A street light under the el track went out one night in December, and at dawn Charlie Soo, the mayor of Argyle, was on the phone with city officials demanding that it be fixed. Soo’s not really a mayor. Argyle’s only a street, and Soo’s not even a politician–he’s the director of a two-person operation called the Asian American Small Business Association of Chicago. But he tends to think of the two blocks along Argyle from Broadway to Kenmore as his province.
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In January Soo’s organization sponsors a Chinese New Year’s celebration at the Furama Restaurant (4936 N. Broadway). In August he puts together a Taste of Argyle festival; the street is closed, and merchants and restaurant owners set up booths along the sidewalks. Several thousand people attended last year.
Some critics grumble that Soo takes too much credit for these improvements, yet he has been a catalyst. Call him a self-promoter, but you can’t deny he’s a nonstop Argyle Street booster. “Charlie doesn’t give up,” says Michael Jones, a police officer who walks the Argyle beat. “I’ll give you an example. Last year before the Taste of Argyle there were four or five potholes that had to be filled. I mean you can’t have people having to sidestep the holes. Well, Charlie was on the phone for hours, demanding that the city send out a work crew. They finally sent a guy from the construction company down to do it, but the guy was mad. Charlie had really put the heat on, and this guy wouldn’t even say hi to Charlie. But Charlie doesn’t care. His attitude is, ‘Hey, the stuff has to get done.’”
In 1984 he got into a spat with the Washington administration over funding. “The Washington administration hired some people who were very incompetent, and they didn’t send my group economic-development funds that we were supposed to get,” says Soo. “I talked to a lawyer, and he said to sue. So I did. That was a big mistake. After that the city basically said, ‘The hell with you, Charlie. You sue us, and we won’t give you any money.’” Soo says the case dragged on for three years before it was settled, and during that time he ran his organization with money out of his own pocket. “Let me give you a lesson: Never sue the city. You can’t win. That case cost me $100,000. I spent all the money I had. Not only did I pay for my lawyer, but I also paid for my organization. I couldn’t leave the area. I’m not that kind of guy. Once I get started on something I don’t quit. That’s not Charlie Soo.”
“You have to say that Charlie has left his legacy on Argyle,” says Volini. “Over the years he has worked so hard that he has won people’s respect. People can no longer say he’s the outsider from Chinatown. He’s legitimate–a real promoter of Argyle Street.”
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Jon Randolph.
