Jesse Jackson had a message but no solution Saturday for the political fracas surrounding the battle to succeed Mayor Harold Washington, and his involvement brought growing anger from opposing camps.
As Jackson tried to mediate a dispute between supporters of two black contenders on the South Side, a third faction of 22 white aldermen emerged from a 3 1/2-hour meeting in a Northwest Side home to assert that they want a part of the deliberations over who should be acting mayor.
A day of private meetings and carefully orchestrated public appearances provided further evidence Saturday that Washington`s hard-won political coalition has been fractured in the battle to succeed him, as leaders of the black community struggled to find someone who could keep the late mayor`s legacy alive.
The question of ”Who shall lead?” that confronts the three major factions competing to determine the next mayor of Chicago seemed most urgent for the blacks, who generally remained divided between the candidacies of Aldermen Timothy Evans (4th) and Eugene Sawyer (6th).
With their large bloc of votes and new spirit of solidarity, the city`s major white politicians were watching the black camps maneuver and looking for ways to take advantage.
One advantage they saw was the growing resentment-among some blacks as well as whites, though for differing reasons-over Jackson`s attempt to unite the blacks behind a single candidate.
”I don`t think the people of Chicago should have their next mayor picked at O`Hare Field or at Operation PUSH or in a bungalow or anywhere else,” said Ald. Edward Burke (14th). ”Some of us resent that we`re being taken for granted, and we resent that someone who is not a member of the City Council would presume to dictate to the City Council who the next mayor is going to be.”
Burke was referring to a series of meetings that began Friday upon Jackson`s arrival at O`Hare International Airport and continued throughout Saturday.
Jackson clearly had hoped to achieve a quick reunification of the black camps, but that expectation dissolved Saturday as both sides held firm.
Burke and 21 other aldermen, mostly from white ethnic wards, used that delay to organize their own unified front. They met in the living room of Ald. Joseph Kotlarz`s 35th Ward home. Cameras and reporters were barred from the event but were allowed to peer in through a picture window.
That group chose as their official spokesmen two prize catches:
independent lakefront Aldermen Edwin Eisendrath (43d) and Kathy Osterman
(48th). Neither freshman was a member of the council bloc that opposed Washington in his first term.
”Jesse Jackson coming in and determining for Chicago is something people in my ward don`t appreciate, and it is something people in other wards don`t appreciate either,” Osterman said.
The white aldermen proclaimed they came together as ”uncommitted,” but that resolve came only after they rejected pitches by Ald. Richard Mell (32d) and Ald. Terry Gabinski (33d) to back their respective campaigns for acting mayor.
The group contended that it represented 24 council votes. Besides the aldermen present, U.S. Rep. William Lipinski (D., Ill.) represented Ald. William Krystyniak (23d). Ald. Victor Vrdolyak (10th), although he was not at the session, was counted among their number.
Also significant was that the meeting included Ald. Roman Pucinski (41st) and Ald. Fred Roti (1st), who are considered possible votes for a black candidate. Pucinski wants to preserve Democratic unity for his daughter, Aurelia, the slated candiate for clerk of Cook County Circuit Court. Roti had established recent ties with the Washington administration.
By law, the acting mayor shall be elected from among the 50 council members by a simple majority of 26 votes. State law provides for the acting mayor to serve until a citywide election scheduled for 1989. The winner of that election would fill out the remaining two years of Washington`s term.
Ald. David Orr (49th), who will be interim mayor until the council votes for an acting mayor, met Saturday with Washington cabinet members to plan the upcoming week. He stressed that he is staying out of the deliberations over a mayoral successor, though he is expected to fall into the Evans camp.
White-bloc members said it is unlikely they can elect a white alderman as acting mayor. But if they remain in unison, they might prevent a Jackson-backed candidate from easily gaining a council majority.
Ald. Lawrence Bloom (5th), who normally would be expected to join a black-independent coalition, stayed home and promoted his own candidacy. Bloom also voiced anger at Jackson`s role.
