Daley fills Council vacancies

After an open casting call that attracted only 16 resumes, Mayor Daley on Wednesday appointed a Cullerton family scion to be the new 38th Ward aldermen and the successor anointed by retired Ald. Ed Smith to fill a vacancy in the 28th Ward.

The temporary appointments will give former First Deputy Buildings Commisioner Tim Cullerton and Maywood Village Manager Jason Ervin each a $110,556-a-year salary and a leg up on their opponents in the Feb. 22 election.

The 4th Ward seat vacated by County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will be filled by a caretaker who will serve until a new Council is sworn in on May 16. Veteran community activist Shirley Newsome, 65, is not seeking the permanent job.

Earlier this year, Daley posted the equivalent of a "Help Wanted" ad on the Internet to fill a vacancy created by the conviction of Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th). He ended up choosing state Rep. Deborah Graham, who had sponsored some of the mayor's ill-fated gun-control bills while doubling as a city planner.

The mayor also filled a 1st Ward vacancy by appointing businessman Joe Moreno, a leader of the United Neighborhood Organizations' Metropolitan Leadership Institute, which has been a pipeline for mayoral appointments.

The Tim Cullerton appointment is more of the same. His family has controlled the North Side ward almost continously since shortly before the Chicago Fire of 1871. His father was the longtime aldermen. His sister is the ward's Democratic committeeman. It's called "The Cullerton Seat," because a Cullerton has been in the City Council for 107 of the last 139 years.

"It had nothing to do with their names. I could close my eyes, have 'em walk in and, after presentations, I would select them," Daley said of Cullerton and Ervin.