Ty and Eddie Radio Show 2 / Interviews: Ed Vrdolyak & Ty Wansley
I'd say, did you really do this? Come on Eddie, fess up.
Because people, the nature of man is they'd rather believe something bad about you than something good.
28 minutes after 8 o 'clock, four days, four days before you go to the polls and you cast those votes, what do you - We're going to have all the, our next guest is going to tell us who's going to win every single election.
We have with us at the bottom of the hour.
She's going to tell us everything about everything.
I'm going to ask her about the stock market.
Got to be there by 8 .30, you've got a minute.
He's Everdoliac, I'm Ty Wansley on Chicago's hottest talk, the new AM 1160, WJJD.
If you love what you're - WJJD News Time, 9 .05.
Curt the eastbound side of the northwest.
Jack and Ty Wansley on Chicago's new AM 1160, WJJD.
And even better than that, it's election time in Chicago.
Does that make you happy? Yes it does.
Why? I get excited around election time, I really do.
I know there are dirty tricks, I know there are scandalous activity, but there's an electricity in the air around election time.
That's one reason why I came to this town.
I used to work in Washington, D .C.
I thought the politics there were a wick -whack.
There is nothing like Chicago politics, it's a very unique animal.
You're right, but the mayoral race so far is a yarner.
The city clerk and city treasurer's races might have more heat on them than the mayoral But the automatic campaigns? But the automatic campaigns, that's where the fire is.
So you can call and talk to us about whatever you wish, whether we talked about it today or not.
We're specifically looking for questions concerning elections, but those of you who are on the phones to talk to us about other things, we're still going to get to you and we thank you for calling and let's go to the phones.
Let's go to Tony from the south side of Chicago.
Tony, good morning, you're on Chicago's hottest talk.
Hi Ty and Ed, thanks for having me on.
Alright, what's up? Well, I'll tell you, Mayor Daley's got everybody out in the 27th ward working against us.
I'm a volunteer for Walter, I don't know, excuse me.
His father's running in the 28th ward.
What makes you think the mayor's got people out against you? Well, first of all, every time we try to do some work, we have people that have walkie talkies following us and asking us our names.
Walkie talkies? It's American.
Yeah, right to the police, because that's when the police stop us and say, let's see some ID.
We tell them, either arrest us or you're not getting our ID and then they just go off and they keep following us.
Not only that, I have a relative in there that had a Wallace Davis sign, they want him to put Burnett up.
They're intimidating him to take him down.
Burnett is, for all of those out there that don't know, Mr.
Burnett is the candidate in the 27th ward endorsed by the mayor who was himself a convicted felon who did time for bank robbery and kidnapping.
He is now supported by Mayor Daley.
Which proves that Mayor Daley is a forgiving person and wants to see if he can be rehabilitated by getting an elected position.
Although the strongest candidate in there, I think, or one of the strongest candidates, should be the incumbent alderman, Dexter Watson, correct? Well, I'll just tell you, it's kind of scary for the businesses even.
I mean, there's a lady I know owns a beauty parlor.
She says she wouldn't put up a sign.
Next thing you know, there's the city's inspectors.
There's even a letter that just went out, Italian Americans for Burnett.
Now one of them is from the 27th ward.
Which Italian Americans are for Burnett? Which Italian Americans for Burnett? Which ones were on the letter? Whose names were on the letter? Oh, I've got to remember which one was on the letter.
Not anybody from the MCC or any place, no.
It has anything to do with the ward though.
You know what I'm saying? They're just trying to make the orders diffuse.
We're going to have some big surprises for them coming up.
Now listen, you go up and down Madison, you go up and down Kedzie, for example, certain places on Chicago Avenue.
There are lots of those little beauty parlors that you mentioned.
I mean, those are staples on the West Side.
What are you saying about those businesses? Are you saying they should be leery? They should be where? No, no, no.
I actually know somebody that was...
I don't know what that means, but they're not coppers.
We got a good bum rap in the Irish, Ty.
What are you talking about? I say up them too.
Let's go to George on the Northwest Side on line two.
George, what's the election day going to be like? Well, I'll tell you.
I'll tell you, our precinct captains today are not what we used to be.
