Chicago Ward Redrawing Part VII - The Suprising Case of Alderman Foulkes
Part I: Introduction and Overview
Part II: The Strange Case of the 19th Ward
Part III: The Black Caucus Proposal
Part IV: The Latino Caucus Responds
Part V: The Lines Are Drawn
Part VI: The Black Caucus/Rules Committee Proposal
Just when I thought the 2011 Chicago ward remap process couldn't get any odder, this afternoon brought on a development that genuinely shocked and surprised me. On the surface, it makes absolutely no sense. But, as it's often the case in Chicago politics, the devil is in the details.
As you probably recall from my previous posts, Ald. Toni Foulkes' (15th) got a short end of the stick in the entire ward remap process. Both the Taxpayer Protection Map and the Map for the Better Chicago proposals would change her ward almost beyond recognition in order to create a new majority Hispanic ward. The MBC proposal would keep the 15th ward closer to its current shape than the TPM proposal, but that isn't saying much. And, even though she is a member of both Reform Caucus and the Black Caucus, she got no help from either.
With that in mind, one can understand why Foulkes wouldn't sign on to either proposal.
So everyone was caught completely off-guard when the TPM Coalition issued a press release that announced that Foulkes would be joined their ranks. But what was most puzzling was the press releases' stated rationale for Foulkes' decision:
"Under the Taxpayer Protection Map the 15th Ward remains an African-American Ward. Ironically, the alternative For a Better Chicago Map, which used to be supported by the entire African-American Caucus, would unnaturally gerrymander the 15th Ward to become a Latino ward."
This statement stands in obvious contradiction of everything TPM proposal actually says. First and foremost, it gerrymanders the 15th ward just as badly, if not worse, than MBC proposal. Furthermore, if you look at the proposal data, the TPM proposal actually makes the 15th ward more Hispanic than then MBC proposal. Under TPM proposal, the ward would become 80.4 percent Hispanic. Under the MBC proposal, it would become 65.8 percent Hispanic.
It is unclear why the TPM Coalition would make a statement that so obviously contradicts recorded facts. Both proposals are publicly available on the City Clerk's website, so it's not as if anybody with the access to the computer wouldn't potentially catch on.
At first, I assumed that TPM Coalition amended their map to get Foulkes' support. But a Chicago Tribune article released hours after the press release went up suggests something else entirely.
I have written in length about Englewood, a poor Chicago neighborhood that's currently split between six wards. I have not mentioned the neighborhood to the immediate west - West Englewood. The community shares a lot of characteristics with Englewood, including fragmented representation. Under the current map, it is split between 15th, 16th and 17th wards, with 15th ward taking up most of the neighborhood's northern portion. Foulkes is a West Engelwood native, and she still resides there. Her ward office is located outside the neighborhood - a major source of contention for local residents. Still, if there is any alderman who can say with a straight face that she has West Engelwood interests at heart, it is probably Foulkes.
Under the TPM proposal, the 15th Ward would be removed from West Englewood completely. but the 16th and 17th wards would still cover West Englewood, with 17th ward taking up most of West Englewood and 16th ward taking up much of the northwestern portion.
Most importantly, as the Tribune article points out, the TMP proposal would put Foulkes' house in the 16th ward. It would allow her to run for election in the 16th ward and win. Since, under the TMP proposal, the 16th Ward would be majority Black and include a decent portion of her current constituents. While winning the election in the 16th ward wouldn't be easy, it would still be easier than the new 15th Ward. And,at least this way, Foulkes would still get to represent the portion of her home neighborhood she represented for since 2007.
Foulkes would have another advantage - she would be able to run as a reformer against an alderman who won her position due to support from anti-Daley labor unions, only to become Mayor Daley's loyal supporter once she assumed office.
Under the MBC proposal, the 15th Ward would actually include most of West Englewood, save for the southwestern portion and few oddly gerrymendered sections around the edges. However, the MBC proposal would still put Foulkes out of her ward. If she wants to represent West Englewood under MBC proposal, she would need to move. And, assuming she is willing to move, she would have to run for re-election in the ward where the majority of the voters are Mexican-American.
Since Foulkes will retain more of her current constituents under MBC proposal than she would under TPM proposal, she might have a shot at winning. But the fact remains that she would still have a better shot at winning a City Council election if TPM proposal takes effect. And it would be cheaper, since, again, she would not be required to move.
Some may see Foulkes' support for the TPM proposal as a well-meaning alderman trying to do right by her constituents. The more cynical among us might point out that supporting TPM proposal is politically expedient. Me, I think it's a little of both. Humans are complex, contradictory creatures, and aldermen are no exception.
But whatever her reason may be, Foulkes' move is a signficant symbolic victory for the TPM Coalition. The Coaltion maintains that their map is the fairest to the minorities group. But that rhetoric only went so far when none of the African-American aldermen would support them. Foulkes' actions help to remedy that.
And so, the struggle over the ward remap continues.
