Bernard Stone
Encyclopedia
Bernard "Berny" L. Stone (born November 24, 1927) was alderman of the 50th Ward of the City of Chicago
, Illinois
. The 50th ward encompasses part of Chicago's far North Side and includes the West Ridge
, West Rogers Park and Peterson Park neighborhoods.
First elected to the Council in 1973, Stone was also the second longest-serving alderman (after Ed Burke
). Stone was also Vice Mayor of the City of Chicago from 1998 to 2011.
Stone was a member of the "Vrdolyak
29" who were politically opposed to Mayor Harold Washington
, Chicago's first black mayor. Stone was a protagonist in a protracted legal conflict with the neighboring suburb of Evanston in 1993-1994. Employees of Stone's 2007 re-election campaign were convicted of vote fraud in 2010.
state House of Representatives
from the 8th district, but was defeated by Esther Saperstein, who went on to serve in the Illinois House for 10 years and became Illinois' first woman state senator.
In 1963 Stone was one of a then-record 233 persons who filed to run for Chicago alderman. Stone was one of eleven candidates who filed to run for alderman of the 50th ward, ten of which were attempting to unseat incumbent, Republican Alderman Jack I. Sperling, who was seeking a third four-year term. Stone filed without the endorsement of a political party. By February, 1963, Stone was not on the ballot for the February 26, 1963 election.
appointed Alderman Sperling to fill a vacancy as Cook County Circuit Court
judge. The Chicago City Council
called a special election for June 5, 1973 to fill vacant City Council seats, including the 50th ward alderman seat. Stone was an employee in the office of Cook County Sheriff Richard Elrod. Stone was vice president of the 50th ward regular Democratic organization. Stone was endorsed by the 50th ward regular Democratic organization for alderman. Stone was one of five candidates who filed to finish Sperling's term. Another candidate, independent Theodore Berland, was a medical writer and nationally recognized anti-noise activist who was chiefly responsible for Chicago's anti-noise ordinance. Berland was endorsed by the Independent Voters of Illinois (IVI), and by independent aldermen including Leon Despres [5th], Seymour Simon
[40th], and John Hoellen [47th]. Another independent candidate, attorney Ray Jeffrey Cohen, was endorsed by the Independent Precinct Organization (IPO). Stone organized the "Concerned Citizens of the 50th Ward" to counter neighboring Lincolnwood's opposition to a bridge over the North Shore Channel
at Pratt Avenue, which Stone called a "necessity" for the 50th ward. No candidate received a majority of the vote, and so a run-off was called for July 3, 1973 between the top two vote-getters, Stone (47%) and Berland (27%).
Berland picked up additional endorsements, including all seven independent alderman, including William Cousins [8th], Anna Langford
[16th], and Dick Simpson [44th], as well as the endorsements of State Senator Dawn Clark Netsch
and State Representative James Houlihan, and the Chicago Tribune
. With a turnout of about 53% of registered voters in the 50th ward, Stone defeated Berland 12,882 to 10,958, recapturing the 50th ward for the regular Democratic organization for the first time since 1955.
and that he intended to run for Cook County
Recorder of Deeds. "I found the party I have supported since 1932 has changed completely," Stone said in a press conference. "The party I thought stood for all the people stands for special interests." Former Alderman and former Cook County Democratic
chairman Edward R.Vrdolyak, a recent convert to the GOP
encouraged Stone to become a Republican
and to run for recorder. "I can no longer be part of a party [Democratic Party] that punishes law-abiding, tax-paying citizens and communities," Stone said. Stone said another factor in his switch was that "the Democratic Party is drifting away from America's historically strong commitment to Israel
." By threatening to run for Chairman of the Republican Party of Cook County, and for Cook County State's Attorney, Vrdolyak brokered a deal to slate himself for Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, and Stone for Cook County Recorder of Deeds.
, Chicago's first African-American mayor, died suddenly in office. Under Illinois State law it fell to the Council to name a successor. The Aldermen caucused along racial lines, and, although one of just two Republican aldermen, Stone caucused with the white aldermen.. Stone announcing his candidacy for Mayor to his caucus on Sunday, November 29, 1987 and to the public at a City Hall press conference at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, December 1, 1987. Few took Stone's candidacy seriously; many saw it as a publicity ploy for his Recorder race. Two days later the City Council selected Alderman Eugene Sawyer
to succeed Washington.