I was the precinct captain for Alderman Pasini in the 10th Ward.
I was the number one precinct captain...
Oh my God, you're going back...
I'm also a number one precinct captain for Tom Keane, not Earl Keane, Tom Keane.
I also received a diamond ring.
And I'll tell you, I was the best...
Whose ring was it? Huh? Whose ring was it? You didn't get the...
Well, that's before your time.
The finger wasn't still attached, was it? But I'll tell you, the precinct captains are number one.
They're not what they used to be, Eddie.
You've got to be an honest and sincere precinct captain with them.
You know what the problem is...
I never held a political job, but I was a good precinct captain.
You know what the problem is, George, why the precinct captain is a dying breed also? It's because our society is so mobile.
Neighborhoods aren't like they were where you had two or three generations living in the same neighborhood.
You knew everybody's father, their brother.
The neighborhood bar was a place that everybody hung around.
And everybody looked out for one another.
But you've got to be a precinct captain.
You've got to be honest and sincere with your people.
George, you got a diamond ring for being a good precinct captain? And a gold watch for Alderman Pasini.
For being a number one precinct captain.
He was a powerhouse in the city of San Diego.
He was chairman of building and zoning.
He got beat in 1963 by John Buchanan.
Who was a young man, insurance guy, who won two terms at eight years until 1971.
I was fortunate enough to win that election.
I served four terms, 16 years.
John Buchanan was on my staff then.
The tenth word was a good word.
Then my brother Vic served for four years.
Then John Buchanan was elected again in 1991.
He's running for reelection today.
But Amo Pasini, gee, I haven't heard of...
What did the V stand for? Victorious? I was a kid.
I was a Ted that Amo Pasini drove around.
It was a convertible that you saw in some of those old movies.
The Chrysler convertible, town and country with the wood on the sides.
That's probably why I wanted to win for all of it.
There were no dope peddlers to model yourself after then.
We had to go for politicians and doctors and lawyers.
You're on Chicago's hottest talk.
All of them are Tom Allen? Yes, sir.
Your name was called this morning.
How's the campaign going, Alderman? It's going fine, I believe.
There's no problems in our ward.
How many absentees come in? I think the number is about 1 ,100.
It's less than it was four years ago.
But the issues are being addressed by all the candidates.
I heard one of the callers say that the FOP endorsed me over police officers running against me.
I'm grateful to the FOP for the endorsement, but I have many friends that are police officers.
I think the reason is I've been very responsive to their union.
When the mayor tried to raise the health care benefits on the retired city workers, I led the charge.
When our lawn sign is down, we put them up the next day.
And we just keep replacing them.
And it actually angers my supporters, the people who have their signs damaged and vandalized.
But that's life in Chicago, as you say.
But I just hope everybody comes out and votes, regardless of who they vote for, who the candidate is.
There's a lot of apathy out there, and you guys have talked about it.
And I heard your comments from...
Alderman Allen, who are you for for City Treasurer? For City Treasurer? We haven't been really endorsing or...
All right, who are you for for City Clerk? Well, we're with Jim Lasky.
He's been dropping his literature off and he's appeared at some things.
But that's what I'm concerned about.
Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.
Mayor Daley has said time and time again he's a good manager.
Could you give me some examples of how? How the mayor is a good manager? What's he managing well? Well, I'll tell you something.
You know, I'm going to give this to you straight.
I don't know, a year and a half.
And I have dealt with the mayor's different season prosecutors, and I think he surrounds himself with tremendous people.
I personally, you know, does he manage everything? Well, I doubt that.
Have the streets redone, then the alleys.
Let's go to Lottie on line 12.
Wait a minute, we got to break.
But before we do, but before we do, you know a lot of people are still harkening back to those old, old council war days, and race has become such an intrinsic part of Chicago campaigns.
And Mayor Daley is touting himself as saying, I've brought racial tranquility.
That's what the Sun -Time said in its endorsement.
That's what the Tribune said in its endorsement.
And people are saying that it's racially tranquil now.
And he's got endorsement from a whole large group of...
Black ministers and black contractors.
But let's make a comparison contract.
He's got it going his way, yeah.
