The editorial of Feb. 10 lamenting the fact that Chicago`s ward map will be submitted to a voter referendum is right on target as far as it goes. The problem is the Tribune did not find out why a compromise map could not be passed by the City Council.
We will have a referendum because of a failure of leadership by Mayor Daley. His negotiators made clear to the negotiators for the Fair Map Coalition that they would accept a map with 21 ”super-majority” African-American wards and seven ”super-majority” Hispanic wards so long as the boundaries of the 8th and 34th Wards were not drastically altered.
Exactly such a map was delivered to Mayor Daley by the Fair Map Coalition with a request to discuss any problems the mayor would find in accepting this map. From that day forward, negotiations ceased. The mayor`s bluff had been called and his true position came out. He did not want to accept a map where minority communities had the opportunity to elect 29 members of the City Council.
For a mayor who claims that he makes tough decisions, this was not his finest hour.