, who is black, for Cook County Recorder of Deeds. Stone told reporters he did not expect their newspapers to endorse him. "Just run a picture of Braun," Stone said. "That's all I ask." Disappointed that few people were focusing on the racial factor in the recorder's election, Stone went for the backlash vote by taking the politically unusual step of featuring Braun's photograph in his own campaign literature. Stone was soundly defeated by Braun and contributed to a sweep of Cook County offices by Democrats.
. Daley succeeded Eugene Sawyer
as mayor, and in 1990 Stone returned to the Democratic Party.
are generally cordial and co-operative, Stone was an agent in perhaps the most significant altercation in recent decades. The Evanston City Council adopted the Southwest II Tax Increment Financing
(TIF) District, also called the Howard-Hartrey TIF, on April 27, 1992, in order to incentivize the development of a disused 23-acre Bell and Howell distribution center. At the behest of Stone, on Wednesday, May 26, 1993 a contractor hired by the City of Chicago erected a 3 block long, continuous steel guardrail down the middle of Howard Street, effectively preventing vehicles on the Chicago side of Howard from crossing over to Evanston
and vice versa. The 2 1/2-foot-high median was aimed at protecting residents of the ward from the hundreds of cars expected to converge daily on a proposed shopping center on the Evanston side of Howard Street, projected to open in 1995. A spokesman for the Chicago Department of Transportation said construction of the wall cost about $150,000. A Cook County Circuit Court
judge denied a request by Evanston for a restraining order
to stop construction of the wall. The Chicago Tribune
called Stone "silly," editorializing that the wall was a "senseless idea...just an insipid ploy by a useless alderman who has too much time on his hands and too much of the taxpayers' money at his disposal."
On Friday, May 28, 1993 Evanston Mayor Lorraine H. Morton
met with Mayor Richard M. Daley
, Stone and top city officials at Chicago City Hall. Stone demanded that Evanston pay for the construction and dismantling of the wall. Hours later, Morton announced that Evanston would drop legal action against Chicago. The next day, Saturday, after discussions with Evanston's corporation counsel
and others, Morton announced through a spokesperson that Evanston would continue a two-pronged approach, in court and at the negotiating table. On Tuesday, June 1, 1993 the Evanston City Council voted to continue legal action, to refuse to contribute any funds in regards to the wall and to decline to consider making any changes in the shopping center site plan until the wall is removed.
Testimony in the trail began July 25, 1994. City of Chicago Transportation Commissioner Joseph Boyle Jr. and City of Chicago Planning Commissioner Valerie Jarrett
both testified the guardrail down the middle of Howard Street was erected after Stone requested it, without any prior traffic or planning studies. A partner with the firm overseeing the shopping center construction testified that in 1992, Stone contacted him about doing the project on vacated property in the Lincoln Village Shopping Center in Chicago on the North Side, a site due to be re-districted into the 50th ward in 1995. Evanston officials said Stone was just jealous about a new shopping center in Evanston instead of Chicago.
On September 21, 1994 the judge ordered Chicago officials to promptly remove the border barrier, pay all the accompanying costs (estimated at $35,000), and to pay Evanston's legal bills (about $40,000). The judge declared Chicago's Department of Transportation had no authority to unilaterally order its installation, ruling that the passage of a resolution on the issue Stone pushed through the Chicago City Council on March 25, 1993 only authorized the department's commissioner to "give consideration" to a barrier, and not permission to install it. The decision also dismissed a countersuit filed by Chicago that sought to halt construction of the shopping center. The Chicago Tribune editorialized calling the wall "a petty, indulgent waste of money at the people's expense."
Chicago officials requested a stay of the judge's orders pending appeal, but the judge denied the stay. Bell and Howell agreed to pay the estimated $35,000 to remove the barrier, and removal started on October 4, 1994. "The party isn't over until the fat man sings, and I'm the fat man," said Stone.
Fearing that traffic from the new Evanston Center shopping plaza would overwhelm 50th ward neighborhood streets, Stone persuaded the Chicago City Council to make Kedzie Avenue one way, northbound only from Touhy Avenue to Howard Street and to make a smaller portion of Sacramento Avenue one way, northbound only. But after the changes were implemented November 10, 1994 Stone's office was deluged with calls. On November 16, 1994 Kedzie was again a two-way street.
