The Hispanic Vote: Gutierrez Alliance Made Daley the Latino Choice

By: Alysia TateIt started with Luis Gutierrez. In 1989, the independent alderman broke from the Latino pack by stepping up to endorse Richard M. Daley’s candidacy for mayor. The move set off some fireworks, but it worked.

Daley and Gutierrez used each other to gain political power: Gutierrez, a Puerto Rican, in his bid for the city’s first Hispanic congressional seat; Daley in his quest to add Latino voters to his winning coalition.

Within weeks after taking office, Daley named Daniel Alvarez Sr. commissioner of the city Department of Human Services, tapped Raymond Orozco to be fire commissioner, picked Benjamin Reyes as General Services commissioner and selected Mary Gonzalez-Koenig as executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Employment and Training.

And there were others, most notably, City Treasurer Miriam Santos, who went on to rack up huge citywide majorities in the 1991 and 1995 elections. On Jan. 27, Santos was indicted on federal corruption charges; she has proclaimed her innocence and vowed to win re-election on Feb. 23.

"It was incredible. It was just incredible," said Juan Andrade, president of the Chicago-based United States Hispanic Leadership Institute. "We just went, ‘My God, this guy’s really a breath of fresh air. He’s nothing like his father.’"

Daley’s popularity with Latino voters has become an integral part of his winning campaigns for mayor. Since 1989, he has earned at least 59 percent of the vote in all Latino wards, continuing an upward trend. In 1995, Daley cracked the 90 percent mark in the 12th Ward, headed by Alderman Rafael "Ray" Frias. He partly credits Daley’s frequent appearances in and around the predominantly Mexican Little Village neighborhood.

Andrade, however, cautions that while Hispanics now make up a majority in seven wards, they typically comprise a minority of the voters, largely because so many are under 18, non- citizens or not registered to vote.

Alderman Ricardo Muñoz of the 22nd Ward praises Daley for addressing some of his constituents’ more pressing issues, such as community policing and overcrowded schools. In one high-profile move, Daley appointed his former Chief of Staff Gery Chico, a Latino, president of the Chicago School Reform Board of Trustees.

Daley is "a skillful politician who has gone after issues people hold near and dear to their hearts," said Muñoz, considered one of the few independent aldermen left on the City Council. "I don’t think there’s a neighborhood that hasn’t been touched by the construction that’s happened in the public schools."

Between 1996 and the end of this fiscal year, the school board expects to spend roughly $200 million to rehab and rebuild schools in the city’s Latino wards, according to data from a November 1998 analysis by CATALYST: Voices of Chicago School Reform, a non-profit magazine.

While her organization does not take stands on political issues, Patricia Mendoza, regional counsel for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, said she agrees that Daley has responded to many Latino issues.

However, she said, he may lose some votes over the controversy surrounding a pending Tax Increment Finance District in the Pilsen neighborhood. The districts encourage development by freezing property tax increases for businesses that improve their properties.

Residents sued the city for not providing translators and not giving them enough time to speak at public hearings. A Cook County Circuit Court judge has ordered the city to reschedule the hearings. Daley’s challenger, U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Chicago), is using the issue to court Latino voters.

Daley also sidestepped another recent controversy that touched the Puerto Rican community: accusations that leaders at Roberto Clemente Community Academy, 1147 N. Western Ave., funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars earmarked for low-income students to Puerto Rican nationalists and other political groups. A legislative panel chaired by state Rep. Edgar Lopez (D-Chicago), whose district includes Clemente, criticized school leaders and board officials for failing to monitor activities more carefully.

But rather than view Daley’s inattention as a liability, 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis, known as one of the mayor’s staunchest Latino allies, sees it as an asset.

"He stays away from internal political disagreements among certain groups or schools," said Solis, whom Daley appointed alderman in 1996. "I think his overall concern is for the well-being of the teachers and the students."

Such sentiment could signal a shift from how Latino politics played out in the mid-1980s. Back then, Andrade said, regular Democrats tangled with independents such as Gutierrez and former alderman and state Sen. Jesus Garcia, now executive director of the Little Village Community Development Corp.

With Daley’s support, regular Democratic leaders such as Frias and Solis have surfaced, he said.

"Now, it’s more Hispanic vs. Hispanic," said Andrade, who predicts a Latino mayor will be elected if Daley ever decides to step down. "It’s a real struggle for political power."