Cook County in last throes
of setting new single-member districts
The County Board itself must establish the 17 districts
for 1994 county commissioner elections.
Political machinations abound as the incumbents
parse them out among city and suburbs, Democrats and
Republicans, African Americans and Hispanics, etc.
Jerry Butler. Allan Carr. John Daley. Frank
Damato. Danny Davis. Marco Domico. Robert Gooley. Carl Hansen. Irene Hemandez.
Thaddeus "Ted" Lechowicz. Mary McDonald.
Maria Pappas. Richard Phelan. Richard Siebel.
Herbert Shumann. Bobbie Steele. John Stroger.
These are the commissioners that make up the
Cook County Board, representing 2.8 million Chicagoans and 2.3 million suburbanites. They are a
semi-anonymous crew, managing a $2.1 billion
annual budget and overseeing a public hospital, a
forest preserve district, a massive jail, law enforcement in unincorporated areas and assessment of property
values in the most populous county in Illinois.
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Things are about to change for Cook County residents,
who until now have had no reason to be acquainted with a
particular board member as their specific representative.
The County Board commissioners have been elected at
large — 10 from the city and seven from the suburbs. The
ultimate effect was to polarize power on the board and
minimize accountability to voters.
Starting next year, commissioners will be elected from 17
single-member districts. The County Board itself is to
determine which districts go where, and adoption of a
district map was expected in September. The change carries
political implications, particularly from Republicans who
form the board's minority and all come from outside
Chicago. But whether the new system will produce more
efficient and responsive representative government is an
open question.
For years the County Board remained stable with a
15-member lineup. Ten members (all Democrats)
served at large from Chicago and five members
(almost always Republican) served from the suburbs. This
arrangement suited the city's Democratic organization
just fine because it assured them of power. To a
lesser extent it also suited the Republicans, who
were resigned to their minority status, because it
assured them at least some representation on the
board.
Two events in the 1960s upset this traditional
balance. The postwar exodus to the suburbs rearranged the geographic balance of population between city and suburbs. And the U.S. Supreme
Court's one-person, one-vote ruling mandated that
the demographic changes be represented in legislative bodies, including such local governments as the
Cook County Board. So when the Democrats refused to give
up one of their city seats after the 1970 census, the Republicans went to court. A compromise allowed the Democrats to
keep their 10 Chicago seats but gave the suburbanites (and
presumably the Republicans) another board member. This
same scenario played itself out 10 years later, and the suburbs
gained a seventh seat in the 1980s.
Ever since Illinois' 1970 Constitution gave Cook County
home-rule powers, groups such as the League of Women
Voters, the Urban League and Common Cause had urged
adoption of a single-member district system. "The Constitution allowed adoption of single-member districts either by
the commissioners' vote or by an initiative from the electorate," according to Ivana Wilks of the League of Women
Voters.
The district idea faced a very formidable foe back then,
however: County Board president George Dunne. Under
Dunne, the board became virtually a one-man operation.
Dunne, also a powerful ward committeeman, carried a lot of
weight in the county Democratic party especially when he
was also county party chairman. Dunne's influence on party
slating committees seemed to assure that only his allies
would be selected. "But Dunne changed his mind somewhat
in 1978," according to Wilks. "The commissioners that year
34/August & September 1993/Illinois Issues
Current commissioners of
the Cook County Board
Elected from Chicago
Jerry Butler, Democrat, near southside (4th Ward)
John Daley, Democrat, Bridgeport neighborhood (11th
Ward)
Frank Damato, Democrat, near northwest side (29th Ward)
Danny Davis, Democrat, west side (29th Ward)
Marco Domico, Democrat, near northwest side (36th Ward)
Irene Hernandez, Democrat, north side (4th Ward)
Thaddeus "Ted" Lechowicz, Democrat, near northwest side
(30th Ward)
Maria Pappas, Democratic, near north side (42nd Ward)
Bobbie Steele, Democrat, west side (24th Ward)
John Stroger, Democrat, south side (8th Ward)
Elected from the suburbs
Allan Carr, Republican, Cicero (Cicero Township)
Robert Gooley, Republican, Homewood (Bloom Township)
Carl Hansen, Republican, Mount Prospect (Elk Grove
Township)
Mary McDonald, Republican, Lincolnwood (Niles Township)
Richard Phelan, Democrat, Winnetka (New Trier Township)
Richard Siebel, Republican, Northfield (Northfield Township)
Herbert Shumann, Republican, Palos Hills (Palos Township)
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voted themselves a pay raise over Dunne's objections. He
then realized the commissioners had no accountability to the
voters."
