Sassone: Why can't suburbs vote for Chicago mayor?
(http://www.pioneerlocal.com/pioneerpress/3035968,pioneer-press-sassone-012711-s1.article)

 

January 27, 2011

It's just not right. 

I live in the suburbs, not Chicago. 

So why must I be bombarded with news about the election for mayor of Chicago? 

Yes, I know that Chicago is the big bully next door. And I know that Chicago pretty much runs the state and that I have Chicago to thank for higher income taxes and the Chicago Cubs. 

To be fair, I also have Chicago to thank for deep-dish pizza and Italian beef sandwiches. But that's a different story. 

The simple fact is that I can't vote in the Chicago mayoral election. So, why must the news -- my news -- be dominated by Carol Moseley Braun attacking Rahm Emanuel while Danny Davis vows to fight on forever until he drops out and Gery Chico unselfishly stands up for banks? 

Must my evenings forever be interrupted by handfuls of candidates shouting "Go Bears" at voters emerging from el trains? 

Do I want to see another candidate summit over corned beef sandwiches at Manny's? 

You're going to tell me that what happens in Chicago affects us in the suburbs. 

Oh, yeah? If that's so, why can't we vote? 

Sure, we don't pay property taxes in Chicago. But we pay all other kinds of taxes to Chicago -- if we buy something in Chicago, park in Chicago, go to a museum in Chicago, attend a sporting event in Chicago. 

We suburbanites pay a lot of money to Chicago, but I haven't heard a word from any of the candidates on what they will do for residents of the suburbs. 

That's because we have been disenfranchised. 

If we had the right to vote in the Chicago election, I bet you'd hear Emanuel talk about how he wants to see light in the eyes of suburban kids, too. 

Give suburbanites at least a half vote in the Chicago mayoral election. We're owed that if for no other reason than we have to sit through Chicago election commercials. 

If not, then it is only fair that all Chicago election news be filtered from our suburban TV sets. 

And don't tell me it can't be done. 

This from the people who came up with the converter box that prevents people without cable from receiving more than half of all TV stations.

Come to think of it, I bet Chicago was responsible for that, too.