In the biennial Democratic primary to nominate three commissioners for the obscure Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, the bizarre is the norm. In primary contests for major  county and city office, the heft of Mayor Rich Daley, Chicago’s City Hall, and the Democratic Party establishment is usually enough to insure victory.

            But in MWRD races, such random factors as ballot position, gender, ethnicity (meaning an Irish surname), or a familiar-sounding name often insures victory. Only when the field becomes glutted, with 20 or more contenders, is the Democrats’ endorsed slate an easy victor.

            The March, 2002 outcome, in which the two incumbent, party-endorsed candidates, Kathy Meany and Cynthia Santos (who also happened to be on the top two occupied ballot lines, and were the only two females) emerged victorious, produced yet another “random factor”: The third winner was M. Frank Avila, who had the last ballot position (among nine candidates), and he won because a federal court lawsuit created enough pressure to force the third incumbent, party-endorsed Martin Sandoval, to resign his nomination.

That left Avila as the only Hispanic in the race, and Sandoval’s non-ballot position (the second ballot line was blank), coupled with Avila’s bottom-ballot line, and his numerous newspaper endorsements, gave him third place by a narrow 2,605 votes over James Sheehan, the fourth-place finisher, who was backed by most of the pro-Daley Democratic ward and township committeemen.

            The fifth-place finisher was black former Chicago Alderman Jesse Evans, who in 1997 was convicted of racketeering and extortion in the federal “Silver Shovel” probe, and who got a huge vote in the black wards (and 134,679 votes citywide), finishing just 8,377 votes behind Avila, and 5,772 votes behind Sheehan, who is the Palatine Township Democratic committeeman, and a cousin of Cook County Sheriff Mike Sheahan.

            The MWRD, which oversees the processing of all liquid and solid wastes in the Cook County region, has an annual budget of over $750 million, and is the source of humongous political pork – like the ongoing $3.2 billion Deep Tunnel system, with reservoirs in Des Plaines, McCook and Thornton. With more than 2,400 employees, and hundreds of millions of dollars annually in construction contracts for well-connected contractors (who donate to the local Democrats), the MWRD is a key cog in the Democratic Machine. So the co-operation of a majority of the nine $40,000-a-year commissioners, three of whom are elected every two years, is a necessity. Historically, few MWRD commissioners become rebels, as they quickly accede to reality, and become reliable pro-Machine votes.

            However, some commissioners – like Sandoval -- are not content to perpetually labor in the shadows, collecting their $3,333-a-month stipend to attend two monthly meetings. Some hold a second public job (like both Meany and Santos). Some run for higher office during their term -- like Aurie Pucinski for Illinois secretary of state in 1986 and clerk of the Circuit Court in1988, Jerry Cosentino for state treasurer in 1978, and Nancy Drew Sheehan for state treasurer in 1994 and for judge in 1998. But Sandoval, whether because of ambition, greed, or just plain stupidity, decided that he wanted to occupy a second public elective office, and run for both at the same time; so he filed for both MWRD commissioner and Illinois state senator.

            A state attorney general’s opinion back in the 1960s held that a candidate could run for both the state legislature and for Cook County commissioner, since the latter was a “part-time” job, and that it was not “incompatible” to run for and/or occupy both posts simultaneously. In fact, Ted Lechowicz served as both state senator and commissioner during the 1990-91 period. But the MWRD is a state-chartered entity, as witnessed by the fact that it is the governor who appoints commissioners when a vacancy arises, so the question of whether a MWRD commissioner is “part-time” was never addressed by a court of law.

            When the state legislature’s remap was unveiled last autumn, a new Hispanic-majority (heavily Mexican-American) Southwest Side 12th District was created, but U.S. Representative Bill Lipinski (D-3), the 23rd Ward Democratic committeeman, slated his longtime ally, Jim Phelan, a former state representative, for the seat. This enraged local Hispanics, who began pressuring Daley to get Phelan out. They quickly succeeded, and Phelan got yanked in late November, just before filing. So the Daley-Lipinski forces (as well as Alderman Ed Burke and Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, who are also Democratic ward committeemen in the 12th District), began feverishly searching for an “acceptable” (meaning loyal) Hispanic replacement, and Sandoval, who is Mexican-American, and had been a MWRD commissioner for just three years, quickly volunteered.

