Stand-up guys: every Election Day, thousands of city employees skip their jobs to do political work. And some say they're forced to

Chicago Reporter, The, Dec, 2004 by Mick Dumke

Sleet fell throughout the cold morning of Nov. 2, but the five guys handing out campaign literature outside St. Juliana school couldn't think of being anywhere else on Election Day. Pacing next to the walkway leading into the school, 7400 W. Touhy Ave. on Chicago's far Northwest Side, they tried to catch everyone headed inside to vote. They pressed three-inch-square sheets that said "PUNCH #49 for Ralph Capparelli" into hands that could not help but take them. They politely requested support for the entire Democratic ticket.

One of them, a Chicago Transit Authority bus driver who'd identify himself only as Ray, bounced up and down to stay warm while declaring he would do "whatever they need" to help out.

"They need their foot soldiers," added a guy in a Bears cap standing next to him.

In the indirect, slightly boastful talk of precinct workers, the two went on to say that "they" meant their leaders in the Democratic Party, particularly Capparelli, the longtime Democratic committeeman of the 41st Ward and a state representative from the 15th District who had relinquished that seat to challenge Republican incumbent Michael P. McAuliffe in his 20th District.

Leading up to the election, "they" sometimes asked the guys to register voters, round up petition signatures, pass out campaign fliers or knock on doors to make personal appeals. This day was about bringing the vote in. So far, it was going well: At just after 9 a.m., three hours into the election, turnout was strong--though Capparelli would eventually lose, capturing just 41 percent of the ballots.

While Ray was the youngest of the group--he appeared to be in his late 20s--he was a veteran of the previous three elections, his political career starting right after he'd been hired at the CTA. "I'd never really been into voting before, but now I see the importance of it," he said.

"It's understood that, if you get help from somebody getting your job, it's understood you need to be out there helping them out."

"I don't control one job," he said. "There's nothing 1 can do for anyone. I really don't have any workers. The CTA? Forget about it. I couldn't get you a job at the CTA. Find one guy, and I'll give you $100. No, I'll give you $200."

But the other men outside St. Juliana agreed with Ray. They all had positions with the CTA or the city of Chicago. They all were expected to do some electioneering. And, because they all wanted to keep their jobs, they refused to name names, including their own.

"Politics makes the world go round-that's how it works. You've got to know somebody to get in," said the Bears fan. "Very few people get called for an interview with the city. That's why people do this-standing in the rain like this. You know--one hand washes the other."

It's against the law for public employees to do political work on government time. But, when the men were asked if they'd taken the day off to help with the election, they started laughing.

"Some do. Some don't," said the man in the ball cap.

When asked about mobilizing city workers, Capparelli also laughed. For generations, it was known that Chicago's Democratic Party thrived on a system of political patronage. Under the "Machine" perfected by former Mayor Richard J. Daley, anyone who wanted a job with the city was expected to work for the party's candidates; those who hadn't demonstrated their loyalty and work ethic were not going to get a second look.

The city was supposed to be different after a series of legal battles led to the Shakman consent decree in the 1970s and 1980s. Covering most of the city's 38,000 jobs, the decree made it illegal for city employees to be required to engage in political work, and, with a few exceptions, for the city to hire people based on patronage.

But not everyone has let laws get in the way of politics.

Payroll data obtained by The Chicago Reporter show that thousands of city employees have missed work each of the last three election days, accounting for absentee rates higher than most other days of the year.

And hundreds of employees were hired only for the two-week pay period including the 2003 municipal election. The workforce then slimmed down to its previous level for the next pay period.

City employees get two to five weeks of vacation a year, depending on their experience. And many city workers are more than happy to use their time off helping local political candidates.

Across Chicago on Nov. 2, though, many city employees said their supervisors and political sponsors expected-and sometimes pressured--them to do campaign work. Punishments for refusing could include demotions or terminations, they said.

Their accounts are virtually identical to charges laid out in the Dec. 16 federal grand jury indictment of Donald Tomczak, the former first deputy commissioner of the city's Department of Water Management. It accuses Tomczak of doling out city jobs, promotions and overtime in return for campaign work for candidates he supported. The candidates are not named in the indictment.