A November article by Russ Stewart gives more background on the 32nd ward.

The race for 32nd Ward Democratic committeeman apparently is over before it began. From an email sent to volunteers for candidate John Fritchey today:

“I am very pleased to inform you that the discussions [“between myself and elected officials at every level of City and State government”] yielded results that simply would not have been obtained without us showing just how serious we are about obtaining significant improvements in our area. In general terms, the outcome of the discussions is as follows: 1) I have been given commitments that there will be no consolidation of the committeeman’s office with that of any other local elected officeholder; 2) I have received what I consider to be credible assurances that the needs of 32nd Ward constituents are going to be given a heightened and continued priority beginning immediately and continuing on a going forward basis.”

County clerk filing data shows that both Alderman Matlak and Fritchey have withdrawn their filings, leaving incumbent Terry Gabinski as the sole candidate. Many locals had pinned their hopes on this race, and specifically Fritchey, to sink the old Rostenkowski machine that has held the 32nd since the Depression. Gabinski was Rosty’s chief deputy, and Matlak was Gabinski’s protege. Indeed, the aldermen’s office adjoins the Democratic committee’s office, and title to both is still held by none other than Dan Rostenkowski. Essentially, whether or not Matlak or Gabinski holds the committeeman’s chair doesn’t matter; the effect is that the committeeman’s office is consolidated with the alderman’s office.

Historically, aldermen in Chicago have controlled both their position and the chair of the ward Regular Democratic Organization — thus solidifying both their power in City Hall and in the RDO machine. However, some have recently alleged that the role split between Alderman Matlak and Committeeman Gabinski has improved on that centralization of authority: tales abound of developers paying off Gabinski, who then calls the favor into Matlak’s office — thus maintaining the appearance of propriety, since contributions to the RDO aren’t watched as closely as contributions to the alderman’s campaign fund.

That both Matlak and Gabinski filed for the upcoming race led some to wonder whether the machine had fractured. Independent constituents were lining up behind Fritchey, who’s well known in the ward’s northern reaches as the State Senator for much of the north lakefront yuppie belt — but who has less name recognition in west-side Bucktown and Ukrainian Village, which gentrified more recently and thus maintain Latino representatives in Springfield and Washington. Fritchey’s name recognition and unrest within the community over development would have provided a substantial base for a challenge.

This announcement ends a race which could have been interesting: the yuppies who now dominate the 32nd have little need for the traditional “ward services” (e.g., patronage jobs) disbursed by the RDO to newly arrived immigrants. For instance, the Hispanic Democratic Organization has had great success marketing The Machine to Mexican immigrants in areas like Back of the Yards (12th ward), Cragin (30th ward), and Southeast Chicago (10th ward). The RDO’s victory in the 44th last year — tossing its support behind Tom Tunney in Lakeview, thus endearing itself to that neighborhood’s assimilationist gays with a candidate who also had independent credentials — proved that its marketing muscle is still unmatched. Some speculated then that the proto-yuppie “lakefront liberals” who opposed Richard J. have been placated by Richard M. and his flowerbeds.

Since many yuppies are technocrats, they would seem to demand technocratic (transparent, efficient) government — the antithesis of the old ward system, where all city services were cloaked behind the alderman’s office in order to extract favors from seekers of said services. Perhaps the overall political apathy of the day has dimmed this group’s drive for good government.

Furthermore, a decade under the tyranny of Richard Daley the Second has led to increased unrest on City Council and in city politics. An political axis has formed between Mu�oz, Colon, and Flores, the three non-HDO affiliated Latinos on City Council, and the progressive organization surrounding Toni Preckwinkle in Hyde Park — creating an interesting, progressive foil for the Daley machine, committed to transparency and a progressive social agenda.

Also, the election for Democratic committeeman was to have coincided with the hotly contested primary election for U.S. Senate and president (although the latter will likely be over long before March), thus raising voter turnout above dismal municipal-election levels. There could have been something interesting to report in March, but there won’t be.

Landmark Theaters has reportedly signed a lease with Holsten to build a art-house multiplex in the Wilson Yard redevelopment, at Broadway and Wilson in Uptown. Although certainly movies are an appropriate use in what was one of Chicago’s premier entertainment districts, the opening of the Landmark Century Center (and art houses in Evanston and Highland Park, keeping North Shore moviegoers closer to home) has cut into ticket sales at the Music Box. The new theater site is similarly near the Music Box, but offers even better access to the Red Line than any existing north side theater.

Talk about signing a theater chain for subterranean space at Block 37 (to complement the Siskel, but perhaps too close to the new River East megaplex) has gone nowhere. Similarly, plans for screening revivals at old moviehouses in out-of-the-way Portage Park and Bridgeport have stalled despite overflow crowds at the annual Outdoor Film Festival in Grant Park. It seems there won’t be enough indy or foreign films to fill the screens (and my dreams of ever seeing a movie on the west side — besides the City North and Lawndale multiplexes — seem all the more distant now); revivals and niche ethnic markets seem like long shots as well.

Some public housing redevelopment schemes will need an extra push to get started. Reinventing the local public schools sounds like a good idea, but the results of school reform are famously slow to arrive — and may not arrive quickly enough to put a happy new face onto a notorious neighborhood.