            Unfortunately Sandoval was then on the organization’s nominating petitions for the MWRD, grouped in a block with Meany and Santos, and it was too late to find a new MWRD candidate, print new petitions, and get another 25,000 signatures. So Sandoval stayed put, with the understanding that he would resign the MWRD nomination after the primary (after he presumably won it), and that the Democratic county central committee would name a replacement (presumably Phelan, as a concession to Lipinski), who would then win in November. The last Republican to win a MWRD spot was Joan Anderson in 1972.

            But  M.  Frank Avila’s son, Frank B. Avila, a veteran political operative just a year out of law school, sensed an opportunity. Young Avila had run his father’s last two losing MWRD races  -- when he finished fourth in 2000, and seventh in 1998 -- and he had outfoxed Sheehan to get the now-coveted last-place ballot spot (when being on the bottom enabled black Barbara McGowan, the last of 14 candidates, to win in 1998). In order to narrow the race to a sole Hispanic (Avila is Mexican-American), and in order to break up the organization’s slate, young Avila had to get Sandoval out of the race. (Incumbent Cynthia Santos, who is of Greek ancestry, has the same surname of deposed former city Treasurer Miriam Santos, and many think Cynthia to be Hispanic.)

            So young Avila filed a federal lawsuit, with his father as plaintiff, seeking to remove Sandoval from the MWRD ballot, positing both the “incompatibility” argument, as well as asserting that there was a “conspiracy” to deprive a federally-protected “minority” class (Hispanics) of a county office. Sandoval, who was then unopposed for state senator, had made an extraordinarily dumb comment to the news media that he intended to resign his MWRD nomination after he won the senate nomination, and there was speculation that he would be replaced by Phelan. So, when Sandoval’s high-priced legal counsel sought to dismiss Avila’s complaint, the federal judge denied the motion and ordered expedited discovery.

            That meant that attorney Avila had a brief period of time to take the depositions of Sandoval, Phelan, Burke, Madigan, Lipinski, Victor Reyes (Daley’s top Hispanic operative), and even Daley, in order to prove his “conspiracy” theory. And those depositions, while not open to the public, could be released to the media. That, for the Democratic Establishment, was a wholly unacceptable, not to mention  a  politically dangerous, situation.

            So Sandoval got yanked. The word came down from on high, and he withdrew as a MWRD candidate in late February, just weeks before the March primary. That left the number two ballot line vacant.

            The black committeemen pushed a Meany-Santos-Evans slate, although the three other black contenders – Derrick Stinson, Lewis Powell, and T.C. Crawford – got sizeable black support. The suburban committeemen pushed a Meany-Santos-Sheehan slate, and Sheehan ran third in the suburbs (111,552 for Meany, 99,032 for Santos, and 82,128 for Sheehan, with Avila fourth at 76,557).

            When the votes came in, Sheehan ran a strong third in most white-majority Northwest and Southwest Side wards, but Avila ran first or second in the Hispanic wards, second (with Santos third) in most white Lakefront wards, and third in may white wards. Notably, in Alderman Dick Mell’s 33rd Ward (Mell is the father-in-law of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rod Blagojevich), Avila ran a strong third,  almost 1,650 votes ahead of Sheehan. In sum, Avila won because Sandoval was not on the ballot. A certain winner in November, Commissioner-to-be M. Frank Avila will be the highest-ranking Mexican-American in county government.

            The outlook: Now that Avila the Elder is in for a six-year term, due primarily to Sandoval’s stupidity and his son’s acuity, don’t be surprised if attorney Avila the Younger tries to put together a Father and Son Act in 2004. The commissioners up in 2004  are MWRD finance chairman Gloria Majewski, and commissioners Pat Young and  Barbara McGowan), all women, and it is likely that Majewski, who has served since 1984, when she won her late husband’s seat,  will retire. Expect Avila the Younger to run.

Given the cluster of  “random factors” present in any MWRD primary, a Father and Son “Commissioner Avila” team is certainly within the realm of possibility, if not probability.