Anna Goral's Message to Women Voters is Empty, Insulting

This column was first published here on February 13, 2011.
Edited versions were subsequently published, with permission of the author,
in print and online editions of community newspapers across Chicago.

A century ago, women played a role in Chicago’s mayoral campaign; but sadly, in 1911 our political involvement was mostly limited to cooking and serving the food at campaign rallies and cleaning up afterward.

You see, we were not allowed to vote. The 19^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was not ratified until 1920---after a political struggle that lasted over 40 years. The men who, a century ago, fought against giving women the right to vote used many sexist arguments and rationalizations. One was that women are weak-minded and would automatically vote along gender lines, mindlessly giving our votes to lesser qualified female candidates over more qualified men.

That’s nonsense, of course, and we women proved that.

Yet a century later in 2011, there is still the occasional female political candidate---usually one lacking in ideas---who asks women to vote with our ovaries instead of our brains.

I thought about that a week or so ago when I read a mailing from 23^rd Ward aldermanic candidate Anna Goral. The title of Anna’s political mailer was:

♀ + Chicago City Hall = NEW BEGINNING

New beginning for what, it did not say. Perhaps Anna’s career.

In any event, Anna’s campaign piece appears to have been mailed just to women voters. It was addressed only to me. My husband did not receive one.

The brochure features a photo of Anna and stock images of eight women dropped in behind her. The text reads, “Women know the difficulties of daily life…paying bills, maintaining a household and raising a family while working. Women are the foundation of families. Women are successful in business.”

OK, true. But so what? The same general statements can apply to men. Anna continues, “And women are often elected to government. But not in the 23^rd Ward. In the history of our ward, no woman has ever been elected to local public office. We need to change that!”

Exactly why, Anna does not say. The brochure fails to offer even one bit of criticism against Alderman Michael R. Zalewski or any of his male predecessors. Also in the “women’s” brochure, Anna offers nine things she plans to do as alderman---yet not even one of those nine relates specifically to women’s issues.

So clearly, Anna’s appeal to women is nothing more than empty rhetoric.

And that’s sad, because as a successful real estate broker, Anna could be a positive role model for girls and young women. But she squandered the opportunity with a brochure that offers nothing
and unintentionally insults the intellect of every woman in the 23^rd Ward.

The women of the 23^rd Ward deserve better than that.

For my part, I wholeheartedly support the re-election of Alderman Zalewski, a proven, effective leader who consistently delivers services that benefit everyone---men, women and children alike. A leader who focuses on what unites us as a community, rather than what divides us. A leader who has brought economic development, jobs, police and other city services to the 23rd Ward, while other wards across the city suffer and struggle with decay. A leader who asks for our vote as nothing more than an affirmation of the success he has achieved in service to us, the people of the 23rd Ward. Alderman Zalewski has my vote, and I hope yours, too.

Joan Hadac is a Chicago news/feature reporter, editor and columnist.
Read her online at citymomchicago.blogspot.com.

Chico Has the Best Plan for Chicago

This column was first published here on February 11, 2011.
Edited versions were subsequently published, with permission of the author,
in print and online editions of community newspapers across Chicago.

Like a lot of Chicago women, I'm still waiting for Rahm Emanuel to explain his infamous "tampon" comment. (See my January 24th column for details.) But I'm not holding my breath. How would he explain a malicious insult that reveals a sexist mindset?

In the meantime, I'm getting an earful from neighbors, friends, relatives and local business owners about the Rahm Tax----Rahm Emanuel's poorly thought out, hastily assembled, back-of-the-envelope idea to raise taxes on so-called "luxury" services like gym memberships, dog grooming, limo rides, tanning salons, interior design; and even possibly car repairs, and entertainment such as movie theaters and bowling alleys.

Exactly what other "luxuries" Rahm would tax is a mystery. Since issuing his vague plan on January 19th, Rahm has refused to answer questions or provide details---a devious deception-by-omission that the Chicago Tribune accurately described on February 1 as a political "parlor game."

I heard about the Rahm Tax from the local dog groomer when I took our lovable mutt, George (rescued from the City pound at 28th and Western a few years ago), for a wash and nail clip.

I heard about the Rahm Tax from the mechanic who fixed the power steering fluid leak on our used Chevy minivan.

I heard about the Rahm Tax from two tanning salon staffers who were behind me in line at the Mr. Submarine sandwich shop.

I heard about the Rahm Tax from a friend who worked a second job for years so he could afford to buy a limo and open his own business.

Granted, nobody likes taxes, especially new ones. But the reaction from small-business owners to the Rahm Tax is clearly very negative, partly because it seems so arbitrary and unfair, partly because it is coming at the worst possible time, while we are struggling to recover from the worst economic crash since the Great Depression. Reminds me of how unpopular the Stroger Tax was.

As out of touch with regular folks as Rahm Emanuel appears to be, the opposite appears to be the case with Gery Chico.

I say that for a number of reasons---but perhaps especially after reading Gery's plan to streamline city government.

