Rickey Hendon Resigns State Senate Seat

Illinois State Senator Rickey Hendon resigned his seat almost two years before the end of his term, saying he’s had it with politics. He was very disillusioned at the lack of black voter turnout for Patricia Horton, who he supported in the February election for city clerk.  Still, Pat got around $250,000 votes on a shoestring budget.

Of course Rickey said he was leaving politics six months ago, in the last chapter of his book Backstabbers, which he’s planning to promote anew. He doesn’t have to please any fellow politicians now, so he can say what’s on his mind.

 http://www.academychicago.com/Backstabbers.html

State Rep. Annazette Collins has been chosen by the Democratic committee to fill Rickey's Fifth District Illinois senate seat. But his shoes will not be easily filled.  His harsh criticisms of Republican governor candidate Brady’s votes against women and poor people, might have helped alert voters to re-elect Democratic governor Pat Quinn. Seems you can’t get in the papers for good deeds, so you have to make a lot of noise, which is what Rickey did.

That doesn’t mean he wasn’t trying to do good things for the West Side, one of the poorest, crime-ridden areas of Chicago. The Best Side is constantly trying to lift itself by its bootstraps, trying to get back some of the money that’s been siphoned out of their community by big money interests and their owned politicians. The Fighting Fifth District neighborhood folks are the ones who will miss Rickey the most.

I hope he takes a nice break and can find a positive role that he enjoys. . A brave, outspoken politician is a terrible thing to waste.

Rickey Supports Patricia Horton for City Clerk

Patricia Horton currently serves as a Water Reclamation Commissioner. She wants to control car sticker prices, invest city pension funds wisely, and lease vacant city owned lots for parking in congested areas. She would also make city government more open to the people by having city council meetings broadcast and archived on line.

Pat has waged a people's campaign for the office of city clerk, vacated by Miguel del Valle who is running for Mayor. (other mayor candidates still in the race include Carol Moseley Braun, Patricia van Pelt Watkins, Gery Chico, Rahm Emmanuel and Dock Walls. Rep. Danny Davis dropped out on New Year's Eve.)

Above is Pat's Sun-Times candidate interview. Check out her own campaign site at
PatriciaHorton4CityClerk.com

Pat's opponent, Susana Mendoza, is not a friend of poor folk or civil liberties. As a state legislator she introduced two bills that would feed more people to prisons: to charge school children with a felony for threatening to hit somebody; and to allow police take DNA samples of any person upon arrest.  City races are nonpartisan, but she accepted a $5000 contribution from the Republican Party. 

Rickey Speaks Out for Illinois Civil Unions

Illinois passed a civil unions law that extends legal benefits to domestic partnerships including gay couples.  Senator Hendon said, "it's just fairness, y'all, that's all." He had some words for "hypocrites" among legislators--"the ones who cheat on their wives and the down low brothers" who had attacked the bill.

Rickey Hendon Drops Mayor Race, Praises Danny Davis

On Friday Nov. 5, recognizing that he didn't have enough support among black politicians to win the Chicago mayor's race, State Sen. Rickey Hendon announced he was dropping his campaign.  He also said he wants to watch his health, as he has been diagnosed with high blood pressure.  He said his health condition may have contributed to the harshness of his criticisms against Republican governor candidate Bill Brady.  He also said that many political leaders have no conception of the hardships faced by many African American communities right now, including his own West Side.   Rickey praised Congressman Danny Davis, an early political mentor of his with extensive experience in city and national office, saying Davis would make a good mayor.

The next day, Nov. 6, in a reversal of an earlier decision, a group of black leaders endorsed Davis as the coalition African-American candidate.  Carol Moseley Braun, however, is continuing her campaign and two Latino candidates are strong enough to make the race as well. Sheriff Tom Dart, citing family concerns and Alderman Fioretti cited health concerns, leaving Rahm Emanuel as the leading European American candidate. NBC Chicago's pundits have already begun speculating about a Davis vs. Rahm race:

http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Can-Danny-Davis-Stop-Rahm-Emanuel-Before-Its-Too-Late-106883344.html

Rickey will surely give us all the scoop. He continues to support Patricia Horton in the city clerk's race. Pat is currently serving on the Water Reclamation Board and has become familiar with some infrastructure problems in the city. She is campaigning on a platform of increased service and openness to citizens.

Hendon Calls Out Quinn's Foe on Race, Gender Issues

Is Rickey Hendon the only Democrat willing to call out extremist right wing stands? As he put it, he doesn't need to apologize for attacking the voting record in the state senate of Gov.Quinn's opponent, Bill Brady.  Instead, Brady needs to apologize for vote after vote that penalizes minority contractors, opposes rights for gays and lesbians, and rules out women from choosing abortion even in cases of rape and incest. In this WGN radio interview Rickey backs up everything he said:




www.wgnradio.com/shows/gregjarrett/wgnam-rickey-hendon-brady-accusations-greg-102510,0,678226.mp3file

Hendon Supports After School Programs to Bring Peace to Streets

One thing that’s been overlooked in Sen. Hendon’s proposal for two riverboat casinos for Chicago is his plan to spend some of that gambling money on afterschool programs.

“We got Granny having to shoot a young kid in the shoulder, a 12 year old who had nothing better to do than harass her for a year, throw rocks through her windows,” he said at last week’s community meeting, referring to a case in recent news.  Charges against the 70 year old woman were dismissed.

 “After school programs have been cut by both the city and the state,” said Hendon, who tried without success in the legislature to restore the state funds.  “Now we got these kids running the streets like they own the neighborhood. They got nothing better to do.”  Art, music, phys ed and even recess have been cut from many city schools.  Kids have few constructive outlets for their energy and self-expression.

This week Michelle Obama  was in the news advocating arts to uplift youth. 

"We want to lift young people up," she told Harper's Bazaar in an interview in the magazine's November issue. "The country needs to be mindful that we have all these diamonds out there, and it would be a shame not to invest in those talents."

 

Hendon Introduces Resolution to Reopen Meigs Field

State Senator Rickey Hendon announced at a press conference Oct. 4 that he's introduced a resolution to reopen Meigs Field, a small downtown airport closed by outgoing Mayor Daley in a midnight bulldozer raid.  The FAA said that Chicago was wrong to close it, and many state legislators felt the same way, Rickey said.

As the mainstream media continue to blather about Rahm Emanuel, Rickey continues to bring up real Chicago issues . He points out that the number of candidates for mayor will be whittled down in the petitioning process.

If you vote in Chicago and are undecided about the mayoral race, it's ok... you can sign petitions for more than one candidate for any office: Rickey Hendon, Fioretti, DelValle,  Rev. Meeks, Danny Davis, Dock Walls...whoever! Petition deadline is in late November.  Candidates must get the signatures of 12,500 registered voters to get on the ballot.

Don't forget, the election for mayor and other city candidates is February.  On Nov. 2, Illinois voters elect a U.S. Senator , governor and lieutenant governor, along with state reps and many state senators. Rickey urges all to get out and vote Democratic!  If times are bad now, they could only get worse under Republican leadership, he says.