A lot of people looked at the old council wars, the 29 -21, and I think it's unfortunate that it boiled down to race.
They saw the battle between you and Mayor Washington too many times, unfortunately, as black and white.
But I'm telling you, as a journalist covering city council, I marveled at some of the exchanges between you and the late mayor, like this one.
Alderman Verdotak, second time.
First of all, I'd like to thank you for the tip you gave me last Friday when I went to the track, Mr.
A better gesture would be to divide the profits.
President, I've been trying to tell you that for 11 months.
So you bet on a horse named Sweet Harold.
How could you pass that up? You had to do it.
How could you pass that up? What would happen if the horse won and you didn't bet him and you were there? There you go.
So there was some light activity behind the council wars.
591W JJD, 977 -1160, it's election time in Chicago.
What do you think's gonna happen next Tuesday? Good day, bad day, scandalous day? Go figure.
I think there'll be at least one surprise in the elections.
And if there are any members of 21st Century Vote, we had Gator Bradley on with us a couple of days ago, and he named the distinction between gang bangers and gang members, and he said he welcomes the support of 21st Century Vote.
I don't know if they can call.
Don't those leg monitors interfere with the phone? Will you stop it? No.
So if anyone out there is a member of 21st Century Vote, or you support 21st Century Vote, remember we had Earl King, the founder of 21st Century Vote.
Talk to us about whatever you wish.
Our phone number is 591W JJD, 977 -1160.
Let's go to Lottie on line 12.
Extra prayers today, and I guarantee you, life will be better.
Psychic Yak Yak did not like that disclaimer.
Let's go to Joseph on line 15.
I knew you were going to go to him.
It's nice talking to you guys.
Well, did you get my question was when my children going to be returned back? They were kidnapped by Oak Park Police and DCFS.
Your children were kidnapped by Oak Park Police and the Department of Children and Family Services? Correct.
I say they will come back to you as soon as you get a very, very good lawyer as well as pass all psychological testing.
And you have probably seen in the mainstream they have been starting to print stuff.
They've got the virus in them, but not one has ever had full blown AIDS.
Thank you for the information.
If you can, I'd like you to fax us something on this Eva or Rytus.
Let's go to Sam on line three.
You're calling from the pay phone.
Where's that phone located? On the southwest side.
My dad was on the line before.
Okay, what's up Paul? Well, I'd like to discuss about the 23rd ward.
Last automatic election, I was campaigning for an appointment of Jim Lasky.
And well, it was very cold out that morning.
It's always cold on election day.
Isn't it? And well, the signs for Lasky were blowing down, you know, because of the wind and stuff like that.
And one of his men thought I was knocking him down and was going to shove one in my rear end.
I would like to see him do that.
I would like to see him do that.
How are you guys on a pay phone with two guys talking? No, no.
You're not working, are you? No.
What are you, a tag team? All right.
What's going on? Come on, talk to us, Paul.
He tried to put the sign where the sun don't shine.
Now what happened? He kept threatening me all day.
You know, he was going to do this, he was going to do this and do this, you know.
And what did you do? Well, I kind of ignored it.
But after a while, it got kind of.
We're going to keep our eye out on that election, okay? Yes, yes.
There's a store there that's called In -N -Out.
He got the best system for all the voters.
He puts all the signs in the window.
See, this way nobody can have no.
This way nobody can come down and pull them down because their candidate's up there.
I'm going to put my glasses on.
I have to squint a lot here, too.
Yesterday I called and I told them I didn't like the afternoon programs.
Gordon Liddy I loved, but I didn't like his.
Are you in Kenosha, Wisconsin? Yes.
I guess you guys improved your.
Oh yeah, the show's a lot better.
Transfers thing statistics out there.
Well, I just think they're all wet putting AIDS up there.
Well, we've invited the Red Cross on.
Listen, Eddie, there was an editorial in the Tribune last Friday on a new gun law for the state of Illinois.
I want to hear from someone in 21st Century Vote because they've been making headlines.
First you got to steal a radio.
Speaking of scandalous activity, people in 21st Century Vote are getting hottest talk.
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You're listening to Ed Verdolak and Ty Wansley, the hottest morning team in Chicago.
With the hottest talk in Chicago on the new AM1160 WJJD.
