The prospect of Richard M. Daley as mayor of Chicago fills many civic activists with a curious mixture of anticipation and terror. The latter is probably uppermost in their minds at the moment. No one has forgotten how Daley’s father ran the city: whatever else might be said for the old man, City Hall during his tenure was a closed shop. The thought of returning to those days, when those not in the old-boy loop were simply ignored, is depressing.
All this could end overnight. A lot hinges on whom the new mayor appoints to replace Liz Hollander. The early word in this connection is encouraging: Hollander’s deputy, Dave Mosena, reportedly has the inside track. Mosena is highly regarded by most activists who have had dealings with him, and would probably continue the open-door policies of his predecessor.
Best of Chicago voting is live now. Vote for your favorites »
These groups are widely respected, for the most part, and some of them have been around for a long time. They have their share of well-connected friends. No mayor can afford to shut them out altogether. But their influence could easily be diminished. They cannot easily mobilize great numbers of voters. The residential population downtown, where many of the groups concentrate their efforts, is still relatively small. The groups have no consistent champion in City Council, and in fact some aldermen are becoming increasingly hostile.
But to say that people involved with Friends of the River and similar groups are nervous about Daley isn’t to say they’re filled with fear and loathing. On the contrary, I think at least some in the activist crowd feel a certain sense of expectation.
But there is more to it than that. Most civic (as opposed to neighborhood) activists are, if not yuppies in the technical sense (i.e., young urban professionals making $40,000 or more a year who are prone to obnoxious behavior in restaurants), at least yuppoid. They are college graduates. They hold responsible white-collar jobs. They dress neatly. They have conventional middle-class expectations. They believe in progress and self-reliance.
Can Daley and the civic organizations work together? There is reason to think so. The mayor knows the city has changed since his father’s day. In an interview in Crain’s he said, “The mayor has to allow development, but under some guidelines. You just can’t turn over the city to developers.” He may not mean that, of course, and even if he does his idea of guidelines probably isn’t quite the same as the civics’. But at least there’s some basis for discussion.
