Council Wars

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Council Wars was a racially-polarized political conflict in the city of Chicago from 1983-1986.

The term came from a satirical comedy sketch of the same name written and performed by comedian and journalist Aaron Freeman in 1983, using the good-v.-evil plot line of the film Star Wars as a device. After the election of Harold Washington, the first black mayor of Chicago, in 1983, a group of 29 of the city's 50 aldermen led by "the Eddies"—Ed Vrdolyak, and Ed Burke—fought the mayor at every turn. The block of 29, known as the Vrdolyak 29, consisted of 28 white councilmen and the body's only Hispanic member. They were largely associated with the old Chicago Democratic machine dominated by Richard J. Daley for decades. The Vrdolyak 29 would not only block the mayor's proposals, but would even block his appointments, a purely symbolic move as they were able to take places running city departments on an interim basis anyway. In their first session under the Washington administration, they voted themselves in charge of every single council committee. Some members even admitted that they blocked the mayor's proposals when they thought they had merit, because they claimed a good measure by Washington would be bad in the long run for the city because it would help prolong his mayorship. Many believe the opposition was racially motivated. There certainly was grounds for believing that as the 1983 mayoral election which Washington won gained national headlines for its ugly and racially divisive nature.

The Vrdolyak 29 had a majority of votes, but not enough to override a mayoral veto, thus created legislative gridlock. Chicago became known as "Beirut by the Lake." Legislation did get passed and budgets were cut, but it was a drawn out and ugly affair. Their opponents, the Washington 21, consisted of the city's 16 black aldermen and 5 white liberals.

Council Wars ended in 1986 when a judge ordered some special aldermanic elections. He ruled that the voting boundaries had been set up intentionally and unfairly to hurt Chicago's minority communities. At the time, whites and blacks both accounted for approximately three out of every seven citizens each with Hispanics accounting for one out of every seven, yet the city council had 33 whites, 16 blacks, and 1 Hispanic. Seven wards were redistricted to change this, and Washington's supporters gained four new seats due to some alliances the mayor had made in the Hispanic community. With the council vote now evened up at 25-25, the mayor could cast the deciding vote. Many aldermen from the old Vrdolyak 29, led by Richard Mell, went to the mayor to promise cooperation with him in the future, and claiming that their previous positions had been forced on them by the Eddies. The mayor now had a clear majority of the council on his side.

Washington was re-elected in 1987 and, in the same election, numerous aldermanic challengers loyal to him defeated incumbernts who had been aligned with the 29. However, before he had long to enjoy his new power, Washington died of a heart attack. The council chose his successor, Eugene Sawyer. Though Sawyer, a black alderman, had sided with Washington in Council Wars, most votes for him in the council came from the old Vrdolyak bloc.

[edit] Members of the Vrdolyak 29

• Edward Vrdolyak
• Ed Burke
• Bernard Stone
• Richard Mell
• Michael F. Sheahan
• Roman Pucinski
• Fred Roti
• Patrick Huels

[edit] Members of the Washington 21

• Timothy Evans
• Eugene Sawyer
• Lawrence Bloom
• Bobby Rush
• Wilson Frost
• Dorothy Tillman
• Danny K. Davis

[edit] References

• Answers.com, [1] "Aaron Freeman". Accessed April 1, 2007.
• Preston, Michael B., "The Election of Harold Washington: Black Voting Patterns in the 1983 Chicago Mayoral Race", Political Science and Politics, Vol. 16, No. 3 (Summer, 1983), pp. 486-488
• B. Secter & J. McCormick, "Obama Hits Chicago During 'Council Wars,'"[2], Chicago Tribune, March 29, 2007, accessed April 1, 2007.