Let us suppose our Alderman as he is wont to do, volunteers to work on the enormous truck used in the paper drive or on some other such neighborhood project, and let us suppose that he falls down and hurts himself to the degree that he can no longer fulfill his public duties and resigns. An unfortunate event, to be sure. Almost as unfortunate is what follows. The other aldermen (can you name six?) of our city, on the advice of the Democratic Committeemen, will appoint a replacement. Fourth Ward Alderman Joseph Clark claims, “But we only make good appointments!” He should know. He and his colleagues have named fourteen members of the board in the last six years. At this rate, by 1979 every Alderman may come onto the board by appointment rather than by election. This outstanding record notwithstanding, Citizens for Better Politics, a non- partisan organization interested in election reform, has begun an initiative petition that would change the city charter by calling for a special election to fill Aldermanic vacancies. Provisions have been made to take advantage of any scheduled local, state or federal primary and general elections. Moreover, a special election would not be held if the vacancy occurred within 150 days of the end of the regular term. All these complications are designed to save the taxpaper money. A special election would cost, according to the election board, four thousand dollars or less if permanent employees are used to staff the polls. Since the election board has a budget in excess of one million dollars it would take a great number of Aldermen falling off trucks to necessitate additional revenue. In short, the charter change would cause no tax increase. Residents of the Twentyeighth Ward who would like to help gather signatures on the petitions should contact Ken Cohen at 862-4432. It should, perhaps, be pointed out that the petition drive is necessary due to the refusal of the Board of Aldermen to place the issue before the voters.
Originally published in The Paper, May 1973.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1973_05.pdf, printed page(s) 7.
