Posted by Hal Dardick at 5:28 p.m.
Nearly 60 people applied for two vacant Chicago aldermen jobs, according to a list City Hall released this afternoon.
The list, however, only identifies the candidates by their names, and was released after 4 p.m., making it tough to quickly verify many of the candidates. You can check out the applicant list by clicking here.
The 1st Ward spot has been open since January, when former Ald. Manny Flores went to work for Gov. Pat Quinn. Daley must appoint Flores’ replacement by Tuesday. Then the City Council gets to vote on the candidate.
Among the 35 vying in the near Northwest Side 1st Ward are Jesse Juarez, the ward’s Democratic committeeman; Deborah Lopez, senior government affairs liaison for the Chicago Transit Authority; Proco “Joe” Moreno, a onetime state Senate candidate; lawyer Jesse Ruiz, chairman of the Illinois State Board of Education; and Raymond Valadez, who was Flores’ chief of staff.
The other City Council vacancy is in the 29th Ward. That seat came free last month when Isaac Carothers
pleaded guilty to bribery charges in federal court. Daley must appoint
a replacement to represent the West Side ward by April 2.
Among the 22 who want to succeed Carothers are Democratic state Rep. Deborah Graham; Rev. Marshall Hatch, vice president of Operation PUSH; Mary Russell Gardner, secretary of the Cook County Board of Forest Preserve Commissioners; and Bruce Washington, the county’s capital planning director.