Chicago Reader

Tuesday, January 9, 2007

William "Dock" Walls takes on Da Mare

Posted by Kate Schmidt on Tue, Jan 9, 2007 at 11:32 PM

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"I don't expect Daley to stay on the ballot," boasted mayoral candidate William "Dock" Walls to the Sun-Times in December, after filing the first challenge to the mayor's nominating petitions since 1989. Walls claimed that his supporters had found problems with up to 19,000 of Daley's signatures, leaving him with fewer than the 12,500 required to stay on the ballot. Last week election officials decided to examine a sampling of about 1,200 signatures. The hearing is tomorrow.

If you're familiar with Walls at all, you've probably seen his name accompanied by the phrase "former aide to Harold Washington." That's not exactly magic dust. According to Fire on the Prairie, the account of the Washington years by former Reader staff writer Gary Rivlin, Walls was a gofer: "the man who took care of the tab, for instance, when Washington and a few aides stopped off for lunch -- and then handled his schedule for his first couple years in office. Washington grew frustrated with Walls's propensity for passing himself off as more important than he was, and fired him in 1985."

Here's what Walls told Reader contributor Mick Dumke recently when asked about being fired by parting ways with Washington: "At 25, I was considered one of the most influential people in the city. At 29, I was considered too influential. Everything flowed through me, and everyone was jealous. . . . I did my job too well." 

In 1987, when Walls ran for city clerk, he was trounced in the primary by Gloria Chevere (a deputy commissioner under Washington, now a subcircuit court judge deemed unqualified by all Illinois' bar associations). In 2003 he tried to run again, but incumbent James Laski (currently in prison on corruption charges) successfully challenged his nominating petitions and he was stricken from the ballot. Now Walls is taking a trick from the pros.

Does he stand a chance? I doubt it. But lotsa luck, Dock.

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Thjis poster is obviously out of touch with reality. I resigned under my own terms, and threatened to sue those defamatory detractors who claimed I had been fired. There are several articles written about my involvement in the Washington administration. They confirm everything I have ever said about my involvement as a top aide to Washington. I'll gladly email them to you upon request.

Posted by Dock Walls on January 9, 2007 at 10:58 PM | Report this comment
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"At 25, I was considered one of the most influential people in the city. At 29, I was considered too influential." Chalk one up for humility Dock. That's why you're going to lose, this is all about you instead of the people.

Posted by Tom on January 10, 2007 at 9:17 AM | Report this comment
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Dock is a legend in his own mind. Too bad Harold is not around to tell us how Dock used to get sandwiches for Brenda Gaines, Lucille Dobbins, Sharon Grant, Denise Barber Mitchell, Sharon Gist Gilliam, Bill Ware etc. and hold his honor's coat. I was there and I know.

