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FacebookCook County voters could be forgiven for not remembering they’re supposed to elect a new top prosecutor this fall.
Since her solid win in the nasty, expensive Democratic primary for state’s attorney, career prosecutor Anita Alvarez has kept a pretty low public profile. That’s because she’s been playing it safe and smart, traveling the county to meet with party committeemen and raise money. After all, if she gets the Democratic organization behind her she’ll win handily, especially with Barack Obama at the top of the ticket. Alvarez would have to do something outrageous—like explain why she and others in the state’s attorney’s office have never made a priority of prosecuting abusive cops, from the time Richard M. Daley ran it until now—to have a chance of alienating the party apparatus and losing.
Her Republican opponent, Tony Peraica, undoubtedly understands this. So he’s relying on the now-familiar strategy of campaigning against Cook County Board president Todd Stroger instead.
Who wouldn’t rather face Stroger? Voters in Palatine have talked about seceding from the county over the tax hikes he's engineered, and Stroger is unpopular even among the rest of us resigned to staying in it. Over the weekend the Trib ran a forceful editorial encouraging Cook County citizens to vote him out of office—even though he’s not up for reelection till 2010.
Peraica’s latest weekly newsletter quotes from the editorial and again reminds voters that he ran against Stroger in 2006, winning more votes than any previous Republican candidate for the seat. A couple of weeks ago he made sure readers knew Stroger had skipped a meeting with angry Palatine citizens (Peraica showed up and spoke to them instead); before that, he cited a Sun-Times story reporting that Stroger had hired ex-cons with political connections; before that, he trumpeted a piece revealing that Stroger required close aides to sign “confidentiality agreements” promising not to publicly discuss anything they see on the job.
In fact, since the February 5 primaries, Peraica has issued statements about Todd Stroger at least 17 times, by my count. Alvarez only got 14 mentions.
I recently spoke with a south-side politico who said he was worried that Peraica's grandstanding was actually going to knock Alvarez out. “Do you think he can do it?” he wondered.
Nah. A lot can happen in a few months, but not that much. When he’s not storming the county building with overserved followers, Peraica’s a skilled hatchet man. Still, when people don’t have Todd Stroger to kick around in the voting booth in November, they’ll stick with the Democrat or the woman. In either case, Peraica's not getting their vote. Tony, keep the anti-Stroger thing rolling a couple more years and you might get lucky.
She is with the Daley anti-negro league. The pro Jon Burge society. The Devine man cheaters club. The Jerry Joyce investigate our enemies not our friends club.
Anthoiny Peraica is, again, the best Candidate for the Job of Cook County States Attorney!
CAROL MARIN cmarin@suntimes.com
There was a federal arrest at O'Hare Airport 13 days ago that was curious.
A Las Vegas-to-Chicago flight landed, carrying a number of retired Chicago cops and at least one still on the force, Joseph A. Grillo.
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Sun-Times columnist Carol Marin
Grillo and the others had been working part-time jobs, doing security for one of the big trade shows in Vegas. He was coming home to his full-time job as an officer at the Grand Central District, which includes the 36th Ward on the Northwest Side.
As Grillo, 45, walked off the plane, an FBI greeting party was there to surprise him. He was immediately arrested and charged, as was another man -- Collision Towing Co. owner Jim "Meatball" Athans -- with mail fraud in connection with an alleged towing scam. Grillo's attorney, Barry Sheppard, maintains his client is guilty of nothing and has an immaculate record.
I guess there's no reason to doubt that the FBI, amid all its other city, county and state corruption probes, would be hell-bent on also uncovering a citywide towing fraud if it exists. But the odd part of this June 5 arrest was what an FBI agent was overheard saying to Grillo as he was being led away.
According to a source who has every reason to know, the agent reportedly advised Grillo with words to this effect: "Give Ald. Banks up, and it will go a long way to helping you out."