On November 3, 1999 the City of Chicago established the Lincoln Avenue TIF district, including the Lincoln Village Shopping Center area.
on January 14, 2004. "Some aldermen have a tendency while they're thinking to close their eyes and that may register with their constituency as not paying attention or, perhaps, even sleeping during the session," Stone later explained. Stone fell asleep at his desk in Council Chambers in City Hall during the City Council's Finance Committee debate on the controversial parking meter lease on December 3, 2008, in full view of the press, and was photographed by the press. Stone was videotaped sleeping during a Finance Committee hearing on transparency of the City's tax increment financing
program on March 16, 2009.
On Monday, January 28, 2008, two paid workers for Stone's 2007 re-election campaign were arrested and charged with improperly steering primarily Indian and Pakistani voters toward absentee ballots for Stone. Anish Eapen, a 37-year-old employee of the city's Streets and Sanitation Department, and a Stone precinct captain, was charged with two counts of official misconduct, three counts of absentee ballot fraud and one count of mutilation of election materials. Eapen worked in tandem with Armando Ramos, 34, an unemployed student. Ramos was charged with two counts of absentee ballot fraud and two counts of mutilation of election materials. Stone accused the state's attorney's office of engaging in a political witch-hunt at the behest of U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky
. Schakowsky denied she had instituted the investigation. "We know where this all started. We know it's politically based. ... Her [Schakowsky's] aide was soliciting the state's attorney to investigate. It's absolutely a devious political trick," Stone said. Bond was set at $50,000 for Eapen and $40,000 for Ramos.
City Inspector General David H. Hoffman
recommended that Eapen be fired. Eapen was placed on paid, administrative leave from his $83,940-a-year job with the city's Streets and Sanitation Department for nearly 2 years. On October 8, 2009 Streets and Sanitation Department Commissioner Tom Byrne finally called a halt to Eapen's extended paid vacation, finding a new job for him helping with the tracking of equipment. Stone blamed Byrne's demoted predecessor for allowing Eapen to sit idle, saying "Mike Picardi has no cojones
."
Eapen and Ramos waived their right to trial by jury. In a bench trial
, four members of a West Rogers Park family testified that Eapen coaxed them to vote absentee, collected their ballots and then mailed them. The family members said Eapen came to their townhomes and watched them as they filled out the absentee ballot applications and forms for both the 2007 February general election and the run-offs in April later that year. One family member, who wasn't registered to vote, said Eapen filled out her ballot. She signed the ballot, as did all her relatives, but said, "I didn't mark anything." Another witness testified that when she told Stone that Ramos filled out her ballot in the 2007 aldermanic run-off, the alderman brushed her off, saying "This meeting is over." Stone commented on the testimony, "I have no recollection of what she is talking about."
Cook County Judge Marcus Salone found Eapen and Ramos guilty on June 24, 2010. Eapen was found guilty on nine different counts, including one count of attempted mutilation of voting materials and eight counts of attempted absentee ballot violations. Ramos was found guilty on 20 different counts, including one count of attempted mutilation of voting materials and 19 counts of attempted absentee ballot violations.
On Wednesday, August 4, 2010 Salone sentenced Eapen to 364 days in jail and Ramos to 270 days in jail. Salone said the sentences were like a "kiss," essentially a slap on the wrist. "This is a kiss," Salone said. "I think the evidence is overwhelming. The reality is that Mr. Eapen and Mr. Ramos attempted to steal democracy and they did it in a vicious way." Stone called the case "a witch hunt," called Ramos and Eapen "political prisoners" and compared their crimes to "spitting on the sidewalk." Stone said former city Inspector General Hoffman singled him out in the ballot fraud investigation while failing to probe other aldermen. "They are not the ones who attempted to steal democracy. The one who attempted to steal democracy was David Hoffman," Stone said. "This is a miscarriage of justice." Stone's run-off election loss in April 2011 is partly attributed to his failure to condemn the voter fraud publicly.
Stone also served on the following committees:
Undergraduate degree from Wright Junior College. Was president of his freshman class and a letterman on the school football team. Stone enlisted in the United States Army in 1945 and served for two years before being honorably discharged with the victory and good conduct citations.
Stone obtained his Degree of Jurist Doctor from John Marshall Law School.
