane Shapiro and Emily Stewart. Not sure if there's still time for more, but we'll keep our eyes on the Board of Elections website for any latecomers.

Update:  Two more dark horses, filing late.  Say hello to Janice V. Thomas and Scott Baskin.  The filing period is closed, so we've got an even dozen candidates in the 46th Ward.

This is unofficial, and there may be challenges and invalid signatures. A full official slate will be released in December.

All we have to say is: Gerald Farinas, Jesse Wilson, Denise Davis... you coulda been a contendah!

19 comments:

  1. I don't even see her on the poll sheet from the last election cycle. So she may not be long for the ballot anyway.

    Not registered with the State Election Board yet.

    I sniff somebody's straw candidate with an irish name to split votes from Molly Phelan. Will be interesting to see if the notary on her ballot petitions also notarized another candidate's petitions.

    Assuming, you know, one of the candidates felt like checking into something like that.

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  2. It looks like Caitlyn is making the coffee at Awake Fearfull.
    Actually just as good of a background for understanding Uptown as the next job.
    Ten candidates is something new....if they go on Chicago Tonight with Phil Ponce he is going to need a bigger table.

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  3. 10 + 2... Janice Thomas and Scott Baskin = 12. All set, lest challenged.

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  4. Twelve?

    I'm relatively sure a handful of them will be tossed from the ballot.

    Maybe we end up with 8 candidates or so.

    McIntyre is actually a Scottish name. Means "son of the carpenter". Surprisingly "Caitlyn McIntyre" is a fairly common name.

    I will agree though that if she ends up on the ballot it would hurt Molly. Of course we need to see who actually makes the ballot. The current male/female split is not as inviting to Molly as it appeared a few weeks back.

    The backgrounds of the other "recent" candidates will be interesting to examine too.

    It's electionpalooza here in da 46th. It's like XMAS in November.

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  5. Helen Shiller "I will work behind the scenes to support the candidate of my choice"... it is pretty obvious what is happening.. Shiller/Nowatny flooded the ballot in order to prevent the presumptive frontrunners of Cappleman and/or Phelan from getting more than 50% of the vote..forcing a run-off.

    IN a run-off, Nowatny wins. Period. Shillers people will make sure that all of her minions vote in any run-off. The presumption, probably correct, that the voters for the survivor vs. Nowatny will not be as motivated or as many as there will not be a mayoral race attached to the run-off...

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  6. So I suppose it's official ... Shiller is NOT running.

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  7. Gosh...every time I read a post for this election, this is all I can here in my head...

    http://bit.ly/9MALn6

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  8. There are 23 candidates in the 24th ward...or is it the other way around? I dunno...thats just a lot of hats in the ring.

    I wouldn't put too much stock into the armchair conspiracy theories, all of the candidates have their reasons to run until PROVEN otherwise.
    I reckon they all will have to round up their "minions".

    A lot of peolple like to throw that little barb at Alderman Shillers voters, like they just can't possibly be making free choices, independent of snacks, fear-mongering, or transportation.

    Those are the typical lazy accusations, of the bitter and defeated.

    Save your criticisms for the people who opt out of democracy, there are so many.

    Or whats more likely to happen....continue being so...very...very..small.

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  9. all of the candidates have their reasons to run until PROVEN otherwise.

    Indeed ... however, Marc Kaplan? He's been under a rock since the WYTIF amendment meeting and now is making a bid for alderman?

    Not to mention his little cherry-picked referendum escapade.

    Suspicious - to say the least.

    And Janice Thomas?

    In a perfect world, a flood of candidates would be seen as a strong testament for democracy.

    This isn't a perfect world, this is Chicago.

    Dirty tricks abound.

    A mad candidate dash to the filing deadline by people who haven't had a previously stated intent to run smacks of nefariousness.

    The real question is how long until we see the flyers floating about claiming this or that candidate is a member of the KKK, or eats puppies and babies?

    *sigh*

    For a fleeting moment there, I thought we might have had a respectable campaign underway that would lead to actually putting a fair minded alderman into place.

    Nope.

    Just more of the same from the same cast of characters who have either been perverting the system or public persecption to attain their own goals.

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  10. I'm unsure of The Caped Conspiracy Crusader's conspiracy theory.

    Even with four or five candidates I don't think avoiding a runoff was likely. Also the votes Kraplan and Thomas get, if they end up on the ballot, were not likely going to any of the "anti-Shiller" candidates.

    My guess as to why those two are trying to run is both ego and a big F freakin U to the non Shillerista voters.

    Scott Baskin had made one political contribution in Illinois to Sandra Reed in 1999. He lives in a house on Hutchison and pays about $13,000 in property taxes. Apparently he's a successful businessman. By "Hutchison" standards his house is rather modest. He is also apparently on the North Side Prep school council.

    Looks like a wealthy guy who may pump some of his own money into the campaign.