Single-member districts were still far off in the future,
however, because of the value at-large elections served for
the Democratic party as it maintained tight control on slating
the city candidates. Precise geographic representation has
seldom if ever been a major factor in party slating for the
board. There were ethnic factors ("we need an Italian . . . Jew . . . Bohemian on the ticket somewhere").
Commissioner positions often served as an ultimate reward for party faithful. Few were as blatant about this
qualification as the late Samuel Vaughan, a member of the
34th Ward Democratic organization. When slating time
came for the 1990 elections, Vaughan did not bother to recite
his expertise in hospital or jail management. Instead, he told
the slating committee, "I'll tell you why you should select me
— because I'm the best precinct captain in the history of the
34th Ward, that's why!"
More recently the County Board has also served for
politically expedient lateral arabesques for white Chicago
politicians affected by racially changing neighborhoods. Seats
on both the Chicago City Council and the Cook County
County Board have been determined, at least in part, by ward
committeemen. When special elections loomed for several
Chicago wards in 1985, Democratic slatemakers gathered
and decided that three aldermen — Frank Damato, Michael
Nardulli and Frank Stemberk — appeared likely to lose their
redistricted seats to blacks or Hispanics. The three suddenly
found themselves "qualified" to serve on the County Board
although lacking experience in county government. The same
thing happened with Marco Domico, committeeman and de
facto alderman of the 25th Ward, who was persuaded to take
a County Board seat rather than run a winnable aldermanic
election against a Hispanic in the strongly Mexican 25th
Ward. Five years later came another example. A sudden
resignation allowed city commissioners to appoint John
Daley, brother to Mayor Richard M. Daley and a state senator
whose district was becoming increasingly Hispanic.
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Democrats in Chicago finally saw the legal and political handwriting that made single-member districts
inevitable for election of Cook County commissioners. African-American Chicago Democrats especially pushed
for and finally won adoption of an election system by district
for all the Cook County Circuit Court judges. The system of
electing those Cook County judges had been rooted in the
same type of at-large method with some from the city and
some from the rest of the county (some were also elected
countywide). It was a system that also assured Republican
judges were elected from the suburbs, but in the city the
Democrats were discovering that blacks and Hispanics wanted their fair share of judges, too.
Once that judicial subdistrict plan was put into motion for
Cook County Circuit Court judges, an initiative for single-member Cook County commissioner districts was finally
placed on the ballot in 1990 by the Democrats. Despite
arguments from Republicans that the district system would
jeopardize suburban representation, the measure passed
handily in both city and suburbs.
As the deadline was getting closer for the board to
establish the districts for the 1994 commissioner
elections, professional and amateur mapmakers alike
have been invited to submit their proposals to the board. Six
public hearings on the new districts were scheduled for July
and August. Computers were set up in the County Building to
provide public access to census data, in the same manner that
they were available for the 1991 Chicago City Council
redistricting of its wards. Ultimately the board's Rules Committee will recommend a map, which will be voted on by the
entire County Board.
Pete Credicos, who is in charge of producing the map for
the Rules Committee, said that the committee would not be
drawing a map until the hearings are completed, although
Hernandez claimed in June that she had already seen a
"preliminary" map. Credicos predicted a map would be
submitted to the board in September, to give time for a
possible court challenge before the December filing deadline
for county office candidates in the March primary.
The only mandatory obligations in drawing the district
map are federal ones, requiring adherence to the one-person,
one-vote rule and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The latter
requires that districts may not be drawn to exclude minorities
from representation, although a recent U.S. Supreme Court
ruling in a North Carolina case may preclude the board from
drawing oddly shaped districts solely to maximize the possibility of minority representation. Nevertheless, some districts
are expected to be intended for blacks and Hispanics. The
August & September 1993/Illinois Issues/35
number of such districts remains open to debate.
Republicans had tried unsuccessfully to include a stipulation that would allow only one district to be split across city
and suburban territory. Without that provision, virtually
anything goes in the mapmaking for the Cook County
legislative body. The League of Women Voters asked for
six criteria: one person, one vote; equitable districts for
blacks and Hispanics; compact and contiguous districts; no
more than two districts overlapping city and suburbs; to the
greatest extent possible, respect for existing boundaries
(municipalities in the suburbs, wards and precincts in
Chicago); and boundaries not drawn to protect incumbents.
It is not guaranteed that the latter three criteria will be
followed.
"There are only four hard and fast rules," said Credicos.