Stone worships at Congregation Ezras Israel and serves on their Board of Directors. Stone also served on the Board of Directors for the Bernard Horwich Jewish Community Center, the Associated Talmud Torahs, and the Jewish National Fund,
In 2003, Stone's son, Jay, launched an unsuccessful attempt to unseat 32nd Ward Alderman Theodore Matlak
. Stone publicly supported Matlak, calling his son "an embarrassment" who "doesn't know what he's doing." Despite Jay Stone's overwhelming defeat at the polls, father and son reportedly are still on good terms.
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. The 50th ward encompasses part of Chicago's far North Side and includes the West Ridge
West Ridge, Chicago
West Ridge is one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is a middle class neighborhood located on the far North Side of the City of Chicago. It is located in the 50th Ward...
, West Rogers Park and Peterson Park neighborhoods.
First elected to the Council in 1973, Stone was also the second longest-serving alderman (after Ed Burke
Ed Burke
Edward M. Burke is alderman of the 14th Ward of the City of Chicago. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the Chicago City Council in 1969, and represents part of the city's Southwest Side. Burke has been called Chicago's "most powerful alderman" by the Chicago Sun-Times...
). Stone was also Vice Mayor of the City of Chicago from 1998 to 2011.
Stone was a member of the "Vrdolyak
Edward Vrdolyak
Edward Robert Vrdolyak is a noted Chicago lawyer and politician and a convicted felon. He was a powerful longtime Chicago Alderman and also head of the Cook County Democratic Party before running unsuccessfully for Mayor of Chicago as a Republican...
29" who were politically opposed to Mayor Harold Washington
Harold Washington
Harold Lee Washington was an American lawyer and politician who became the first African-American Mayor of Chicago, serving from 1983 until his death in 1987.- Early years and military service :...
, Chicago's first black mayor. Stone was a protagonist in a protracted legal conflict with the neighboring suburb of Evanston in 1993-1994. Employees of Stone's 2007 re-election campaign were convicted of vote fraud in 2010.
Early attempts at elected office
In 1956 Stone ran in a multi-way race in the Democratic primary for the IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
state House of Representatives
Illinois House of Representatives
The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from...
from the 8th district, but was defeated by Esther Saperstein, who went on to serve in the Illinois House for 10 years and became Illinois' first woman state senator.
In 1963 Stone was one of a then-record 233 persons who filed to run for Chicago alderman. Stone was one of eleven candidates who filed to run for alderman of the 50th ward, ten of which were attempting to unseat incumbent, Republican Alderman Jack I. Sperling, who was seeking a third four-year term. Stone filed without the endorsement of a political party. By February, 1963, Stone was not on the ballot for the February 26, 1963 election.
1973 campaign for alderman
On January 29, 1973 the Supreme Court of IllinoisSupreme Court of Illinois
The Supreme Court of Illinois is the state supreme court of Illinois. The court's authority is granted in Article VI of the current Illinois Constitution, which provides for seven justices elected from the five appellate judicial districts of the state: Three justices from the First District and...
appointed Alderman Sperling to fill a vacancy as Cook County Circuit Court
Circuit court
Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...
judge. The Chicago City Council
Chicago City Council
The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 aldermen elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms...
called a special election for June 5, 1973 to fill vacant City Council seats, including the 50th ward alderman seat. Stone was an employee in the office of Cook County Sheriff Richard Elrod. Stone was vice president of the 50th ward regular Democratic organization. Stone was endorsed by the 50th ward regular Democratic organization for alderman. Stone was one of five candidates who filed to finish Sperling's term. Another candidate, independent Theodore Berland, was a medical writer and nationally recognized anti-noise activist who was chiefly responsible for Chicago's anti-noise ordinance. Berland was endorsed by the Independent Voters of Illinois (IVI), and by independent aldermen including Leon Despres [5th], Seymour Simon
Seymour Simon
Seymour Simon was an American lawyer, Appellate Court and Supreme Court Justice in Illinois, and City Council member in Chicago, Illinois.-Life:...
