By MILTON RAKOVE

Elevate them guns a little lower!'

LEGALLY, Chicago has a modified weak mayor/strong council form of government. The council has the legal power to do almost anything, including stripping the mayor of her authority and seizing control of the budget. It is doubtful if the council will exercise this power in the near future, however. during his tenure, Mayor Richard J. Daley assumed many of the council's prerogatives by getting control of the budget and using his power as chairman of the Cook County Democratic Central Committee.

That trend continued under Mayor Michael Bilandic. After Daley's death the party organization became decentralized and weakened under its new chairman, George Dunne, when control of city patronage passed to Bilandic and his deputy, Tom Donovan, even though neither of them were ward committeemen or members of the political organization's ruling body, the county central committee. Under Bilandic the city government's bureaucracy grew in power and this further strenghened his position — at the expence of the ward committeeman, the county central committee and its chairman.

Mayor Byrne recognized the new strength in the mayorality and moved quickly to stake out control of patronage and prerequisites while retaining control of the city council. The party organization has been even further weakened under Byrne. Chicago now has a powerful mayor, a weak party chairman, a passive city council, a potentially strong bureaucracy and a coterie of relatively ineffective ward committeeman.

But Byrne has greater problems than Daley and Bilandic. The gap between the growing middle-class black constituency and the entrenched white ethnic leadership has widened, and the whites are unwilling to surrender much to the blacks. She has been unable to pacify the more vocal elements in both constituencies. The liberals, angered by her unwillingness to take real action on Chicago's deep social problems, are almost completely alienated.

To compensate for the deterioration of her support from the coalition that elected her, Byrne has strengthened her ties to other elements in preparation for her forthcoming reelection effort in 1983. She has tried to solidify her bonds to the traditional machine constituency in Chicago, the ward committeemen and precinct workers; reestablish connections to business, labor and media interests; reach out to the poor black voters in Chicago; and blunt the developing hostility of the northwest and southwest side white ethnics. For the politicians, there is patronage, influence, status and economic rewards. For the businessmen, there is a projected building boom in the Loop and its environs, sounder fiscal practices and a variety of other concessions. For the unions, after a series of confrontations with teachers, firemen and CTA workers, there is now a quieter period of collective bargaining and continued influence for the old-time leadership. For the media, there has been a plethora of press releases, happenings and personal appearances. For the poor blacks, there are still political jobs and services, and dramatic actions like the Cabrini Green move-in. For the ethnics there has been resistance to school busing and integration programs and control of the school board. And for everybody, there is a continuing stream of Chicago chauvinism, parades, neighborhood events and an expanded Chicagofest.

But deep, underlying problems still remain. Mayor Daley could not solve them when they were smaller, only keep them manageable. He kept a tight hold on his city and postponed its deterioration by shifting the financial burdens of Chicago to national, state, county and other local governments. But he did not, could not, solve the Chicago's social problems — illiteracy, poverty, race relations, health care and neighborhood decline.

The white exodus of the suburbs continues. The hoped-for return of expatriates has not taken place. The city's economic decline vis a vis the suburbs and the sun belt states shows no sign of reversal. The racial bifurcation of the city's population makes it difficult to achieve the consensus needed for action. The political machine in the city is in a state of drift and deterioration. And finally, the governmental apparatus of the city, reflecting the divisions in the community and the lethargy of the political system, is marking time. What, then, is to be done?

The old policies will no longer suffice. What is needed is a realistic appraisal of the racial tensions of the city and its deteriorating economic base and a restructuring of the political system to make it reflect and represent these realities. But there must be compromise. Chicago does not have to be a great city. It would suffice, given the realities of its contemporary situation, for it to be a good city.

During the War of 1812, when the British redcoats were attacking New Orleans, and the American cannoneers were firing over the heads of the advancing British soldiers, Andrew Jackson was supposed to have ordered his artillerymen, "Elevate them guns a little lower!" Perhaps that is what we need to do in Chicago: not spike the guns of public policy, or fire them at random at the same old targets, but "elevate them a little lower" so as to ease the social problems of the city and make it, if not the best place, at least a decent place in which to live, work and raise families. □

Editor's Note: Milt Rakove recently underwent surgery and is now recovering at home. His column this month is excerpted from a paper done for the City Club of Chicago.

March 1982/Illinois Issues/37