Brown answers 'call,' joins mayoral race

Brown answers 'call,' joins mayoral race
By Gary Washburn
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published September 1, 2006


Dorothy Brown, who entered local politics in 1999 as a novice, announced Thursday that her sights are now on the biggest job in town: mayor.

Brown, currently clerk of the Cook County Circuit Court, formally declared her candidacy after months of preparation.

"I have heard the call from many of the citizens of the city of Chicago," she said. "Today I am answering that call."

Brown quoted philosopher William James, poet Maya Angelou, Martin Luther King Jr., President Harry Truman and the Declaration of Independence during an 11-minute speech in a Hotel Allegro conference room packed with enthusiastic supporters.

The crowd included comedian and political activist Dick Gregory, one-time mayoral candidate and former Cook County Circuit Court Judge R. Eugene Pincham, and Wallace "Gator" Bradley, a community activist and former gang member.

Questioned after her speech and during a series of interviews with reporters, Brown repeatedly took pains to avoid making Mayor Richard Daley, who is expected to run for his sixth term in the February mayoral election, a focus on the day of her announcement. But she alluded to the contracting and hiring scandals that have plagued his administration.

"Obviously, the citizens of Chicago have concerns about some of the things that have been occurring within the current administration," Brown said. She asserted that "as a proven and visionary leader with over 30 years of business and management experience," she is "a person people can trust, a person with high ethical values."

Daley political consultant David Axelrod asserted that Daley has been candid about the problems in his administration and has taken steps to fix them.

"I think that if the mayor runs, people will look at his record in totality," Axelrod said. "I think they will see a city on the move, a city that is making progress and a city that has good leadership."

U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), who also is considering a run for mayor, praised Brown as "a solid public servant."

"The issues confronting the voters of Chicago are numerous and serious, including waste, fraud and abuse," Jackson said in a statement. "It is important to have multiple voices in the campaign speaking out against the culture of corruption in Chicago."

Like Jackson, Brown is an African-American.

"If they both run, it's over," said a Chicago alderman with independent leanings, who asked not to be named. Brown and Jackson--along with Bill "Dock" Walls, another African-American candidate who already has tossed his hat into the ring--would split the black vote, something that would guarantee Daley a big advantage, the alderman said.

But some Chicago political veterans think that every candidate who runs would skim a certain number of votes that otherwise would go to Daley, something that could prevent him from receiving more than 50 percent of the votes cast if there are enough challengers. That would force Daley into a run-off with his closest competitor.

U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) has said he also is considering a run.

Asked about a Jackson candidacy, Brown said Thursday that "it would be nice" if the congressman did not run.

Even if he did, "I feel that I can win this office," Brown said. "I would not be in this race if I didn't feel I could win."

Without going into detail, Brown said in her speech that the city needs more affordable housing, "enhanced public safety," more neighborhood reinvestment and an expanded airport system.

Hinting at a campaign theme of unequal treatment across the city, Brown said she would aim to improve "all the Chicago public schools," repeating the phrase over and over and emphasizing "all," to the applause of her supporters.

When reporters asked her position on the controversial "big-box" minimum wage ordinance passed by the City Council in July, she would say only that the issue needs "a lot more discussion."

Daley is expected to veto the measure at the September council meeting, but Brown refused to say what action she would take if she were mayor.

Brown, 52, was a political unknown before making a strong, but unsuccessful, bid for city treasurer in 1999. She won the clerk of the court's office in 2000, handily winning re-election four years later.

Brown continues to be considered an outsider by some Democratic Party leaders but maintains grass-roots support based in African-American churches, including her denomination, the Church of God in Christ.

Present at her announcement were her pastor and Bishop Ocie Booker of the denomination's First Illinois Jurisdiction.

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gwashburn@tribune.com