[40th], and John Hoellen [47th]. Another independent candidate, attorney Ray Jeffrey Cohen, was endorsed by the Independent Precinct Organization (IPO). Stone organized the "Concerned Citizens of the 50th Ward" to counter neighboring Lincolnwood's opposition to a bridge over the North Shore Channel
North Shore Channel
The North Shore Channel is a drainage canal built between 1907 and 1910 to flush the sewage-filled North Branch of the Chicago River down the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal...
at Pratt Avenue, which Stone called a "necessity" for the 50th ward. No candidate received a majority of the vote, and so a run-off was called for July 3, 1973 between the top two vote-getters, Stone (47%) and Berland (27%).
Berland picked up additional endorsements, including all seven independent alderman, including William Cousins [8th], Anna Langford
Anna Langford
Anna Langford was an American politician and lawyer who served on the Chicago City Council in Chicago, Illinois. Langford became the first African American woman elected to the Chicago City Council in 1971...
[16th], and Dick Simpson [44th], as well as the endorsements of State Senator Dawn Clark Netsch
Dawn Clark Netsch
Dawn Clark Netsch is an Illinois professor of law and politician. A member of the Democratic Party in the United States, she served in the Illinois State Senate, as Illinois Comptroller and in 1994 was the first woman to be nominated by a major political party to run for Governor of...
and State Representative James Houlihan, and the Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
. With a turnout of about 53% of registered voters in the 50th ward, Stone defeated Berland 12,882 to 10,958, recapturing the 50th ward for the regular Democratic organization for the first time since 1955.
The Republican years (1987–1990)
On Thursday, October 29, 1987 Alderman Stone announced he had joined the Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and that he intended to run for Cook County
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
Recorder of Deeds. "I found the party I have supported since 1932 has changed completely," Stone said in a press conference. "The party I thought stood for all the people stands for special interests." Former Alderman and former Cook County Democratic
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
chairman Edward R.Vrdolyak, a recent convert to the GOP
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
encouraged Stone to become a Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
and to run for recorder. "I can no longer be part of a party [Democratic Party] that punishes law-abiding, tax-paying citizens and communities," Stone said. Stone said another factor in his switch was that "the Democratic Party is drifting away from America's historically strong commitment to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
." By threatening to run for Chairman of the Republican Party of Cook County, and for Cook County State's Attorney, Vrdolyak brokered a deal to slate himself for Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County, and Stone for Cook County Recorder of Deeds.
First attempt at mayor
Less than a month later, Wednesday, November 25, 1987, Harold WashingtonHarold Washington
Harold Lee Washington was an American lawyer and politician who became the first African-American Mayor of Chicago, serving from 1983 until his death in 1987.- Early years and military service :...
, Chicago's first African-American mayor, died suddenly in office. Under Illinois State law it fell to the Council to name a successor. The Aldermen caucused along racial lines, and, although one of just two Republican aldermen, Stone caucused with the white aldermen.. Stone announcing his candidacy for Mayor to his caucus on Sunday, November 29, 1987 and to the public at a City Hall press conference at 10:00 AM on Tuesday, December 1, 1987. Few took Stone's candidacy seriously; many saw it as a publicity ploy for his Recorder race. Two days later the City Council selected Alderman Eugene Sawyer
Eugene Sawyer
Eugene Sawyer was an American businessman and politician who served as Mayor of Chicago, Illinois as a member of the Democratic Party. He was the second African American to serve as mayor of Chicago....
to succeed Washington.
Race for recorder of deeds
In 1988 Stone ran as a Republican against Democratic Illinois State Representative Carol Moseley BraunCarol Moseley Braun
Carol Elizabeth Moseley Braun is an American feminist politician and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. She was the first and to date only African-American woman elected to the United States Senate, the first woman to defeat an incumbent senator in an...
, who is black, for Cook County Recorder of Deeds. Stone told reporters he did not expect their newspapers to endorse him. "Just run a picture of Braun," Stone said. "That's all I ask." Disappointed that few people were focusing on the racial factor in the recorder's election, Stone went for the backlash vote by taking the politically unusual step of featuring Braun's photograph in his own campaign literature. Stone was soundly defeated by Braun and contributed to a sweep of Cook County offices by Democrats.
Second attempt at Mayor
In 1989 Stone unsuccessfully sought the Republican slating for Mayor of Chicago, to run against Democrat Richard M. DaleyRichard M. Daley
Richard Michael Daley is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party, and former Mayor of Chicago, Illinois. He was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007. He was the longest serving Chicago mayor, surpassing the tenure of his...