Lots of calls, let's go right to the phone.
And why is it the hottest talk? I don't know.
Because it's election time in Chicago.
What's up? Oh, I want to ask you, are they allowing these convicted felons to run in the automatic elections? Yes, they are.
My comment is this, if they allow convicted felons to run, and if they should get elected, they'll only open the door for more convicted felons to run the city.
And we are governed by the city and by these convicted felons.
Some of them can't even speak English, for heaven's sake.
They can't even understand what they're talking about.
This is part of the Mayor Daily Rehabilitation Program.
If we get these people jobs, then they don't have to go back to jail.
And I don't think that's right at all.
Because if a convicted felon can run for Alderman, he can run for Mayor and get elected as Mayor or Governor and get elected as a Governor.
And they're the people that are governing us.
Well, not all bad people have been to jail and have been convicted.
There's some folks out there that have done things wrong that should have gone to jail.
You remember the name Spiro Agnew, don't you? Yes.
He did all those things while he was Governor of Maryland.
And while he was in the Blair House, his Vice President was doing stuff that wasn't so hot.
Does a person have an opportunity to rehabilitate? Yes, they do.
We're going to have to wait and see.
But that only opens the door for more convicted people to be in office and working for them.
I mean, everybody should obey the law.
Yeah, but we all make mistakes.
If you're caught doing something wrong and you're sent to jail, they shouldn't be allowed to hold a public office.
But if you're sent to jail and you do your time...
We thank you for your opinion.
When you've done your time, you've done your time.
Just like the Mayor of Washington, D .C.
Many of you knew I was the best candidate, but you didn't have faith that I had recovered fully.
Many of you didn't vote for me because you didn't think I had the courage to cut this budget.
Many of you didn't vote for me because you just didn't think someone who had been to prison should be Mayor.
But now that the people have spoken...
Come on home and help me rebuild Washington together.
All right, let's go to Bob on line two.
Hey, Bob, we'll be talking to you, Bob.
Can you hear me all right? I'm almost in Grand Rapids in the car.
I've been doing election work since 1958 and I've been through a lot of sign wars.
But the granddaddy of all sign war things that I ever saw back in...
And I hope you'll call us back Monday or Tuesday because we do want to...
You look terrific and you know it's true.
What is a Pwensky? A Pwensky...
Who's next? Let's go to Wally on 11.
Wally from the northwest side.
How you doing? How's it going? Good.
What's happening, Wally? Well, I have a question about these elections.
You know, we're always complaining about the turnout.
On the primaries, why do you have to declare yourself? That's a good question.
I mean, because people go in...
You know, days gone by where a lot depended on...
...and then chaining themselves to gates and all that stuff.
I don't believe the people that are for it or against it either way.
I'm going to give you the best reason to vote and the rationale to vote and the way to get everybody out.
If you don't vote and exercise your right to vote, you get fined $25.
Well, you know what that music means.
Maybe we should give people lottery tickets if they come to vote that day.
Thanks, everybody, for listening and calling.
Thanks to Kurt for news and information.
And thanks to our internationally known executive director, the man who went above and beyond.
Politics in Chicago, well, I only know what it is here.
Everybody knows what's going on, supposedly.
The defendants come out endorsing Mayor Richard Daly.
Because that was not an act they were going to endorse him.
So what makes Chicago politics different? Because it's here in this town, and politics is a sport.
Everybody knows what's going on, supposedly.
And they play it in between elections, during elections, after elections, before elections.
And it's a 365 day a year deal.
And everybody likes the rep of having helped elect presidents.
Ultimately, we're known as a town where Capone and around the world you go to hold a machine, got up Chicago.
Well, now, I guess almost every single vote fraud story in America supposedly had its start in Chicago, in particular voting from cemeteries.
So I guess although that's a negative thing, the people that are here start to say, hey, we are something different in politics.
And that's ingrained from one generation to the other that this is different politics here.
And people take it personally.
I mean, they get involved and they bleed your nose.
And they rip your signs down and they call your mother a nice name.
Well, why here? I mean, what is it? And we were different.
We had a great, very large steel mill population in this town.
And we had a large shipping business in this town as well.
