- Gary Middendorf/Sun-Times Media
- The six opponents of Tenth Ward alderman John Pope (left) say he’s too cozy with Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Last week Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Tenth Ward alderman John Pope announced that the city wasn’t going to wait any longer to clean up an environmental hazard on the southeast side of Chicago. They issued a statement declaring that the city was rejecting a request from KCBX Terminals Company to take more time before enclosing its heavy-polluting piles of petcoke.
The alderman “lacks in leadership and vision,” charges challenger Richard Martinez Jr., a compliance officer who has fought against the petcoke pollution.
“Pope was selected, not elected,” says challenger Frank Corona, a retired firefighter.
Organizing and working with the community is a common theme among Pope’s opponents, who say that the alderman is too cozy with the mayor. Pope has voted with Emanuel on every single measure before the City Council in the last four years—that is, 100 percent of the time—according to an analysis by political scientists at UIC.