. Daley succeeded Eugene Sawyer
Eugene Sawyer
Eugene Sawyer was an American businessman and politician who served as Mayor of Chicago, Illinois as a member of the Democratic Party. He was the second African American to serve as mayor of Chicago....
as mayor, and in 1990 Stone returned to the Democratic Party.
"Berny's Wall"
Although resident and corporate relations between Chicago and neighboring suburb EvanstonEvanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
are generally cordial and co-operative, Stone was an agent in perhaps the most significant altercation in recent decades. The Evanston City Council adopted the Southwest II Tax Increment Financing
Tax increment financing
Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, is a public financing method which has been used as a subsidy for redevelopment and community improvement projects in many countries including the United States for more than 50 years...
(TIF) District, also called the Howard-Hartrey TIF, on April 27, 1992, in order to incentivize the development of a disused 23-acre Bell and Howell distribution center. At the behest of Stone, on Wednesday, May 26, 1993 a contractor hired by the City of Chicago erected a 3 block long, continuous steel guardrail down the middle of Howard Street, effectively preventing vehicles on the Chicago side of Howard from crossing over to Evanston
Evanston
Evanston may refer to locations:in Australia:* Evanston, South Australiain Canada:* Evanston, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Calgary, Alberta* Evanston, Nova Scotiain the United States:...
and vice versa. The 2 1/2-foot-high median was aimed at protecting residents of the ward from the hundreds of cars expected to converge daily on a proposed shopping center on the Evanston side of Howard Street, projected to open in 1995. A spokesman for the Chicago Department of Transportation said construction of the wall cost about $150,000. A Cook County Circuit Court
Circuit court
Circuit court is the name of court systems in several common law jurisdictions.-History:King Henry II instituted the custom of having judges ride around the countryside each year to hear appeals, rather than forcing everyone to bring their appeals to London...
judge denied a request by Evanston for a restraining order
Restraining order
A restraining order or order of protection is a form of legal injunction that requires a party to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. A party that refuses to comply with an order faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
to stop construction of the wall. The Chicago Tribune
Chicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
called Stone "silly," editorializing that the wall was a "senseless idea...just an insipid ploy by a useless alderman who has too much time on his hands and too much of the taxpayers' money at his disposal."
On Friday, May 28, 1993 Evanston Mayor Lorraine H. Morton
Lorraine H. Morton
Lorraine H. Morton was mayor of Evanston, Illinois, from 1993 to 2009.She was born in Winston-Salem North Carolina and moved to Evanston in 1953. She has one daughter and two grandchildren.Morton was re-elected in 1997, 2001 and 2005...
met with Mayor Richard M. Daley
Richard M. Daley
Richard Michael Daley is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party, and former Mayor of Chicago, Illinois. He was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007. He was the longest serving Chicago mayor, surpassing the tenure of his...
, Stone and top city officials at Chicago City Hall. Stone demanded that Evanston pay for the construction and dismantling of the wall. Hours later, Morton announced that Evanston would drop legal action against Chicago. The next day, Saturday, after discussions with Evanston's corporation counsel
Corporation Counsel
The Corporation Counsel is the title given to the chief legal officer in some municipal and county jurisdictions, who handles civil claims against the city, including negotiating settlements and defending the city when it is sued. Most corporation counsels do not prosecute criminal cases, though...
and others, Morton announced through a spokesperson that Evanston would continue a two-pronged approach, in court and at the negotiating table. On Tuesday, June 1, 1993 the Evanston City Council voted to continue legal action, to refuse to contribute any funds in regards to the wall and to decline to consider making any changes in the shopping center site plan until the wall is removed.
Testimony in the trail began July 25, 1994. City of Chicago Transportation Commissioner Joseph Boyle Jr. and City of Chicago Planning Commissioner Valerie Jarrett
Valerie Jarrett
Valerie Bowman Jarrett is a senior advisor and assistant to the president for Public Engagement and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Obama administration. She is a Chicago lawyer, businesswoman, and civic leader...
both testified the guardrail down the middle of Howard Street was erected after Stone requested it, without any prior traffic or planning studies. A partner with the firm overseeing the shopping center construction testified that in 1992, Stone contacted him about doing the project on vacated property in the Lincoln Village Shopping Center in Chicago on the North Side, a site due to be re-districted into the 50th ward in 1995. Evanston officials said Stone was just jealous about a new shopping center in Evanston instead of Chicago.
