Bitter race reflects Daley allies' division - 6 challenge Solis, including 2 from once-powerful HDO

CAMPAIGN 2007
Bitter race reflects Daley allies' division - 6 challenge Solis, including 2 from once-powerful HDO
By Dan Mihalopoulos
Copyright © 2007, Chicago Tribune
Published January 26, 2007

Ald. Daniel Solis (25th) would love to parlay his status as Mayor Richard Daley's highest-ranking Hispanic ally on the City Council into a seat in Congress next year.

Solis dreams of serving in a Washington ruled by Hillary Clinton, who counts Solis' sister Patti Solis Doyle among the top advisers to her presidential campaign.

But first, Solis must win re-election in the Feb. 27 election. And despite his strong ties to the mayor, six candidates are running against Solis, including two challengers from the pro-Daley Hispanic Democratic Organization.

The infighting between the mayor's Latino allies is making for one of the most bitterly contested campaigns this year.

For the last decade, Daley's political organization used the HDO to wield great influence in the city's growing Latino community. HDO patronage workers helped elect politicians loyal to the mayor. Solis was one of the aldermen who benefited from the group's vast clout.

Now, HDO's power appears to have diminished in the wake of a federal probe of illegal patronage hiring, and Solis has fallen out with the group's leaders.

HDO members Aaron del Valle and Joe D. Acevedo are trying to unseat Solis. The alderman said he has asked Daley and HDO chairman Victor Reyes, a former top mayoral aide, to encourage them to drop out.

"Are they really the mayor's allies?" Solis asked. "They are making the mayor look bad, and they are going up against one of the mayor's strongest allies in the City Council."

"We don't have any comment on either of [the challengers]," said Michele Jones, a Daley campaign spokeswoman. "The mayor has been supportive and remains supportive of Danny Solis."

That might not be clear to voters in the ward. Del Valle has distributed signs urging them to support Daley for mayor and del Valle for alderman, without giving his first name.

The signs could confuse those who might back Daley's running mate, City Clerk Miguel del Valle. The city clerk is not related to Aaron del Valle and is furious about the signs, which mimic the designs of his own campaign signs.

Solis said HDO members mistrust him because he forged ties with some of their rivals, such as U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.). Solis plans to run for Gutierrez's seat in Washington if the congressman retires next year, as he has indicated.

"They expect you to march in lockstep," Solis said of Reyes and other HDO leaders.

Through his lawyer, Reyes declined to comment. Aaron del Valle and Acevedo could not be reached for comment.

Acevedo is the brother of state Rep. Edward J. Acevedo (D-Chicago), an HDO leader. He has been on disability leave from his $28-an-hour city job as a sewer laborer for the last two years.

Aaron del Valle has worked on campaigns for HDO candidates, including state Sen. Martin Sandoval (D-Chicago) and Ald. George Cardenas (12th), records show. He has taken a leave of absence from his job as a city police officer.

Daley appointed Solis to represent the ward in 1996 and promoted him to council president pro tempore five years ago. Solis presides over council meetings when Daley is absent.

He only narrowly avoided a runoff in his last re-election run in 2003, winning 54 percent in a diverse ward that includes the Pilsen, University Village, Heart of Chicago and Chinatown neighborhoods.

New condos and townhouses have transformed many parts of the ward in recent years, causing a particularly strong outcry in the historically working-class precincts of Pilsen. His challengers accuse Solis of selling out to real-estate developers who want to gentrify the neighborhood of immigrants, Mexican businesses and murals portraying revolutionary themes.

Solis also drew the ire of organized labor by reversing his position last year on the council ordinance to increase wages at "big box" stores such as Wal-Mart. The alderman first voted for the proposal. Daley later persuaded him to switch sides and help uphold the mayor's veto of the ordinance.

Former 25th Ward Ald. Ambrosio Medrano, who went to prison in the 1990s on corruption charges, is running again for his old job after finishing second four years ago with 37 percent. Medrano said that he apologized personally to many of his former constituents and that many accepted.

"It's unfortunate, but a lot of people [in the ward] know people who have gone to jail or have relatives in jail," Medrano said. "When you fall down, they help you up, and that's what they did for me."

Another challenger is Cuahutemoc Morfin, a juvenile probation officer who helped organize last year's massive pro-immigrant marches. Morfin said he would have supported the big-box wage ordinance, calling Solis "the mayor's puppet."

Also opposing Solis are former alderman Juan M. Soliz and lawyer Martha Padilla. Padilla has sought to draw attention to her campaign by painting her name on a van and using it as a free legal clinic.

If Daniel Solis wins re-election, he probably would face his council colleague Ricardo Munoz in the 2008 Democratic primary to replace Gutierrez in Congress. Munoz also is facing several challengers to his re-election in the 22nd Ward.

Although Daley appointed Munoz in 1993, Munoz frequently criticizes the mayor and HDO and is one of the few local Hispanic elected officials not endorsing Daley for re-election.

Challengers Joaquin Salamanca, Jose M. Gutierrez and August Sallas say Munoz has failed to bring clean and safe streets to the Little Village neighborhood. The ward includes the bustling 26th Street Mexican business district.

"The ward is infested with garbage, vermin and gangs," said Salamanca, who owns a Web design firm.Gutierrez, a real estate broker, and Sallas, a perennial candidate who is customer service manager in the City Hall lobby, both ripped Munoz for opposing the installation of "blue light" police cameras in the ward. Munoz responded that increased police presence would be more useful than the cameras, a favorite Daley initiative.

Five new elementary schools and a new high school have been built in the ward during his tenure, Munoz said.

The alderman is closely aligned with organized labor and supported the proposed ordinance raising big-box wages.

"I speak my mind on citywide issues because that's what I was elected to do," Munoz said. "I represent a working-class neighborhood that needs better jobs, and if that puts me at odds with the mayor, that's it."

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dmihalopoulos@tribune.com