"The districts must be contiguous, there must be 17 of them,
they must follow the one-person, one-vote rule, and they
must obey the Voting Rights Act." Cook County Democratic chairman Tom Lyons emphasized, "You have to start
with the Voting Rights Act. "If not, the courts will throw the
map back in your face."
Hispanics are generally conceded two districts, one
covering the near northwest side of Chicago and
one taking in the near southwest side and some
adjacent western suburbs. But a district drawn to maximize
Hispanic representation might not translate into such. Commissioner Daley lives in the 11th Ward, an area likely to be
included in a southwest side Hispanic district. Given the
historic strength of the Daley family's 11th Ward political
organization and the historic low vote totals in neighboring
Hispanic wards, Daley would be considered a heavy favorite were he to seek the County Board seat. But since a Daley
occupation of a "Hispanic" seat might undo the good will
his mayoral brother has worked to build in the Hispanic
community, John Daley possibly will seek another office.
African Americans could get five or six districts, depending on who draws the county map and how committed they
are to assured black representation in a given district. "Five
black districts is doable, but the problem with six is one of
doability. The test is whether a minority district can reasonably elect a candidate," said Credicos. "When flirting with
the expansion of minority districts, it is questionable whether these minorities can get those extra seats."
"You can draw six districts, but you take your risks,"
adds Jim Lewis, vice president of research and planning
with the Chicago Urban League. The lower numbers of
African-American residents scattered through six districts
could provide a dangerous dilution of the vote, particularly
in low-income areas where turnout is comparatively light.
African Americans compose about 25 percent of Cook
County, which would entitle them to 4.3 County Board
seats."
That possible extra African-American seat is likely to be
a bone of contention in the upcoming map. John Stroger, the
senior black County Board commissioner, said, "Five black
and two Hispanic districts is probably fair. I'd be tickled
pink to see a sixth black district. But it has to be done in a
way to ensure African-American representation. It has to be
a winnable district."
"I don't think Stroger and others are giving us what I
think we should be getting," said Richard Barnett, a west
side activist who argued for 24 (out of 50) black wards in a
1991 Chicago City Council map. "We should have a
minimum of six seats. The Voting Rights Act says we
should have an 'opportunity,' not a 'guarantee' to elect black
representatives."
Cook County Republican chairman Manny Hoffman
predicts fewer seats for blacks and Hispanics: "There will be
four African-American and one Hispanic district." Most
observers, however, consider Hoffman's minority numbers
to be an undercount.
The question of black representation could come back to
haunt a person who seemingly has little desire to become
involved in it. Richard Phelan, the County Board president,
is expected to run for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination and not seek another term as county board commissioner and president. Yet his vote on a county district map is
likely to be the vital one, since the board would need a four-fifths vote (15 members) to override a Phelan executive veto
on a proposed map. Phelan associate David Carvalho said
that Phelan has not committed to how many African-American districts there should be.
"If Phelan approves five as opposed to six African-American districts, it could backfire on him," comments
Victor Crown, a consultant who worked with the Republicans on the 1990 congressional map. "The perception of
approval of lessened representation could hurt him among
African-American voters, particularly [since Illinois Atty.
Gen.] Roland Bums decided to enter the governor race."
One real consideration in the map drawing, although
ignored by courts and criticized by "good government" groups, is protection of incumbents. "The
problem is, the map is voted on by the County Board," says
Credicos. "Incumbency is important in that you have to
make nine of the current Board members happy." The
board partisan split is 11 Democrats and six Republicans.
Phelan is the only Democrat from the suburbs.
Ensuring incumbent happiness is not likely to be an easy
task, particularly among Democrats. Although Republican
commissioners are scattered throughout the suburbs, the
southwest side of Chicago is devoid of a resident commissioner, whereas four Chicago commissioners (Frank Damato, Danny Davis, Marco Domico and Ted Lechowicz) live
so close together they conceivably could be drawn into a
single near northwest side district.
There is also the question of suburban representation, an
issue frequently cited by the Republicans as a reason for
their opposition to single-member districts. Republicans
have opposed districts, fearing the creation of several city/suburban districts which would be drawn to elect city —
meaning Democrat — not suburban — meaning Republican
— commissioners. It is uncertain whether a court would
uphold a challenge based on inadequate political representation, in this case Republican. "Courts have not dealt with
36/August & September 1993/Illinois Issues
political fairness but have announced that it's an issue that
can be litigated," says Credicos.
Suburban has not automatically meant Republican in
recent years. Democrats Abner Mikva and Marty Russo
won congressional elections in districts that were all or part
suburban. Democrat Jeanne Quinn's dogged campaigning
won her an at-large suburban seat on the County Board in
1982. Democrat Phelan, due in part to his simultaneous
countywide election as County Board president, won a
suburban seat in 1990.