    McIntyre? Outside the coffeehouse connection she's largely a mystery. Perhaps being aldercritter is a step up from working in a coffeehouse. Perhaps someone is trying to draw votes from Molly.

    I dunno. Uptown Politics is an enigma, wrapped in a Jakes Hot Dog, placed in a plastic bag blowing east down Montrose past the cemetery.

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  11. Now for more Pirate Commentary, brought to you by Tang, the astronauts favorite orange drink. Drink Tang and send some of your least favorite aldermanic candidates to Mars with NASA.

    7 males

    5 females

    3 Irish names

    3 Jewish names

    2 Gay Men

    1 Lesbian

    1 Asian

    1 Black/Asian/White?

    2 Immigrants

    2 Black

    1 Ponytail

    What am I missing?

    1 Cop

    2 Attorneys

    No hispanics apparently.

    1 Rich guy

    No pirates.

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  12. OK Yo....I stand corrected, they are SUSPICIOUS until proven otherwise.

    Of course same can be said about a lot of the comments on this page, even my own judging by the judgements.

    Not every informed resident is going to play the political small ball like Yo and IrratePirate, but equally true that doesn't mean they are all so easily fooled.

    As for the uninformed, or ill-informed they don't really care or vote anyways.

    Is Roland Burris really runnin' for Da Mayor?! And a lady named Plaster Caster?

    Now THATS wacky!

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  13. Oh, I'm totally voting for Burris!

    I can't possibly sleep at night knowing that there might be an empty space on his tombstone.

    But .. up against a porn star?

    Hmm ....

    And Jeffrey -- yes. Suspicious.

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  14. @ Jeffrey "A lot of peolple (sp) like to throw that little barb at Alderman Shillers voters, like they just can't possibly be making free choices, independent of snacks, fear-mongering, or transportation.

    Those are the typical lazy accusations, of the bitter and defeated."

    Seriously?

    Exactly what do these people have to show after years Helen whipping them into a frenzy of racial politics and class warfare? A safer place to drink beer and pee on the sidewalk? Hey Jeffery, 1971 called, they want their politics back.

    I have my doubts as to the validity of more than a few of these "candidates" but this is Chicago after all, and “you dance with the one what brung ya " as to the political process.

    Here in the People’s Republic of Uptown, between the commie-pinko-leftest-bed wetters on one side and Helen’s pro gang-banger political agenda, the alienation of those of us in the middle, the homeowners, the businesses, or anyone with a job, is complete.

    At this point, I’ll vote for anyone with enough guts to confront the public housing/gang/drugs/murder cloverleaf. Anything beyond that is the bonus round.

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  15. In addition to several referendum for prohibiting liquor sales in parts of the 3rd ward, there were 2 for the 46th
    Resources for Youth Wd 46 Sel Pcts
    Should the City of Chicago use every available resource, including increased funding, for youth outreach, violence prevention and intervention programs, job readiness and educational support programs, park district and local school usage, for the purpose of proactively
    resolving youth violence, increasing community safety, helping every young person to reach their full potential and to stem the
    tide of violence that is plaguing our communities

    No
    TIF Funds Wd 46 Sel Pcts
    Should the City of Chicago allocate a minimum of 20% of TIF (Tax Increment Financing) funds on a yearly basis to be used to preserve
    and produce housing affordable to persons at or below the community median income; return all tax dollars that have been taken from
    the public schools for the TIF Districts and be prohibited from taking any tax dollars from the public schools in TIF Districts in the
    future.

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  16. I find it fascinating that rather than seeing this election as an opportunity for new faces, ideas and conversations, many of you have immediately assumed that unfamiliar names are simply a ploy to destroy old neighborhood politics.

    Perhaps we should all wait and see who ends up on the official ballot and what they have to say before we decide this is all a farce.

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  17. The more the merrier, I always say. However, a candidate has more credibility if he or she was active in the community BEFORE deciding a run for public office. Most of them had never been to a CAPS meeting before deciding to run and their sudden interest does get a little irritating.

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  18. Holy Moley is right…there should be a community presence WAY before the election. CAPS is one area for some residents…but there may be other areas of involvement that are just as meaningful for other parts of the community.

    Yo, what kind of response do you EXPECT the residents of the Wilson yard housing will have toward Molly Phelan? Why would they expect her, as alderman, to pay them any attention. Wouldn’t it be reasonable for them to worry what she might do for people in their situation? And hasn’t the same demonization been done on these blogs & message boards to anyone showing the slightest sympathy to ideas like affordable housing or respecting the youth of the neighborhood?

    Also, who would you say SHOULD be the person leading the area? It just mystifies me that those who have opposed Shiller have not yet been able to unite the neighborhood enough to get someone elected. I don’t see it happening this year either.

    Even if we just pretend that 1000 Shiller votes are from people who stayed in a Shelter long enough to vote in the 46th, that still leaves thousands who chose to vote for Shiller. By dismissing them all as “Shilleristas”, defeat has come every election. That demonization, yo, happens on “your” side as well.

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