On September 21, 1994 the judge ordered Chicago officials to promptly remove the border barrier, pay all the accompanying costs (estimated at $35,000), and to pay Evanston's legal bills (about $40,000). The judge declared Chicago's Department of Transportation had no authority to unilaterally order its installation, ruling that the passage of a resolution on the issue Stone pushed through the Chicago City Council on March 25, 1993 only authorized the department's commissioner to "give consideration" to a barrier, and not permission to install it. The decision also dismissed a countersuit filed by Chicago that sought to halt construction of the shopping center. The Chicago Tribune editorialized calling the wall "a petty, indulgent waste of money at the people's expense."
Chicago officials requested a stay of the judge's orders pending appeal, but the judge denied the stay. Bell and Howell agreed to pay the estimated $35,000 to remove the barrier, and removal started on October 4, 1994. "The party isn't over until the fat man sings, and I'm the fat man," said Stone.
Fearing that traffic from the new Evanston Center shopping plaza would overwhelm 50th ward neighborhood streets, Stone persuaded the Chicago City Council to make Kedzie Avenue one way, northbound only from Touhy Avenue to Howard Street and to make a smaller portion of Sacramento Avenue one way, northbound only. But after the changes were implemented November 10, 1994 Stone's office was deluged with calls. On November 16, 1994 Kedzie was again a two-way street.
On November 3, 1999 the City of Chicago established the Lincoln Avenue TIF district, including the Lincoln Village Shopping Center area.
Sleeping in Council Chambers
A photograph of Stone asleep in Council Chambers during a hearing (on limiting cell phone use while driving) ran on the front page of the Chicago Sun-TimesChicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
on January 14, 2004. "Some aldermen have a tendency while they're thinking to close their eyes and that may register with their constituency as not paying attention or, perhaps, even sleeping during the session," Stone later explained. Stone fell asleep at his desk in Council Chambers in City Hall during the City Council's Finance Committee debate on the controversial parking meter lease on December 3, 2008, in full view of the press, and was photographed by the press. Stone was videotaped sleeping during a Finance Committee hearing on transparency of the City's tax increment financing
Tax increment financing
Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, is a public financing method which has been used as a subsidy for redevelopment and community improvement projects in many countries including the United States for more than 50 years...
program on March 16, 2009.
Campaign employees convicted of vote fraud
On Tuesday, September 4, 2007, speaking from the floor of Council Chambers during a meeting of the Buildings Committee, Stone warned fellow aldermen of an ongoing investigation into absentee balloting.On Monday, January 28, 2008, two paid workers for Stone's 2007 re-election campaign were arrested and charged with improperly steering primarily Indian and Pakistani voters toward absentee ballots for Stone. Anish Eapen, a 37-year-old employee of the city's Streets and Sanitation Department, and a Stone precinct captain, was charged with two counts of official misconduct, three counts of absentee ballot fraud and one count of mutilation of election materials. Eapen worked in tandem with Armando Ramos, 34, an unemployed student. Ramos was charged with two counts of absentee ballot fraud and two counts of mutilation of election materials. Stone accused the state's attorney's office of engaging in a political witch-hunt at the behest of U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky
Jan Schakowsky
Janice D. "Jan" Schakowsky is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1999. She is a member of the Democratic Party.The district includes many of Chicago's northern suburbs, including Evanston, Skokie, Wilmette, Park Ridge, Des Plaines and Rosemont...
. Schakowsky denied she had instituted the investigation. "We know where this all started. We know it's politically based. ... Her [Schakowsky's] aide was soliciting the state's attorney to investigate. It's absolutely a devious political trick," Stone said. Bond was set at $50,000 for Eapen and $40,000 for Ramos.
City Inspector General David H. Hoffman
David H. Hoffman
David H. Hoffman is a former federal prosecutor and was Chicago's inspector general. On August 26, he declared his candidacy as a Democrat for the Illinois seat of the U.S. Senate...
recommended that Eapen be fired. Eapen was placed on paid, administrative leave from his $83,940-a-year job with the city's Streets and Sanitation Department for nearly 2 years. On October 8, 2009 Streets and Sanitation Department Commissioner Tom Byrne finally called a halt to Eapen's extended paid vacation, finding a new job for him helping with the tracking of equipment. Stone blamed Byrne's demoted predecessor for allowing Eapen to sit idle, saying "Mike Picardi has no cojones
Cojones
Cojones is a vulgar Spanish word for testicles, denoting courage when used in the phrase "tener cojones" . It is considered a curse word when use by itself as an expletive in Spanish...
