Who are these People and why should I vote for them?

I present to you the 7 candidates running for Dick Devine’s vacated Cook County State’s attorney seat: Tom Allen, Anita Alvarez, Tommy Brewer, Howard Brookins Jr., Robert Millan, Tony Peraica and Larry Suffredin. If you are familiar with more than two of these names, the chances are you currently work on one of these campaigns, or are one of the candidates themselves. If you can even pick the lone Republican in the group, you’re an honor student of Chicago politics. With 98.7% of media coverage focused on the presidential races, many important state and local races are getting even less coverage than usual.

The State’s Attorney job is arguably one of the most important jobs in local politics. The position oversees a $100 million dollar budget and around 900 lawyers. The State’s Attorney prosecutes the areas most high profile criminal cases, and the job often serves as a springboard to even more prominent office, as our multi-multi termed mayor is an example. Yet, only the 2 or 3 candidates that can afford commercial time even have a chance of registering more than a blip in the polls.

And if awareness is low for the State’s Attorney race, what about the dozens of other state and local races? The ballot on Tuesday will contain races for State Representatives and Senators, judgeships and even the ultra-sexy Water Reclamation Commissioners. (The little known Water Reclamation District oversees a $1 BILLION annual budget, by the way.)

When you pull the proverbial curtain behind you, who do you vote for in these races? Do you skip on voting in races where you do not know any of the candidates? Do you vote for the 1 candidate who happened to buy a billboard on your way to work? Do you vote for the candidate with the most benign name? (‘Hmm, McLovin’ for State Senator sounds like a nice Irish boy.’) Though seriously, it was innocuous sounding names that helped Lyndon LaRouche followers wins in the 1986 Democratic primary.

For most of these races, I still have no idea who, if anyone, I plan to vote for, but sometime between now and the election, I plan to find out. http://www.voterinfonet.com/

Icy, a Problem

Pop Quiz: You see the following sign. What do you do?

A. Sprint clear of the building, with your arms protectively thrown over your head. (Repeat at each of the dozens of high rise buildings posting similar signage around the city.)

B. Follow the sign’s helpful arrows upwards to see what the fuss is about.

C. Briefly contemplate what you’d do with the settlement money, should you survive any subsequent head blow from an over-sized ice cube.

D. Not a damn thing.

Signs like this have become the “wet floor” signs of Chicago winter. They have become common to the point that they scarcely register a second glance, yet that does not mean that accidents never happen. (For examples, try here or watch the video here.) What isn’t clear is if the signs are meant as a warning or as a notice of release from subsequent liability.

For 130 years the world’s greatest architects have been designing high rises in Chicago, and for just as long pedestrians have been forced to participate in a game of dodge-ice every time it freezes and thaws. And the problem is not confined to the oldest skyscrapers in the city. Plenty of buildings erected within the last 20 years suffer from the same problem. As the next generation of buildings reach for the sky (i.e. the Chicago Spire, Trump Tower, The Loop, Aqua, Waldorf-Astoria Tower), only time will really tell.

Retrofitting existing buildings is not the solution. Prohibitive costs, aesthetic concerns and community/political bickering will prevent any serious measures from ever taking place. So, what do we do about ice falling from our city’s buildings? I would be interested to hear your suggestions, but I’m afraid that the question might be rhetorical.

Iggy's 3 - The Third Time is not a Charm

When a bar’s business model works, its concept can be successfully copied and transplanted to other neighborhoods or cities. Locally, see Bar Louie and John Barleycorn. On the other hand, when a bar makes three separate attempts to make a go of it in the city, as is the case with Iggy’s 3, it may be a case of trying to force a square mug into a round hole. For a dozen years, the original Iggy’s was a fixture on Milwaukee Avenue, before closing its doors. The second incarnation lasted for 3 years in the Bucktown neighborhood, and, sadly, after an evening at their latest River North venture, one can only wonder about the half-life of the current location.

Iggy’s is clearly an establishment with an identity crisis. It is not truly a restaurant, and it’s not, by a long shot, a full-fledged bar or cocktail lounge. Black and red dominate the motif, with the requisite sock puppet photos from its past locations lining the walls. A small, crescent-shaped bar, with seating for perhaps 8, dominates the front room with several small tables flanking the bar, in a space that can at most seat 50. Iggy’s does provide a hip environment, but the overall vibe is one of style over substance.

As a bar, Iggy’s comes up short. With little space to mingle and fewer spaces to sit, Iggy’s does not lend itself to a comfortable setting for a round of drinks, particularly if the place is crowded. $11 martinis may be the going rate in the city these days, but Iggy’s does nothing to separate its offerings from the crowd. A small, though high-quality, selection of bottled beers are offered to those looking for something lighter, but Iggy’s offers no beers on draught.

As a restaurant, Iggy’s menu seems to be out of line with the atmosphere it is presenting. Appetizers run as high as $15 and entrees to $29, though meals are served by t-shirt clad wait staff who seem more properly attired to slinging buffalo wings. The ambitious menu, combined with the informal service, sends a confusing message to customers. In terms of taste and presentation, a sampled goat cheese appetizer was presented blandly and tasted about the same. Not one sandwich appears on the menu, which may be perfectly suitable for a fine-dining establishment, but it would be a stretch to put Iggy’s in that category.

Overall, Iggy’s is a cool looking spot that needs to decide what it wants to be when it grows up.

Rating: 1 mug

Editor’s note: A negative review is not something that I relish in giving, unlike a slathering Simon Cowell. But until Iggy’s rights the ship, if you’re looking for a drink in that part of River North I might recommend Clark St. Ale House. For a bite, the authentic and reasonably priced Café Iberico is a solid bet. (And by the way, the original Bar Louie is just a few blocks west of Iggy’s on Chicago Avenue.)