Gery's plan is loaded with common sense. It sounded very familiar to me because it sounds a lot like---and I mean a lot like---the good, basic ideas I have heard for years from friends and relatives who are Chicago cops, firefighters, teachers and other city workers. Makes me wonder if I missed a Sunday dinner at my mom's house near Midway Airport. Gery, were you there?

Gery's plan---common sensical and workable---clearly shows that Gery is exactly what he says he is: a man from the neighborhoods, for the neighborhoods.

The City Mom is on board with Gery Chico. I hope you are, too.

With just a week or so left, let's all get busy reaching out to our family, friends, neighbors and co-workers in the city. Spread the good news about Gery Chico---a forward-thinking leader with some great throwback qualities: integrity, justice, common sense, and a great "lead by example" work ethic.

Let's stand in solidarity with Gery---giving him our time, talents and votes.

Let's prove the pollsters wrong, the smirking news anchors mistaken.

Let's prove that our votes can't be bought by money from Wall Street or Washington or Hollywood.

Let's move forward together for a better Chicago with Gery Chico as Mayor.

See you at the rally at Clemente High School this Sunday at 2:30 p.m.? (For my suburban readers who can't vote for Gery but want to show support for a better and stronger Chicago, Clemente is located at Division and Western.) Say hi to me if you see me...

Joan Hadac is a Chicago news/feature reporter, editor and columnist.Read her online at citymomchicago.blogspot.com.

Snow Globe Memories

This column was first published here on February 2, 2011.
Edited versions were subsequently published, with permission of the author,
in print and online editions of community newspapers across Chicago.

With all the snow upon us and everyone talking wistfully of blizzards gone by, I guess I’ll share a few frosty memories.

In January of 1967 I was a second grader at St. Clare of Montefalco School, 55th and Talman. I lived with my mom, dad and four sisters (my youngest sister would be born later that year) in our bungalow at 58th and Fairfield.

I recall that the little corner store directly across the street had no milk (because the milk trucks---like cars---couldn’t get down the snow-clogged streets). So my dad and several other young dads got our sleds and trudged through the snow to the Wanzer Dairy at 54th and Western---where they purchased gallons of milk for several families on our block.

On the way home they got an earful from several people who accused them of hoarding. Of course, if these big mouths knew how many young children that milk had to nourish, they wouldn’t have said a word. But some people just love to squawk, don’t they?

My husband’s memories of The Big Snow of ’67 also concern his father.

In January of 1967, my future husband was but a tyke---a kindergartener living with his mother, father, sister and two brothers in their home at 68th and Springfield.

His father was co-manager of the family supermarket (Certified Food & Liquors) at 69th and Winchester, just east of Damen. Dad worked all day at the store, trying to calm down panicked customers who bought up every loaf of bread, carton of milk, can of infant formula and so forth.

(And at that, there wasn’t much bread to sell because the bread trucks---Holsum, Wonder, Butternut, Naples Bakery, etc., were arriving at grocery stores half empty because people were stopping the trucks on the streets and demanding to buy bread directly from the drivers.)

So at the end of a long day in 1967, my future father-in-law (then a 36-year-old man) dug out his car in the store’s parking lot and started to drive home. He made it to Damen, then south to 71st Street, then west towards home. He made it all the way to 71st and Springfield---just three blocks from home---when he discovered he had two choices: leave the family station wagon in the middle of the street and walk three blocks home, or turn around and drive all the way back to 69th and Winchester and sleep the night in the store. He chose the store---a wise move, it turns out, because so many cars that were left in the middle of streets were damaged or ruined by city snow plows pushing them aside.

Fast forward a dozen years.

In early 1979 I was working in a Loop office at Michigan and Wacker. I was still living at home at 58th and Fairfield, taking the CTA California bus north to Archer, and then the overcrowded Archer bus all the way on its snail’s-pace, lurching, bumpy ride downtown. (The Orange Line wasn’t even on the drawing boards back then. The future bustling Orange Line terminal was a sleepy Little League baseball field.) I just repeated the process, backwards, on the way home.

Bad enough on a normal day, as many of us recall. But in the big snow of ’79 it was horrendous. It took me nine, count ‘em, nine hours to get home. The reason I even made it on the bus going south on California is because I had a friend shove me up the stairs of the back exit of the bus and she followed. The doors closed on her, leaving still many unhappy travelers stranded on Archer and California. We had been waiting forever, it seemed, and it seemed they would be waiting longer. I was happy to have made it on the bus with my face jammed against a pole and my feet trapped under a seat. The next day I made it back downtown. I was one of the very few who braved the weather to go to work. I wasn’t happy, but unlike those who attended school, I didn’t have a “snow day.”

None of this is to say that I have no happy memories of big snows. I do. But those happy memories are probably the same as yours: making snow men and snow angels, digging tunnels in my back yard up to the garage roof during the Blizzard of ’67. No, I didn’t jump off the roof. I left that to the guys in the neighborhood.

What are your memories of blizzards gone by or the blizzard of 2011? Contact me at citymomchicago@gmail.com and I’ll share them in this column.

See you next week....

Joan Hadac is a Chicago news/feature reporter, editor and columnist.
Read her online at citymomchicago.blogspot.com