When my wife and I moved into the Sauganash neighborhood of Chicago from Evanston, Tony Laurino was 39th Ward alderman. A few years thereafter he resigned in the midst of a “ghost payrolling” scandal, dying while awaiting trial. His wife, one of his daughters, and her husband were convicted and served time in jail. Another daughter, Margaret Laurino, was appointed 39th Ward Alderman and has served as our alderman ever since. Her husband has been the ward’s Democratic committeeman; her nephew our state representative. The Chicago Tribune reports that Marge Laurino will not seek re-election in February:
Facing a likely tough re-election fight, longtime Northwest Side Ald. Margaret Laurino announced Friday she won’t seek another term.
Laurino was appointed by Mayor Richard M. Daley in 1994 to replace her father Anthony, who retired amid a ghost-payrolling investigation. Now, someone from outside her family is set to represent the 39th Ward for the first time since 1965.
One of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s staunchest City Council allies, Laurino said in a statement Friday that she considered her professional and personal life in deciding against running for another term as alderman of the ward that touches the city’s northern border and includes tony Saugansh, Mayfair, North Park and parts of Albany Park and Old Irving Park.
“I have reviewed my professional commitments,†Laurino’s statement reads in part. “I have reflected on my personal life changes, such as my husband Randy retiring and my grandchildren Oliver and Emma. And I have decided that it is time to scale back my schedule. I will therefore not be seeking re-election as alderman of the 39th Ward.â€
I like Marge personally. She’s a neighbor. But the sort of nepotism we have had in the 39th ward bothers me, she has been too much a rubberstamp for City Hall, and I don’t believe that Rahm Emanuel has been a good mayor for Chicago. I disagree with his policy of gentrification. He has mismanaged the city’s finances—a city that is shrinking cannot borrow its way to solvency. The city’s credit rating is the worst it has ever been and the worst of any other major American city. He has presided over the highest homicide rate per 100,000 population in the city’s history. It is not credible that he did not know about the Laquan McDonald video long before he acknowledged that he did. He bungled the teacher’s strike. If you’re going to capitulate to the union, why antagonize the union president? Why allow a strike at all? If you start to take Vienna—take Vienna.
At least in this part of the ward property taxes are a big issue. Over the last 30 years the value of my house has increased four-fold, my taxes have increased five-fold, and my income has increased three-fold, practically a microcosm of the U. S. Taxes are now at a confiscatory level and likely to move higher even as city services have deteriorated. We are starting to have violent crime in this neighborhood for the first time in my recollection.
Still, Marge’s retirement marks the end of an era. The first time in more than a half century that a member of her family has not been 39th Ward Alderman. I don’t what will follow.
