Progress Illinois

The public does not like appointments to elected offices.  Whether it’s a group of committeemen, the mayor of a city, or the governor -- the appointment process never seems or feels completely fair.  For starters, the preliminary interviews and vetting typically occur behind closed doors.  Prospective appointees advocate for the job, but only to those who control the appointment decision.  The public might hear rhetoric about the criteria for the decision, but is left thinking that the rationale offered is little more than spin.

Normally, once the appointment has been made, there is some initial grumbling about the lack of public input in the process.  And no more.  But the recent allegations that Gov. Rod Blagojevich sought to sell an appointment to the U.S. Senate has changed the old political calculus about appointments.

Prominent Democrats, Republicans, and editorial boards have opined that this time the appointee should be elected rather than selected.  I too have supported calls for a special election.  And I continue to believe that a special election is the optimal solution for guaranteeing transparency and public accountability. But there is a considerable downside -- the cost.  The bill for a statewide special election could reach $30 million.  Not chump change at a time when the state has been forced to borrow upwards of $1 billion to pay its bills.

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“If you are going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

Every day, we see the painful downward spiral of an economy dominated by speculation and paper profits intended to maximize short-term return at the expense of our nation’s long-term health. In the current global financial crisis, we feel the effects of that philosophy in ways that threaten serious destabilization. We now must rebuild what 25 years of failure has taken from us: a vibrant, healthy middle class that honors labor, creates real wealth, grows strong communities, and helps to lift our fellow citizens out of poverty. We must rapidly implement new and innovative solutions to heal our environment rather than hasten its demise. Specifically, we must re-discover, re-invent, and re-build manufacturing in the knowledge economy.

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In 1980, the United Labor Unions set out to organize employees at Detroit fast food chains in the hopes of sparking a nationwide movement to unionize the workforce in this fast-growing industry.  As a rookie organizer working on the campaign, I learned firsthand what is at stake when workers stand up for better wages, healthcare, and a voice on the job.

We started with a Burger King franchise in Detroit’s Greyhound station. While the drive was a challenge, the spark spread between employees as they encouraged each other to join the union and stand up to their managers. Greyhound Food Management ran a tough campaign to keep workers from organizing -- threatening some, making promises to others -- but didn’t succeed. By a margin of just one vote, the Burger King employees opted to create a union.
 


Encouraged by our victory, we shifted our focus to three McDonald’s franchises on Detroit’s North Side. The employees were struggling with all kinds of issues -- minimum wage violations, sexual harassment, unfair scheduling, and health and safety issues ranging from grill burns to meat slicer injuries. Fed up and fired up, they decided to organize a union and won overwhelming support from their co-workers. Nothing could stop them.

Or so they thought.



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Fair housing has suffered for too long as a largely ignored priority in America. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) continuously neglects its duty to affirmatively advance the cause. Many others dismiss the issue as historical.  And the movement itself has suffered from poor funding and organization throughout its history.

Nonetheless, promoting integration and reducing discrimination in housing is a crucial component to improving our metropolitan regions going forward.

Despite important victories that helped guarantee civil rights (including systemic changes in the lending and insurance fields), the first 40 years of fair housing advocacy has almost completely failed at improving the integration of metropolitan communities. Multiple metrics show that most communities throughout the United States continue to suffer from high segregation. While demographic changes occur across many regions, what we often see is short-term integration swiftly replaced by re-segregation. Common examples include the entry of white residents into gentrifying urban neighborhoods and increases in minority populations in suburban municipalities. In the vast majority of these cases, the initial increase in diversity is followed by re-segregation due to displacement or flight.

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