A little bit of “Chinatown” came to City Hall during Wednesday’s City Council meeting when the council honored Ald. James Balcer (11th) as he received a belated Bronze Star for his Vietnam military service.
I say Chinatown because the accolades showered on Balcer are so rarely paired with the word “alderman,” I kept picturing a constituent getting slapped and sobbing, “He’s my alderman . . . He’s my hero . . . He’s my alderman and my hero!”
After all, quite aside from the 26 aldermen convicted since 1972, the only reason Balcer wound up in the council is because former 11th ward Ald. Patrick Huels got caught taking a $1.25 million loan from trucking contractor Michael Tadin.
Yet one of the council’s low points has produced its proudest moment in modern times. “Hero” is an accurate description for Balcer, not just a pretty word embroidering public speaking. According to the medal’s citation, 18-year-old Marine Pfc. Balcer volunteered to climb down a steep hill under enemy fire to save dead and wounded Marines stranded below during a 1969 battle.
“In the reading of this citation, I’m hoping that you all read between the lines,” said Maj. Hal “Fritz” Werner, Balcer’s former commanding officer who recommended him for the Bronze Star. “Because what was in between the lines was a stressful situation referred to as `real combat’ . . . He made more than four trips down that long path to rescue these wounded marines and bring up the dead marines . . . On the last trip down there they were isolated, continually under fire, surrounded.”
For nearly an hour, Balcer’s council colleagues praised his integrity and tireless work on veteran’s issues, such as his current crusade to keep open Chicago’s Lakeside and Westside veteran’s hospitals. Ald. Arenda Troutman (20th) said she almost cried during the medal’s presentation. “How could we not all be choked up?” responded Ald. Richard Mell (33rd).
The Balcer speeches were singularly refreshing. That’s because the council normally opens its verbal fire hydrants to gush praise on politicians who have worn uniforms, yes, but the kind with stripes all over, not just on the sleeves.
Such speeches are usually for the recently deceased. When former Ald. Fred Roti died, for instance, Ald. Danny Solis–now the council’s president pro tempore–spoke movingly about Roti as a role model for today’s aldermen. “Certainly he’s a role model for me,” he finished.
Ald. Edward Burke (14th) quoted the “Book of Wisdom”: “The souls of the just are in the hands of God . . . and no torment shall touch them.”
That would all be very nice, if Roti hadn’t been convicted of 11 counts of racketeering and extortion.
There were loving paeans also for former Ald. Thomas Keane, once second in power only to the first Mayor Daley–before Keane’s conviction on federal mail fraud and conspiracy charges. And no one minded when Burke offered a resolution honoring former Illinois Treasurer Jerry Cosentino, perhaps forgetting the multimillion dollar check-kiting scheme that earned him a bank-fraud conviction.
When the council honors convicted politicians, the speeches are fond and almost painfully sincere. That’s not always so when it comes to political creatures who’ve never gone without shoelaces and belts. Take Victor Reyes, who left his job last year as Mayor Richard Daley’s director of intergovernmental affairs, i.e., political hatchet man. The council’s speeches for Reyes stopped just short of a giant group hug, but the guiding sentiment was actually fear. As one alderman put it, “No one wants to saying anything because he’s too powerful. Everyone’s afraid. Even me.”
On former Mayor Eugene Sawyer’s 65th birthday, Mayor Daley and Burke were among Sawyer’s most ardent admirers, even though they both ran against him for mayor in the 1989 primary. “Gene Sawyer was simply the best that Chicago had to offer,” said Burke, who presumably settled for second best when he dropped out of the ’89 race and threw his support to Daley.
In honoring Jim Balcer, the council finally got it right. The aldermen honored a real hero and they meant every word of it.
– –
Postscript: When the council last met on July 25, female aldermen criticized Mayor Daley’s new council leadership appointments to replace recently deceased Ald. Lorraine Dixon (8th), who was both president pro tempore and chairman of the important budget committee. Daley gave both positions to men. On Wednesday, there was unanimous support for Daley’s pick, state Rep. Todd Stroger, son of Cook County Board President John Stroger, to fill Dixon’s seat.
Still, the irony didn’t go entirely unnoticed on the council floor. As a female staffer set up for the meeting, she observed, “I was just thinking of Lorraine Dixon. It took three men to replace one woman.”
———-
Cate Plys is a Chicago journalist. E-mail: cplys@aol.com
