Hearing officer urges Rahm Emanuel's inclusion in Chicago mayoral race

[Elmore Furth]

Source: LA Times

CHICAGO — Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel cleared a major hurdle in his bid to be Chicago mayor Thursday when a hearing officer recommended that his name appear on the February ballot although he has spent much of the last two years living in Washington working for President Barack Obama.

The ruling, which still needs final approval from the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, is a political win for Emanuel because it could help him silence critics who have persistently argued he isn't a Chicago resident.

The elections board, made up of two Democrats and one Republican, is scheduled to meet later Thursday and will likely make a decision on the recommendation. Officials have tried to expedite mayoral ballot challenges before the Feb. 22 vote, and the board's decision is almost sure to be challenged in the courts.

"The hearing officer is sort of like an Italian traffic signal -- it's a mere suggestion. He is basically giving his opinion," said Paul Green, a political scientist at Roosevelt University in Chicago.




Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-rahm-emanuel-20101223,0,5716680.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fnationworld%2Fnation+%28L.A.+Times+-+National+News%29

[Le Taz Hot]

1. Chicagoans/Ohioans -- please weigh in.

From afar (CA) it's looking like the fix is in for Emmanuel.

[mucifer]

2. Looks that way. But, Harold Washington surprised the entire local press by

beating Daley and Jayne Byrne in the '80s. Grassroots people weren't surprised. But, the local press was very confused. I don't see something like that happening in this election. But, you never know.

[molly77]

3. Rahm sure can pull strings. Now the difficult task of creating

people to like him.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Cutatious]

4. Rahm did not live there during the required period. Period.

I can't believe there is even an argument about his validity to run for mayor. I hope he is shut out, otherwise it will stink even more than it does now. I would love to see Carolyn run and win!

[Freddie Stubbs]

7. If the voters of Chicago don't want him, they will vote for another candidate

[Cutatious]

8. We are a nation of laws

His money and power should not allow the laws to be broken. If you or I tried running for mayor and lived in DC for the period defined we would not have made it past the city clerk.

[Freddie Stubbs]

10. Is is safe to assume that you have reviewed all of the evidence and watched all of the testimony

that the hearing officer did?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

16. He has a (D) besides his name, hence he must be evil. What other evidence do you need?

:sarcasm:

[Igel]

13. Trite.

That can be said about anybody that some other candidate wants disqualified.

Nonetheless, candidates do get other candidates disqualified for not following the rules. Sometimes they even manage to clear the field of all opponents and easily win. Sometimes the candidates who triumph in the administrative pre-election go on to win wide support and higher office--take Obama, for instance; sometimes they don't (and such we seldom hear about again).

Yet since the rules probably account for people being disqualified who would win, it pays to just enforce them even handedly. Better than making exceptions and giving in to Chicago-style political maneuvering, so that the laws don't matter but who the people involved are does. Some Democrats seem to prefer the latter, assuming that their folk are in charge; I don't think any democrat could, however.

[madrchsod]

5. the commission will hear this today at 9

then it will probably go to appeals. he`ll win and nothing much will change in chicago.

[Hawkeye-X]

6. It's after 9..

Any word?

[lunatica]

9. Just keep him out of Washington DC

[OneAngryDemocrat]

11. Wouldn't the argument to exclude Emanuel also exclude men & women in uniform?

Wouldn't the argument to exclude Emanuel also exclude men & women serving in the armed forces?

If that is the case, no matter whether you support Rahm's run for office, or not, then this is the most HORRIBLE election board rule I have ever heard of, still on the books.

[Igel]

14. No.

It explicity states that being away for service to the United States or Illinois/Chicago shall not be deemed as violating the residency rules.

If you're chosen by the people to serve Illinois or Chicago, you might have to be out of state. If the US Army sends you out of state, you're not in violation.

What throws a wrench in the works is if you voluntarily leave the state for a job that can be seen as service to the US or the state. It strikes me that the restricted construction--elected office, military service, a number of other things in which the person's volition is subject to the people or the government--is handily defensible and constitutes a kind of unintended absence, one that is either at the behest of the people or required by the people's representative.

Leaving voluntarily, though, makes it a fuzzy rule to apply. If I go to work for the CIA for 30 years but "always intend to return," even have a house that I rent out, I've gone to work for an employer. But it's not the people's will; nor is it required by virtue of service to the government, as it would be in the military--but even with the military it used to be clearer. Working for the government is just a job for most people. They apply, they're interviewed, they leave when something better comes along or when a better candidate is found.

Now, if you're drafted, under the law or nearly so--say you're a talented interpreter of Pashtu whose talents the NSA requires and can't find elsewhere--it's arguable that it's service under this statute. But otherwise, the difference between taking a job as a clerk for the Supreme Court or for the Social Security administration, the difference between being a translator for the CIA or a janitor is trivial. You do it not because you're required to do it, nor because the people have so willed. You do it as a job. Even if it's chief of staff for the president, you get neither a pass from the electorate nor cover by virtue of the involuntary nature of the position. You leave because you want to leave, because that's where your job is.

Now, if Rahm has left because his service to the government counts under this statute, the same can be said of a lot of people that left for jobs working for the government. Or who took jobs that is of service "to the United States." You design satellites or microchips, you help enforce customs or negotiate trade deals, you work not as an embassy employee but in the Peace Corps or even as a English teacher in W. Kenya to help raise the level of esteem and respect for the United States (which, after all, is a vital mission for US national security) then you, too, are like Rahm.

[Scurrilous]

12. Emanuel can run for mayor of Chicago, elections adviser rules

<snip>

"Former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel cleared a hurdle in his run for Chicago mayor on Thursday, with an official recommendation that Emanuel meets the residency requirements to be on the February ballot."

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BM2HD20101223