”What Harold Washington stood for was a coalition of blacks, whites and Hispanics who were committed to a progressive government,” Bloom said. ”If that automatically means a coalition where only a black can be the chief executive, then its not much of a coalition.”
While the white aldermen met on the Northwest Side, black and Hispanic aldermen and Jackson continued a series of meetings that failed to produce a consensus.
Jackson spoke highly of the three black contenders-Evans, Sawyer and Ald. Danny Davis (29th). Though Jackson said he has not endorsed any one and told reporters he will make an endorsement ”at the appropriate time,” some of those attending the sessions said Jackson had expressed support for Evans.
As the negotiations continued, the different factions assessed the lineup this way:
– Sawyer claims support from 12 black aldermen, including himself, William M. Beavers (7th), Keith Caldwell (8th), Robert Shaw (9th), Marlene Carter (15th), Anna Langford (16th), Allan Streeter (17th), Ernest Jones
(20th), Jesse Evans (21st), William Henry (24th), Sheneather Butler (27th)
and Lemuel Austin Jr. (34th). At least one white ethnic alderman has also privately committed to Sawyer.
– Evans has support from nine aldermen, including himself, Bobby Rush
(2d), Dorothy Tillman (3d), Jesus Garcia (22d), Juan Soliz (25th), Luis Gutierrez (26th), Raymond Figueroa (31st), Helen Shiller (46th) and Orr. Some sources said Soliz may be leaning away from the agreement of four Hispanic aldermen to vote as a bloc.
– Davis has three aldermen, including himself, Ed Smith (28th) and Percy Giles (37th). Smith, however, is said to be moving away from Davis.
– The white group includes 24 of the remaining 26 aldermen in their number-all but Burton Natarus (42d) and Bloom. Natarus said Saturday he will
”do the right thing when the time comes.”
The apparent resolve of several black aldermen to stick with Sawyer has strengthened his bid to resist public pressure in some black circles to back out of the race.
Some of that pressure was evident at the weekly meeting of Operation PUSH, where Evans drew a standing ovation.
An overflow audience at PUSH headquarters, which stands behind Evans`
home, heard from community and elected officials, including the three black mayoral contenders, praise Jackson as much as they eulogized the late mayor.
Evans, as he stood to speak, turned to Jackson and said, ”I want to thank you for what you`ve done.”
Evans was accorded top billing, speaking after Davis and Sawyer, and was allotted more time. Many in the audience chanted, ”We want Tim.”
”I`m very optimistic,” Evans said afterwards.
Partisans for Evans include key members of the Washington administration and community figures who led the black and independent movement that put the late mayor in office almost five years ago. They view Sawyer as a Democratic machine product and believe one way to get Evans elected is to generate a strong grass-roots campaign on his behalf.
At a news conference Saturday, Jackson defined what he found to be the difference between the two contenders, portraying Evans as a more charismatic leader and Sawyer as an effective legislative leader.
The audience`s response to Evans, Jackson said, ”suggests that he has a popular following that could grow . . . the people felt a spark. There was chemistry.”
Sawyer, Jackson said, ”has a great capacity to make a lot of people feel secure . . . the confidence of his peers.”
The Chicago-based Democratic presidential candidate, when asked why he had cut short a trip to the Persian Gulf to wade into the Chicago succession process, cited his negotiating prowess and a concern that the reform coalition Washington had assembled not be destroyed.
Jackson had asserted Friday that consensus could be reached by the following morning. On Saturday, he acknowledged that he had been unable to negotiate a quick settlement, saying the stumbling block was in defining the roles for the participants in the new government.
”Obviously, there is a great sense of anxiety in the air,” Jackson said. ”Every moment is amplified, so we have to be steady and deliberate.”
Defending his role, Jackson likened himself to ”a senior member of the family who convenes the leaders of the family” after a death.
But Sawyer allies indicated Jackson was in for a family rebellion.
Jackson ”found out that Gene Sawyer was in this thing to stay,” said Ald. Henry, Sawyer`s chief strategist. ”He has some tough, hard-nosed people who were going to hang in there.”
