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So today is voting day in Chicago. Don’t get me wrong, the title of my post is obviously cynical and pessimistic, but I truly do love the Democratic process. It really gives me a feeling of fulfillment when I place my vote and let the government know how I really feel about issues important to me.

However, voting in Chicago today puts a sour taste in my mouth. To begin, the board of elections sent out notices of polling places in Chicago almost two weeks ago, but the post office dropped the ball and now most people in Chicago will not even get a reminder. It wouldn’t be so bad for me, as I have internet access and can easily lookup my polling location online. But it didn’t really matter last night if I had internet access or not, because the Chicago Board of Elections website was overrun with traffic and crashed multiple times. And what about people without internet access, how do they find out where to vote? I guess you could call 311, but what if they don’t have a phone. You get my point.

Ok, so let’s assume I knew where to vote and made it to the polls. My ward, the 40th, only has ONE candidate. Patrick O’Connor, who is probably a decent alderman, but his bio reads like this: “Longtime Daley ally on the North Side is unopposed for fourth straight election.” Fourth straight election? Come on! There isn’t anyone who thinks they can take this guy on? Secondly, what business does he have being MY alderman. Look at where I live:

How can a guy who is primarily focusing on Lincoln Square/Ravenswood really care about Rogers Park? Rogers Park is a WHOLE different world compared to Lincoln Square. I guess I should be grateful I didn’t buy a condo half a block north as I would have this joker as my alderman and this guy cares more about goose liver than economic development.

On a final note, we get to the biggest deal of the day: the Chicago mayoral elections. That, however, is anything but democratic as Daley is going to crush his opponents, who have been too busy…busy…doing nothing it seems like. I have seen the Daley commercial maybe twice on TV and I can only name one of the other candidates because I saw her on TV last night, Dorothy Brown and from what was implied, she wasn’t sure whether she wanted to run or not, along with Johnny Otherguy who is also running. Do I have a problem that Daley is going to destroy these two? Not necessarily. I would however like to see some things come out of the Daley administration this term that don’t really seem to be on the docket.

1. CTA Overhaul: Can we get some trains that run on time? No slow zones? Scrap the Block 37 improvements. It would be a nice change. Granted, I love the bus system, but to be a world class city, you need to have reliable transportation.
2. Green City: Daley has boasted that Chicago is the greenest city in America, but I find that hard to believe. The blue bag program is a huge joke and the new program of drop off points just took a lot of blue bags being picked up with the trash and converted them into a big blue dumpster where we throw glass, paper, plastic, aluminum, etc. all together in one big happy mess. Why is it so hard to have a dumpster for glass, one for plastic, and one for paper?
3. Corruption: Why is it every time I turn on the news, there is a new report of the “Hired Truck Scandal” or some other garbage that indirectly points to the Mayor and his crew. I understand that city contracts are lucrative and lots of money is changing hands, so why don’t we up the pay for some of these city workers to ensure integrity (which really is a sad indictment of our society that someone has to say “Pay me more, or I’ll be corrupt”). Or is it that much money changing hands that there is no way to compete with it? Can’t we offload more decisions to committees instead of one guy pushing the button? This allows for more accountability in public office and makes it harder for one real estate developer, brother-in-law, or mob boss to get in the pockets of our city officials.

On a final note, I love this city. Seriously, I do. Everyday, as I ride the bus or train to work, I really appreciate the fact that I can live in a city like this at a time like this and have such “problems”. Hopefully, some things can change before the next election and I won’t have to go off on a tirade next time.