Posted by DM on January 10, 2007 at 10:20 PM | Report this comment
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==PROPOSAL FOR AN ELECTION EXPERIMENT== This may not be the proper forum for this, but I will state my 'idea'/'proposal' anyway, and see if anyone is intrigued by my reasoning. I hold the opinion that it has been a very, very long time since we, the citizens of these United States, have truly and honestly been represented by our so-called 'public servants'. While it can be said that a certain small percentage of any given area's population is well and generously served by their elected officials,(at the financial and social expense of the area's 'common', politically unconnected citizens),for the most part, our elected officials are motivated by three basic principles: get power, keep power and use that power to gain wealth, for themselves and for those of like mind. I assert that the vast majority of voters are poorly served by the 'powers that be', in all areas of their daily lives. It is obvious that many 'public servants' define themselves as being those individuals who are served BY the public. This sad state of affairs is the result of simple mathematics. If one determines, in any given area,(ie. city, county, state and federal),the total number of citizens who are qualified to cast a vote, one finds that perhaps 50%, more or less, of that number are actually registered to vote; further,in any given election, one finds that typically between 50% - 60% of those registered don't even bother to make the effort to actually cast their vote(s). Thus, all that is required to win a 2 person race is 51% of the votes actually cast, effectively meaning that a mere 26% of the total number of citizens qualified to vote are determining who is elected. In a race of more than 2 contestants, the percentage needed to win becomes even lower than 26%. It is a puzzling mystery why the 2 major political parties, the Dumbocrats and the Retardicans, continue to strongly resist the establishment of additional political parties, though one sees occasional use of 'shill' candidates by both major parties. So, I propose a little experiment, to be conducted in both the smallest, local level elections, (ie. town, city, county, township, village,etc.), as well as in the larger level elections, (ie. state and federal), an experiment which is designed to accomplish several goals and answer several questions,(besides the obvious one, of seeing if enough people/voters will get off their butts and choose to participate in this experiment!). Basically, my question is this: what would happen if enough voters choose, in every election, both primary and general, to cast their votes by adhering to the following rules, completely disregarding all factors commonly used by voters to make their decisions on who to vote for, and simply casting their vote(s) by applying these rules/formula: * 1) Determine which candidates are the INCUMBENTS and DO NOT vote for any of them. * 2) If there are only two candidates running for any given office, all that the voter MUST know is which one is the INCUMBENT, then vote for the CHALLENGER candidate. * 3) If there are MORE than two candidates vying for a given office, determine if the incumbent is listed FIRST, and IF THIS IS SO, then vote for the challenger candidate who is listed LAST. * 4) If the incumbent is NOT listed FIRST, then vote for the challenger candidate who IS listed FIRST. * 5) If no incumbent is running for office, always vote for the LAST candidate listed. Remember to COMPLETELY DISREGARD all impulses to concern yourself with the specific persons who you are voting for and/or the specific persons you are not voting for and/or the specific incumbents who will, should enough voters in any given election participate in this experiment, be losing their jobs. Remember,also,that the issues don't matter, policies don't matter, individual candidates' personal charm/attractiveness does not matter..................... nothing matters other than adhering to the 5 rules stated above. If enough voters in any given election participate in this experiment, the result should be that a whole lot of incumbents will be voted out of office. What reaction(s), on the part of politicians and their cronies, will this stimulate? If enough voters CONTINUE to participate in this experiment during the next several election cycles, thus keeping any specific person from holding office for more than a single term, will those non-politically connected individuals who would like to sincerely serve their fellow citizens by holding public office, but have determined that their chances of being elected are slim-to-none, now find that they have a reasonably decent chance of succeeding in holding public office? Will the 'professional politicians' eventually find other lines of work and abandon trying to gain and hold power over their fellow citizens, (since it's difficult to establish power,influence and control in just a single term in office)? Will the majority of those citizens who do gain public office now be honest, ethical, hard-working and intelligent individuals, who seek office to actually serve the electorate, (since the traditional motivations of power, influence and wealth will effectively no longer be available)? Will these new, honest candidates, now encouraged to run for office, alter the usual dynamics of 'campaigning'? And in what ways? As the reader may surmise, this experiment is designed to disrupt the decades-old flow of bullshit, which has passed for so long as democracy; bullshit both by the politicians and bullshit by the voting public's failure to effectively participate in their own governing. The above experiment should be conducted in all political contests; Administrative, Executive, Legislative and Judicial. The rule to remember is: WHEN IN DOUBT, VOTE THEM OUT. The 5 rules above are designed to mathematically ensure that the maximum number of votes are cast in such a way as to be effective in denying all elected officials more than one term in office; to prove, by the only means those smugly in power ever understand, that the voters actually determine who holds public office, and that those presently holding said office(s) have, for way too long, held the vast majority of their constituents in contempt, evidenced not by their words, but by their deeds. Keep in mind that this experiment I am proposing is not meant to be a solution to our present social, economic and political disparities, but more as a catalyst for positive change in the attitudes of those who claim to represent ALL citizens' best interests, instead of the present predominance of their representing only the interests of the chosen few. To paraphrase one of our past presidents, who once said: * You may fool SOME of the people ALL of the time * You may fool ALL of the people SOME of the time * But you cannot fool ALL of the people, ALL of the time The sad reality is that you need only to fool just the right number of people, at just the right time, to attain power and control over the many.

Posted by spock on March 5, 2007 at 1:20 PM | Report this comment
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Just..Get your affairs in order for the next election David E. Neeley!

Posted by Columbo Sherlock on March 9, 2007 at 5:22 PM | Report this comment
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We are so filled with the need to make others less than ourselves. If Mr. Walls talents were not appreciated by those in the leadership of the Washington Administration, does that mean that he never had worth? Look at the decision making of those in that administration after the unfotunate demise of the Mayor. Were their actions that of key strategic minds, or self centered money/power hungry small minded fools. I don't see this logic as being a negative to Mr. Walls; especially when you consider the crushing burden placed on our communities by the Mayor in place. Any change is better than what exist. Lets grow up people.

Posted by Peopleofthesun on March 31, 2009 at 8:25 PM | Report this comment

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