For More Information:
TPM Proposal
MBC Proposal
Interactive Google Maps of all remap proposals - Courtecy of WBEZ
Chicago Reader profiles:CloutWiki profiles:
Part II: The Strange Case of the 19th Ward
Part III: The Black Caucus Proposal
Part IV: The Latino Caucus Responds
Part V: The Lines Are Drawn
Part VI: The Black Caucus/Rules Committee Proposal
Just when I thought the 2011 Chicago ward remap process couldn't get any odder, this afternoon brought on a development that genuinely shocked and surprised me. On the surface, it makes absolutely no sense. But, as it's often the case in Chicago politics, the devil is in the details.
As you probably recall from my previous posts, Ald. Toni Foulkes' (15th) got a short end of the stick in the entire ward remap process. Both the Taxpayer Protection Map and the Map for the Better Chicago proposals would change her ward almost beyond recognition in order to create a new majority Hispanic ward. The MBC proposal would keep the 15th ward closer to its current shape than the TPM proposal, but that isn't saying much. And, even though she is a member of both Reform Caucus and the Black Caucus, she got no help from either.
With that in mind, one can understand why Foulkes wouldn't sign on to either proposal.
So everyone was caught completely off-guard when the TPM Coalition issued a press release that announced that Foulkes would be joined their ranks. But what was most puzzling was the press releases' stated rationale for Foulkes' decision:
"Under the Taxpayer Protection Map the 15th Ward remains an African-American Ward. Ironically, the alternative For a Better Chicago Map, which used to be supported by the entire African-American Caucus, would unnaturally gerrymander the 15th Ward to become a Latino ward."
This statement stands in obvious contradiction of everything TPM proposal actually says. First and foremost, it gerrymanders the 15th ward just as badly, if not worse, than MBC proposal. Furthermore, if you look at the proposal data, the TPM proposal actually makes the 15th ward more Hispanic than then MBC proposal. Under TPM proposal, the ward would become 80.4 percent Hispanic. Under the MBC proposal, it would become 65.8 percent Hispanic.
It is unclear why the TPM Coalition would make a statement that so obviously contradicts recorded facts. Both proposals are publicly available on the City Clerk's website, so it's not as if anybody with the access to the computer wouldn't potentially catch on.
At first, I assumed that TPM Coalition amended their map to get Foulkes' support. But a Chicago Tribune article released hours after the press release went up suggests something else entirely.
I have written in length about Englewood, a poor Chicago neighborhood that's currently split between six wards. I have not mentioned the neighborhood to the immediate west - West Englewood. The community shares a lot of characteristics with Englewood, including fragmented representation. Under the current map, it is split between 15th, 16th and 17th wards, with 15th ward taking up most of the neighborhood's northern portion. Foulkes is a West Engelwood native, and she still resides there. Her ward office is located outside the neighborhood - a major source of contention for local residents. Still, if there is any alderman who can say with a straight face that she has West Engelwood interests at heart, it is probably Foulkes.
Under the TPM proposal, the 15th Ward would be removed from West Englewood completely. but the 16th and 17th wards would still cover West Englewood, with 17th ward taking up most of West Englewood and 16th ward taking up much of the northwestern portion.
Most importantly, as the Tribune article points out, the TMP proposal would put Foulkes' house in the 16th ward. It would allow her to run for election in the 16th ward and win. Since, under the TMP proposal, the 16th Ward would be majority Black and include a decent portion of her current constituents. While winning the election in the 16th ward wouldn't be easy, it would still be easier than the new 15th Ward. And,at least this way, Foulkes would still get to represent the portion of her home neighborhood she represented for since 2007.
Foulkes would have another advantage - she would be able to run as a reformer against an alderman who won her position due to support from anti-Daley labor unions, only to become Mayor Daley's loyal supporter once she assumed office.
Under the MBC proposal, the 15th Ward would actually include most of West Englewood, save for the southwestern portion and few oddly gerrymendered sections around the edges. However, the MBC proposal would still put Foulkes out of her ward. If she wants to represent West Englewood under MBC proposal, she would need to move. And, assuming she is willing to move, she would have to run for re-election in the ward where the majority of the voters are Mexican-American.
Since Foulkes will retain more of her current constituents under MBC proposal than she would under TPM proposal, she might have a shot at winning. But the fact remains that she would still have a better shot at winning a City Council election if TPM proposal takes effect. And it would be cheaper, since, again, she would not be required to move.
Some may see Foulkes' support for the TPM proposal as a well-meaning alderman trying to do right by her constituents. The more cynical among us might point out that supporting TPM proposal is politically expedient. Me, I think it's a little of both. Humans are complex, contradictory creatures, and aldermen are no exception.
But whatever her reason may be, Foulkes' move is a signficant symbolic victory for the TPM Coalition. The Coaltion maintains that their map is the fairest to the minorities group. But that rhetoric only went so far when none of the African-American aldermen would support them. Foulkes' actions help to remedy that.
And so, the struggle over the ward remap continues.
For More Information:
TPM Proposal
MBC Proposal
Interactive Google Maps of all remap proposals - Courtecy of WBEZ
Chicago Reader profiles:CloutWiki profiles: