Stripped of his status as leader of a Chicago City Council majority, Ald. Edward Vrdolyak (10th) Wednesday faced a revolt by Democratic committeemen who said he has become a liability as chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party.
Since Mayor Harold Washington`s election in 1983, Vrdolyak has directed a majority council bloc that has brawled with the mayor and played a role in the popular theater known as ”Council Wars.”
But his influence as majority leader dissolved in Tuesday`s aldermanic runoff elections, which left each council faction with 25 votes.
That loss of power, combined with Vrdolyak`s unpopularity among the city`s black population and fears that his presence as party chairman could ensure Washington`s re-election in 1987, had leaders of the regular Democratic organization saying Wednesday that Vrdolyak will be asked to resign as party leader.
Those seeking the resignation include committeemen allied with State`s Atty. Richard Daley as well as those who have been loyal to Vrdolyak.
”Eddie has got to go,” said a North Side committeeman strongly aligned with Vrdolyak and one of nine prominent committeemen interviewed by The Tribune.
”Fifteen guys told me the same thing today,” he said of other regular Democrats. ”We don`t want to beat him up or kick a guy when he`s down. But this fight with Harold has made Eddie a lightning rod in the black
community.”
Vrdolyak declined comment when asked about efforts to replace him as party chief. But earlier Wednesday he acknowledged dissension within the regular organization, which he has led since 1982.
”Everybody is beating their breasts,” he said. ”But it`s too soon to call anything.”
Vrdolyak said ”the same thing happened” after Mayor Richard J. Daley died and after Jane Byrne upset incumbent Michael Bilandic, the party`s choice, in their race for mayor.
”Everybody was running around frantically then,” Vrdolyak said. ”But I`ll never be surprised about what goes on in politics. Never. And anything can change.”
Vrdolyak lost his hold on the council when his candidate, Manuel Torres, was defeated by Washington-backed Luis Gutierrez in the 26th Ward runoff. In the 15th Ward, as expected, the mayor`s choice, Marlene Carter, defeated Ald. Frank Brady.
Gutierrez and Carter are to be sworn in this month.
The apparent 25-25 council split could enable the mayor to use his tie-breaking vote to take control. But it was uncertain whether the council would remain evenly divided or if compromises would be made and coalitions formed.
A potentially key voting bloc now belongs to Hispanics, who will have four council members, two aligned with Vrdolyak and two with Washington.
Some members of the opposition bloc said Wednesday that they will fight to retain their committee chairmanships and control over legislation. Others indicated that, should Washington seek to reorganize the council, they would seek a compromise.
Ald. Roman Pucinski (41st) said several opposition aldermen met informally with one another to discuss such a compromise before considering possible court action against any reorganization.
Invigorated by the victories of his candidates, Washington Wednesday morning was alternately conciliatory and critical when speaking of the former, combative majority bloc.
Saying ”we don`t want a fight, the price is too high,” Washington urged negotiations between the factions to resolve the budget debate and to confirm his stalled appointments.
”If I was on the other side, I would say, `Let`s sit down and talk,`
” Washington said. ”If this was the U.S. Congress, we would say, `Let`s sit down and talk.` We wouldn`t be sharpening swords.”
He said he won`t hesitate to use his veto power ”to block things they want until we get the things we want.” And, he said, ”They need things in their wards, and they`ll have to cooperate with me whether they like it or not.”
Though members of the opposition may be willing to accommodate the mayor now, influential leaders among them don`t relish a Washington confrontation in the 1987 aldermanic and mayoral elections with Vrdolyak at the party`s helm.
Party strategists said Vrdolyak`s negative image among blacks was partly responsible for the high turnout in black precincts that contributed to Torres` defeat. And looking ahead to 1987, they believe that Vrdolyak, who Washington has effectively cast as a villain in the black community, would galvanize support for the mayor.
Wednesday was not the first time members of his party have disparaged Vrdolyak as a liability, nor was it the first time they pointed out failings in his reign as chairman.
While Pucinski was offering an apparent olive branch to the mayor and others talked of sending a delegation to ask Vrdolyak to resign, the combative chairman was trying to block a coup by contacting those who want him replaced. ”You can`t force him out,” said a Democratic committeeman aligned with Daley. ”He`s just been re-elected for two years. It would have to be his decision.”
Though the rebellious committeemen said that they were confident of precipitating a movement to have Vrdolyak resign, a Vrdolyak ally doubted that a Democratic regular would be bold enough to personally ask the chairman to do so.
”None of them will have the guts to step forward and ask Eddie to quit,” the Vrdolyak ally said.
Washington did not actively oppose Vrdolyak`s re-election as chairman in March, in part because he wants to have the controversial party leader as a major target in his re-election drive.
Washington and Byrne both have said that Vrdolyak`s injection of race as an issue in the final weekend of the 1983 Democratic primary may have tilted that election for Washington. One of the mayor`s top political strategists said, ”If there wasn`t a Vrdolyak, the mayor would have to invent one.”
When asked if Vrdolyak should resign, Washington said, ”I`m not going to get into personalities,” then added, ”Perhaps there should be someone more temperate and less ostentatiously flamboyant, someone who is going to lend some real dignity.”
”Harold has been using Eddie,” a Vrdolyak-aligned committeeman said.
”And he`s used him well as a whipping boy. And blamed Eddie for everything that`s wrong with his administration. If Eddie is there in 1987, I don`t see how we can get rid of Harold.”
Parks Supt. Edmund Kelly, Democratic committeeman of the Northwest Side 47th Ward, said Vrdolyak should not bear sole blame for Tuesday`s setback.
Ald. Edward Burke (14th), another Vrdolyak ally, added, ”Vrdolyak did everything that was possible. It wasn`t enough.”
U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, Daley, Cook County Assessor Thomas Hynes, gubernatorial candidate Adlai Stevenson and House Speaker Michael Madigan are among prominent Democrats who have criticized Vrdolyak`s performance as party chairman.
Several months ago, Rostenkowski suggested that Vrdolyak should be replaced. In March, though, the Daley bloc did not field an opponent and Vrdolyak easily won re-election over a candidate backed by Washington`s allies.
Rostenkowski, Hynes, Madigan and U.S. Rep. William Lipinski of Chicago were among those mentioned as possible successors. Madigan and Lipinski have declined efforts to draft them as challengers to Vrdolyak.
