Gutierrez Endorses Chico for Mayor

Comparing mayoral candidate Gery Chico to Chicago’s first African-American mayor, Harold Washington, U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez announced today he was supporting Chico in the Feb. 22 election.

“I’m thrilled that the most qualified and capable and committed candidate for mayor of the city of Chicago is a Latino candidate for mayor of the city of Chicago,” said Gutierrez, an ally to Washington when he served as 26th Ward alderman during the late 1980s. “I’ve heard lots of people, including at least one Latino supporter of Rahm Emanuel, say that Chicago is not ready for a Latino mayor, that it’s too soon. Well it’s never too soon. In fact, it’s much too late.”

The congressman then delivered more direct comparisons between Chico and Washington.

“Harold worked hard to bring people together,” said Gutierrez in his speech at the National Museum of Mexican Art in Pilsen. “I see the same quality in Gery and I’m going to work hard with him to make sure our next mayor is someone for every neighborhood and every resident of our city.”

Washington, who died in office in 1987, has become somewhat of an idol in more progressive circles for his anti-Machine rhetoric and his struggle to pass many of his initiatives through a fiercely divided City Council. For much of Washington’s time in office, the Council was dominated by the Vrdolyak 29, a group named after former 10th Ward alderman Edward Vrdolyak and was mostly comprised of white aldermen.

Chico has been described as a City Hall insider for not only once serving as Mayor Richard M. Daley’s chief of staff, but for millions of dollars Chico’s law firm has raked in from clients hoping to secure business with the city.

Gutierrez, who briefly flirted with the idea of running for mayor, said during Sunday’s endorsement that he believes Chico will be able to build support throughout the city and continue some of the initiatives Washington set in motion.

“You know what with Harold Washington? He was the first black mayor of Chicago, but he made sure of one thing—I remember, and Richard Daley followed—and that is that everybody would be served on the basis of their needs, and not the color of their skin or the accents of the voices that lived in that neighborhood,” said Gutierrez. “We changed that, and Gery Chico is going to build upon that, and in building on that, he builds upon the legacy of Harold Washington.”

Gutierrez also claimed Daley might not have been as open to various communities had it not been for Washington, “because the gay community was accepted warmly because Harold Washington said they would be accepted warmly. Because Latinos served in that administration of Mayor Daley in many capacities because [Washington] accepted that they would.”

One of Washington’s supporters in the City Council found Gutierrez’s endorsement of Chico odd. Former 3rd Ward alderman Dorothy Tillman, who helped create the Harold Washington Cultural Center in Bronzeville, told the Chicago News Cooperative she couldn’t comment on Gutierrez’s remarks about Washington and Chico without reading the entire speech, but she found it humorous.

“He didn’t endorse del Valle? That’s funny,” said Tillman, speaking of mayoral contender, Miguel del Valle.

During Sunday’s endorsement event, Gutierrez also said he thought Chico could be a consensus candidate. On Friday, Chico landed the endorsement of another one-time mayoral candidate, Rev. Wilfredo de Jesus, who is Puerto Rican. The only other Latino candidate left in the race is del Valle, and Gutierrez said his endorsement of Chico is not a maneuver to pressure del Valle to drop out of the race.

“I have the greatest degree of respect for Miguel del Valle,” said Gutierrez. “He’s going to make that decision. I’ve made my decision about who I’m going to vote for. Did it cause me to have to pause and think? Absolutely.”

Chico said he’s not worried about del Valle as a mayoral contender.

“Right now the only thing I’m expecting is to execute my campaign,” Chico said.

In a statement, del Valle said he respects Gutierrez and the work he has done for immigration reform, but he said he disagrees with the congressman’s assessment of Chico partly because of that candidate’s ties to City Hall.

“It is time, after 20 years of cynicism among voters and corruption among the elected, that we make a change,” del Valle said in the statement. “Chicago is ripe for it. My opponent, Gery Chico, has earned millions of dollars off his City Hall contracts. A well-funded, highly connected insider can neither fix the budget nor halt corruption. It takes proven competence and strong ethics, and I will bring both to City Hall.”

In a phone call with the Chicago News Cooperative, del Valle said he finds Gutierrez’s comments about Chico and Washington “incredulous.”

“There are no comparisons. Absolutely none whatsoever,” said del Valle, who was a state senator while Washington served as mayor. “Any attempt to compare Gery Chico to Harold Washington is a stretch beyond imagination. You can’t compare someone who has been a consummate City Hall insider.”

While Gutierrez’s comments about Chico and Washington are in dispute, the congressman made it clear during his endorsement speech that he and Chico’s supporters are keeping track of who’s supporting who.

“He’ll demand honesty, integrity, and results, and if you don’t join Mayor Chico in making the city better, you won’t work with Mayor Chico for a very long time,” said Gutierrez, while adding that Chico will be a “bridge builder.”

Chico’s campaign also announced on Sunday it is planning to air its first TV ad on Tuesday. The commercial, entitled “Right,” will air on Spanish-speaking stations and feature Gutierrez.