."
Eapen and Ramos waived their right to trial by jury. In a bench trial
Bench trial
A bench trial is a trial held before a judge sitting without a jury. The term is chiefly used in common law jurisdictions to describe exceptions from jury trial, as most other legal systems do not use juries to any great extent....
, four members of a West Rogers Park family testified that Eapen coaxed them to vote absentee, collected their ballots and then mailed them. The family members said Eapen came to their townhomes and watched them as they filled out the absentee ballot applications and forms for both the 2007 February general election and the run-offs in April later that year. One family member, who wasn't registered to vote, said Eapen filled out her ballot. She signed the ballot, as did all her relatives, but said, "I didn't mark anything." Another witness testified that when she told Stone that Ramos filled out her ballot in the 2007 aldermanic run-off, the alderman brushed her off, saying "This meeting is over." Stone commented on the testimony, "I have no recollection of what she is talking about."
Cook County Judge Marcus Salone found Eapen and Ramos guilty on June 24, 2010. Eapen was found guilty on nine different counts, including one count of attempted mutilation of voting materials and eight counts of attempted absentee ballot violations. Ramos was found guilty on 20 different counts, including one count of attempted mutilation of voting materials and 19 counts of attempted absentee ballot violations.
On Wednesday, August 4, 2010 Salone sentenced Eapen to 364 days in jail and Ramos to 270 days in jail. Salone said the sentences were like a "kiss," essentially a slap on the wrist. "This is a kiss," Salone said. "I think the evidence is overwhelming. The reality is that Mr. Eapen and Mr. Ramos attempted to steal democracy and they did it in a vicious way." Stone called the case "a witch hunt," called Ramos and Eapen "political prisoners" and compared their crimes to "spitting on the sidewalk." Stone said former city Inspector General Hoffman singled him out in the ballot fraud investigation while failing to probe other aldermen. "They are not the ones who attempted to steal democracy. The one who attempted to steal democracy was David Hoffman," Stone said. "This is a miscarriage of justice." Stone's run-off election loss in April 2011 is partly attributed to his failure to condemn the voter fraud publicly.
Committees
Stone served on 7 different committees in city council. He was the Chairman of the City Council Committee on Buildings.Stone also served on the following committees:
- Committees of Budget and Government Operations,
- Finance Committee,
- Historical Landmark Preservation Committee,
- Housing and Landmark Preservation Committee,
- Traffic Control and Safety Committee,
- Committee on Committees
Political philosophy
"You take care of the people who take care of you – you know, the people who voted for you," Stone said. "That's not Chicago politics, that's Politics 101."Personal life
Educated in the Chicago Public School System (Von Humboldt Elementary, Tuley High School, which is now Clemente High School)Undergraduate degree from Wright Junior College. Was president of his freshman class and a letterman on the school football team. Stone enlisted in the United States Army in 1945 and served for two years before being honorably discharged with the victory and good conduct citations.
Stone obtained his Degree of Jurist Doctor from John Marshall Law School.
Stone worships at Congregation Ezras Israel and serves on their Board of Directors. Stone also served on the Board of Directors for the Bernard Horwich Jewish Community Center, the Associated Talmud Torahs, and the Jewish National Fund,
In 2003, Stone's son, Jay, launched an unsuccessful attempt to unseat 32nd Ward Alderman Theodore Matlak
Theodore Matlak
Ted Matlak was the alderman of the 32nd ward in Chicago. On April 17, 2007 Matlak lost to challenger Scott Waguespack.Matlak was appointed alderman by former alderman Theris Gabinksi and was an intern to ex-Congressman Dan Rostenkowski....
. Stone publicly supported Matlak, calling his son "an embarrassment" who "doesn't know what he's doing." Despite Jay Stone's overwhelming defeat at the polls, father and son reportedly are still on good terms.
External links
- "Committee of One: Berny Stone don’t need no stinking quorum" Mick Dumke, Chicago Reader, December 15, 2006
- "The $75,000 Parking Spot" Ben Joravsky, Chicago Reader, April 28, 2006
- The 50th ward's page on the City of Chicago Website