Likewise, Republicans have made some General Assembly district inroads on the northwest and southwest sides of
Chicago, and under ideal circumstances they might make a
run for it in city/suburban districts. But the Democrats have
neither the need nor desire to provide those optimum
circumstances, and with their County Board majority, they
are the ones drawing the map.
Crown has drawn up a map with six black districts —
two covering the city's west side, three on the south
side and one encompassing black southern suburbs.
His proposed map also includes: two Hispanic districts; a
Chicago lakefront district; a north shore city/suburban
district (a "David Orr district," as Crown calls it, referring
to the Cook County clerk); four suburban safe Republican
districts; two white ethnic city/suburban swing districts, one
on the northwest side and one on the southwest side; and a
"Jewish" district stretching east-west across the northern
tier of Chicago wards and including Niles Township outside
the city.
Crown's map is only one of many maps likely to surface
before a final decision is made, and his is not likely to be
adopted in its present form. Barnett comments, "Party
regulars aren't likely to be doing any favors for David Orr,"
who is considered an independent and hinting at a run for
County Board president. "A north-south district along the
lakefront might help him. But it wouldn't be hard to draw
him into an east-west district in more conservative territory
that could be to his disadvantage."
Many other maps are inevitable. "With a 17-member
board," said Credicos, "you have 17 possible 'ideal' maps
— and that doesn't include all the interest groups."
The board's delay in coming up with a map has met with
criticism from those who say such a delay works to
independents' disadvantage. Carvalho admits, "It creates
uncertainty among candidates. They don't know where the
districts are going to occur and from where they must get
their petition signatures." That situation occurred with the
1992 state legislative elections when the new map was hung
up in court until past the usual filing deadline for the March
primary.
Party clout may still be a major influence in the elections,
but both major party chairmen say they will not hold the
traditional county slating sessions for board candidates.
Lyons claims ward and township committeemen will gather
in the new districts and pick slated County Board candidates by weighted votes, following the procedure used for
slating state legislative candidates. Hoffman said that Republican township and ward officials will screen candidates
and make slating decisions but predicted wide-open races
with many mayors and township officials going after possible Republican seats.
It is hard to predict the success of Cook County's new
single-member district system, since no other county
matches Cook's size in Illinois. Each of the new board
commissioners will represent a district of slightly more than
300,000 people. DuPage County, second most-populous
county with 781,666 people, has five multimember districts,
each electing five county board members. Its county board
chairman is elected countywide.
County Republican chairman Hoffman, suburban commissioner Allan Carr and other Republicans have suggested
increasing the membership of the Cook County Board, an
idea which has met with little response from Democrats.
Any change in members would require a referendum or
approval by the legislature.
Stroger, who calls himself the "Father of Districting"
because of his early support for the plan, argues that
districts will bring new vigor to Cook County government.
"It will enhance the visibility of government; people identify
with individual commissioners," he says. "It will require
those elected to become more accountable and accessible to
a constituency, which is now hard to single out. They tell me
that more people come to me with their concerns than go to
most other commissioners. But if John Doe is their local
commissioner, they go to him." Besides, says Stroger, the
first declared candidate for Cook County Board president,
"Lively local races may increase voter turnout."
Suburban commissioner Richard Siebel's concerns about
the district system stem mainly from the potential costs. "It
will increase the cost of government. Each commissioner
will have a downtown office and a district office," he says.
"The costs of campaigning could jump 10 to 20 times.
When we ran as a team from the suburbs, we could pool our
resources and put out common literature. In my last campaign, I only spent about $5,000.
"Voting may be much more parochial," Siebel adds.
"With the board as it is now, you represent an entire city or
suburban constituency. But in single districts, people want
things for their own district. You might have 'He has a
clinic; I want a clinic' or 'He has a golf course; I want a golf
course.' " As for current constituent services, Siebel says,
"We get calls from all over the county. Our staff doesn't
classify by geography. If you have single-member districts
and a bad representative, you're frozen out."
Whether or not the single-member districts ultimately
save the taxpayers money, they probably at least will help
the commissioners become more well known. They still
won't get the name recognition of Oprah or the local
television weatherman. But the mention of the commissioner's name might elicit the response "Oh, him" (or her), as
opposed to "Who's he?" (or she).
David Fremon is a free lance writer in Chicago and author of
the book, Chicago Politics Ward by Ward.
August & September 1993/Illinois Issues/37