Ten years ago a group of new, mostly young appointees took over City Hall intending to overthrow Chicago government and reform it as it had never been reformed before. Many of them had never worked in government. Some had never even had a real job. But to them Harold Washington’s 55 months in office was the Chicago version of Camelot. His death was as much a blow to their aspirations as John F. Kennedy’s was to another generation of idealistic and motivated activists.
Was the Washington administration a brief shining moment? Have his reforms been undone since his death? Or have the structural and institutional changes that Washington stood for been permanently woven into the fabric of city government? We tracked down eight key Harold Washington aides, all now departed from city government, and asked their opinions. We also asked them to reminisce a bit about their boss. Here are their responses:
Rich Daley runs a fairly open government. I’m a small business person with a minority-owned firm. Harold Washington had the MBE [minority business enterprises] program, which Daley got through the Council. He did it the right way and in a way that so far hasn’t been challenged. It is being enforced by the layers of bureaucracy. Would that have occurred if Harold Washington had not been mayor?
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I found Harold Washington to be extremely innovative. He had a vision and image for the city and he was dedicated to that. He was a workaholic.
I think they’ve probably run equal administrations. There are extremely talented people in this cabinet. You can’t say that without Washington you wouldn’t have an MBE program. We don’t know what Daley would have done. This administration has been even more aggressive in giving minority contracts and business. I’m quite sure this mayor would have done the same things if there hadn’t been a Washington administration.
It was cumbersome and new and was far from model. The changes flowing through the law department were revolutionary. It had been a patronage haven with one or two stellar attorneys who did the bulk of the work and the important work done outside by a fully professional law firm. Government started attracting quality people.
He set a tone that has required at least lip service by subsequent administrations, but they don’t run government the way Washington did. Part of the difference is the role of press. They were at our heels every day about every contract. Every time a black received a city contract they made the amazing revelation that the person had contributed to Harold Washington. There wasn’t a black businessman in the city who didn’t contribute to Harold Washington. Each one of those stories was on page one.
