Why Doesn't Chicago have Mayor Term Limits?

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by maxwellimus

I would lay speculation to rest. People will vote the way they want to, perhaps in regards to what you say, or perhaps for the right way of just wanting a better leader to improve Chicago. And I personally believe people will vote for the latter reason, disregarding the race of a person.

You should read up on Chicago politics - it goes way beyond personal choice of individual voters. Municipal elections are not held on the same dates as national elections, and therefor can be much more easily influenced by work done at the ward level. It is all about getting out the vote on a VERY local level, almost block by block, and in a very targeted manner. This makes Machine style politics effective, and had led to coalitions being built that are frequently based on race and class demographics.

The coalitions that Harold Washington built are still in existence to some extent, and there is a large Hispanic coalition that is based on immigration issues and providing city services to immigrants. There are also some remnants of the old Daley Machine around, but that is slowly dying off (i.e. Waugespack beating Matlak) . That said, there is a slow change occurring, with the number of "independent" Alderman slowly growing with each election, and many of the younger politicians are harder to pigeonhole in any coalition - i.e. Jesse Jr., Flores, Brookins, and Foulkes.

Chicago politics are incredibly complex, you can spend a lifetime trying to get a handle on them.

[j33]

There are also some remnants of the old Daley Machine around, but that is slowly dying off (i.e. Waugespack beating Matlak)

That was a good day.

[mensogi]

Originally Posted by Attrill

Municipal elections are not held on the same dates as national elections, and therefor can be much more easily influenced by work done at the ward level. It is all about getting out the vote on a VERY local level, almost block by block, and in a very targeted manner.

The last municipal elections Feb 07 had a turnout of 33% (456765 votes / 1407979 registered voters). Obviously, most people don't think it's important enough to vote in these local-only elections.

Attempting to answer the original question, according to Illinois we can get ballot initiatives with signatures from 25% of the local voters, but those initiatives are non-binding. Hardly seems worth the effort as the state assembly would be free to ignore the results anyways.

Perhaps there's another way, as I seem to recall there was something on our ballot in '06 that called for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq?

[lincolnparker]

It seems mayors in major cities in america are trying to learn from chicago. For instance, the mayor of NYC is seeking another term beyond term limits set by the city

[aragx6]

I don't think that's necessarily learning from Chicago. More 'willing to do anything to stay in power'

Doesn't mean he's not a good mayor or his intentions aren't good, but recognize it for what it is: a power grab.