Cairo Association of Teachers - Newsletter

CAT Tracks for January 14, 2007 ONLY IN CAIRO...NOT!

From the Southern Illinoisan...

Elections board says once-jailed former aldermen can run next month

CHICAGO - Two former Chicago aldermen who spent time in prison on corruption charges can run for their old seats next month, according to a ruling by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

The board's ruling Friday that former Aldermen Ambrosio Medrano and Virgil Jones can run in the Feb. 27 city elections came despite the recommendation by two of its own hearing officers that the two be barred from running.

The hearing examiners recommended Thursday that both men be stricken from the ballot because state law bars convicted felons from holding municipal offices. But board Chairman Langdon Neal and Commissioner Richard Cowen rejected those opinions.

Neal and Cowen cited Circuit Court rulings that found the state law unconstitutional because it treats local candidates differently from state candidates.

They noted that one of those rulings came from a judge in Cook County when Medrano first attempted a political comeback in 2003. Medrano was allowed to run in that election, but he lost.

But Neal and Cowen also said the matter is open to debate because of a 2006 decision by an appellate court outside the Chicago area that upheld the state ban. They urged those who object to the candidacy of Medrano and Jones to appeal their ruling to the courts

Medrano is opposing Ald. Daniel Solis in the city's 25th Ward, while Jones wants the vacant 15th Ward seat he used to hold.

Jones has continued to insist he is innocent despite his 1999 conviction for taking bribes in the federal Operation Silver Shovel probe, while Medrano pleaded guilty to extortion 10 years ago.