And we were the railroad transportation center.
And the town was made up by blue collar people and blue collar workers.
And people settled in this town, I guess, the way New York used to be.
We were probably 25 years behind them as far as how these people settled.
But they settled in the enclaves of different nationalities and different religions.
And everybody had their own turf and no one moved.
And therefore you had two and three and four generations where everybody knew everybody in the neighborhood.
And politics was part of everyone's life on a daily basis.
And everybody needed a politician.
Why be a politician? Why be an elected official anyplace? Chicago is unique in so far as Los Angeles is bigger than we are.
I mean, there's just more of us here, it appears.
And I guess the numbers for the whole state shows that the state of Illinois is probably second or third in the whole country as having elected officials.
So I guess it's pretty hard not to be elected at one time or another.
It's also famous for sort of being rough and tough, the politics here.
I don't think it's any rougher and tougher than anybody else, except maybe they talk about it more here.
Although people who were elected officials, a couple of them, we had an alderman on the west side, I think his name was Wilson, who committed suicide.
He was handcuffed to his chair and had about eight shots in his head.
Ben Lewis was his name, and no one ever found him yet.
There was a state representative, a committee member by the name of Clem Graver, that they never ever found.
But just to get the signs, you got like fistfights, you got, you know, stuff that didn't go on in Minnesota.
What goes on in Minnesota? Are you kidding? You are kidding.
We're probably closer to New Orleans as far as politics than any place else in the country.
I don't think we got the line when you were talking about Chicago politics as like a sporting event, so can we just get that? You blew that line? Yeah.
Just the whole introduction of why Chicago politics is there.
In Chicago, the people of Chicago treat politics as a sport.
Everybody's a participant, everybody's a player all the time.
Before elections, election day, after elections, and that's what people talk about and that's what they are expert in, whether they are or not.
And politicians are like a sports team.
And we had a lot of very interesting individuals.
We're an elected office right now.
We happen to have a city council that's more plastic than exciting.
You like politics? I liked it for most of my political career, yes.
It's too hard not to be there if you didn't like it.
Yeah, talking to that Bordeaux there.
Police are probably our biggest constituency.
I get cops stopping me every time.
I just thought it was so rude he was sticking to stuff in people's faces.
Yeah, don't put it in front of the women around here.
They'll think it's a deal, though.
It gets them to say that poor guy that had that sign was going to be shoved in.
You know, we were curious as to, you know, you have this political situation where daily looks like it's going to win pretty easily.
And there's a split happening in the city politically.
And it's almost as if, you know, you had Harold Washington and he was mayor, looked like he was going to be mayor for life, was mayor for life.
And now the political balance is totally, totally on a different side.
I mean, what's going on with African American politicians right now? Are they on the outside looking at? I think when you had in 87, following the death of Harold, there was a big gaffe in black leadership.
You had the Tim Evans of the world versus the Gene Sawyers of the world.
And a lot of people were in the black community in 87 really empowering themselves behind people like Tim Evans and Dorothy Tillman and various other standouts in the city council.
But once that rift developed, people didn't know which way to go.
It was like the Red Sea had been parted.
People, I think, emotionally wanted to go with a Tim Evans per se.
But Evans didn't do enough at that time, in my view, to galvanize the forces to ascend to the mayoral position.
And I think Sawyer just happened to be right place, right time.
So since then, ever since 87, and to me, that's much too long for a rift and a gaffe to remain in the black community.
And I think it's just a matter of someone stepping up, saying, I want it.
Grab that brass ring and go for it.
No one, in my view, has been assertive enough to say, I want it that badly.
Roland Burris, in my view, had to be coerced by people like Lou Palmer and Eddie Reid to say, Roland, you're our guy.
But I don't think he did it in an aggressive or in an assertive manner.
Joe Gardner has certainly done that.
But Joe Gardner, I think, is too much of a nice guy.
And I don't think Joe Gardner has been aggressive or combative enough to galvanize those forces.
![Ty Wansley Interview [Cont.] / Bill Gritsonis at Billy Goat Tavern](https://collections.chicagofilmarchives.org/media/cfa/images/7/4/71920_ca_object_representations_media_7465_medium.jpg)