Ald. William J.P. Banks is one of the most powerful members of City Council. For almost 20 years, he has chaired the mighty Committee on Zoning, where very big decisions get made on very pricey developments.
Banks is a quiet kind of guy. So quiet that I didn't get to talk to him Tuesday despite dropping by his office and calling him on the phone. An aide told me he was having a very busy day.
Busy and frustrating.
The alderman is not charged with anything. But people who know him tell me he is fed up and furious with what he considers "guilt by association" questions coming at him lately thanks to a growing number of federal indictments of people with connections to his ward and to his family.
Last month, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald unveiled the second phase of Operation Crooked Code. An undercover mole, working as a bagman and wearing a wire, had been busy in the Zoning and Building departments, passing bribes from developers to city inspectors. Fifteen people were arrested, many of whom had deep connections to Banks and the 36th Ward Democratic Organization.
The most interesting guy picked up in that May sweep was the coolest of customers even when dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit. His name is Beny Garneata, a sleek-looking, silver-haired fortysomething developer from Lincolnwood. Like Joseph Grillo at O'Hare, Garneata got the full court federal press for his arrest, a less than subtle way of hammering him to start talking early and often.
But about what?
Banks' friends contend that because the alderman is of Italian descent and because some of those indicted have names that end in vowels, this is another classic attempt by the feds and, by extension, the press to stereotype and smear honest, hardworking people who have found business success. People like the alderman's nephew, James, who is a zoning lawyer and lobbyist for Garneata and many others.
It's a passionate argument, one I wish the alderman would make himself. And follow it with an equally public explanation of how one navigates the often conflict-of-interest-ridden world of zoning in this great city. These thugs were never indicted by Dick devine.
She will be the status qou of Daley/Devine with some more females (it is already over half female) and Hispanics but that is about it.
There are systematic issues of racism, legalization of drugs, political corruption that will never be addressed by the status qou.
I am voting for Peraica as a protest vote and I am a Democrat.
Just around the corner, buddy, just around the corner.
Will Daley and company be indicted by then?
Mayor Daley will never be indicted as long as Anita Alvarez is Cook County States Attorney, Lisa Madigan Attorney General and Barack Obama is President. He will die as Mayor. But if just ONE elected official would make him accoutable , than we can have some democracy around this City!Until than just keep hiding and posting on blogs if it makes you feel better. Congressmam Jackson jr is not the solution, we need another hero!!!
One word: Peraica
Oh, daley's guys get it, they know if Peraica makes it to the SA office, they are fucked.
If you think the morons are spouting now, wait until it gets to within a week or two of the election.
The butchering of the English language will be historical in it's variety.
As for the 'to the first degree' immigrant, "...Well I just say consider the source...".
See what I mean?
The immigrant, English as distant 2nd language, Daley ass sucking, lead member of the mayor's troll patrol is back.
Mister 'to the first degree'.
Daley's version of the dynamic duo, 11th man and mister 'has my visa expired yet?', along with their loyal gerbal 'orion', aka 'oreo boy', are warming up for the big bullshit push leading up to the November Elections.
How touching, all this syncronicity.
How impressive, how heart warming, how quintessentially Daley.
Stroger, Mell, Beavers, Banks, Jones, Madigan, Jackson Jr., Burke, the retarded Daley twins, Billy and Johnny, and all the assorted cronies, minions, whack jobs and wheeler dealers, united in their one, common purpose, finding the answer to the question: 'WHERE'S MINE'?
With you, the taxpayer, footing the bill.
Had enough yet?
THEY don't think so.
THEY think that you haven't 'given' enough.
THEY really believe that you, the taxpayer, will put up with 'giving' MORE.
THEY are sure that you've GOT more to 'give' and, by all that is holy, (to them), you're gonna 'GIVE IT UP', one way or another, because, after all, the GREEDY are NEVER SATISFIED.
Get ready for that flood of fetid stench known as political advertising, it's coming your way, big time.
It's ELECTION SEASON, and the maggots breed heavily during this time of year.