Harrington and Rodde
In a recent 8,500-word essay published ostensibly about my openly gay candidacy for alderman in Chicago's 49th Ward, a great deal of ink was devoted by Windy City Times to my role with the Rodde Fund. In a lengthy interview with the editor last July, I explained and documented that I never expected, asked for, or received a dime in compensation during my four years as a volunteer board member and then president of the Fund. In spite of the disturbing insinuations in your article, quite the opposite is true. I and the other unpaid board members gave much more than our time and energy to support the Rodde Fund: we made substantial financial contributions to it over the years.
My devotion to the project began when the board recruited me. I agreed to do what I could to help move the Rodde Fund forward at a challenging time in the organization's life. During my tenure, we worked to solidify the Rodde Fund's financial stability and organizational health. We were able to incubate and support dozens of organizations and initiatives, many which still serve our community today. We nurtured the capacity of grassroots organizations and activists. I am proud of my work with the Fund.
It is unfortunate that the paper paid so much attention to unnamed sources, unattributed accusations about my role with the Fund, and the use of clear innuendos that I somehow used the Fund for personal gain. Worst of all is the way the memory of Al Wardell, a great man and a personal friend for more than 20 years, was used for the story. The motivations for such irresponsible journalism are not for me to raise, but I am disheartened by it. My campaign staff and I provided Windy City Times with a thorough review of my role in the Fund and referred the paper to many other living Rodde Fund board members involved in decisionmaking, none of whom were referenced in the story. Not surprisingly, your journey into invention and gossip-presented-as-news does not include a single named source.
My campaign for 49th Ward alderman is devoted to providing a means for our Rogers Park neighborhood to create our own future and realize the promise that has escaped us for over a decade. We are working hard to address affordable housing and public safety, and to attract economic development. We've opened a Citizens For Harrington campaign office at 1409 W. Morse Ave. in the center of what was once the heart of a bustling business district, but which now struggles with street crime and a loss of hope. We are running a spirited campaign about community issues--not personalities--and the future we intend to create.
I am proud to have been encouraged to run by residents and community leaders from all walks of life, including many lesbigaytrans residents. I will proudly serve as the city's first openly gay alderman and be a strong advocate for our needs citywide.
My record of service to our community in the 49th Ward, in Chicago, and nationally is open for all to explore, but I am more interested in sharing what lies ahead and in doing the work that voters in the 49th Ward expect of me: to become a full-time alderman who works hard for our entire community.
Michael J. Harrington
Editor's note: In advance of his interview with WCT, we made clear that the bulk of our questions would relate to the Rodde Center. He asked for those questions in writing, but that is not standard practice. We asked for any and all Rodde documents he might have from that era, but he provided none. All of the documents we later discovered or were given were from past Rodde volunteers or board members. Dozens of people were interviewed for the story, including people who were recommended by Harrington. Windy City Times wanted to provide a forum for Harrington to address numerous questions and allegations that have plagued those involved in the Rodde Center's last years. We ran this as a question-and-answer interview format so that Harrington's entire response would be clear.
Bravo, Windy City Times! When so very much of the GLBT press, especially in Chicago, is 99.9 percent self-congratulatory, self-promotional and--way too often--self-delusional, along comes WCT's Tracy Baim ( with help from Sukie de la Croix and A.M. ) and their superb six-page dissection of the 49th Ward aldermanic candidacy of gay activist Michael Harrington and his controversial management style.
I don't live in that ward, and I still don't yet know who to believe with regards to Harrington's tenure at the Rodde Center and its ultimate financial collapse, as well as in regards to his other possible fiscal ( mis? ) adventures with other GLBT groups, but I applaud long and loud Windy City Times' enterprise reporting on the issue.
Hooray for daring to so directly challenge an openly gay candidate--even asking to see his tax returns ... when so many GLBT people would mindlessly vote lockstep for any GLBT candidate, no matter how unqualified his or her resume, no matter how shady his or her past.
One of the saddest lessons I learned in journalism school was that people only read what they want to read--not what they need to read. Liberals skip over the editorial pages of The Wall Street Journal, and conservatives wouldn't touch The Nation. Or, as culture critic David Brooks writes in his essay "Superiority Complex" in the current issue of The Atlantic: "We now have thousands of specialized magazines, newsletters and Web sites catering to every social, ethnic, religous and professional clique. You can construct your own multimedia community, in which every magazine you read, every cable show you watch, every radio station you listen to, reaffirms your values and reinforces the sense of your own rightness."
Thank you, Windy City Times, for splashing some cold water on the political face of Chicago's GLBT community, which too often wakes up groggy and bleary-eyed from the night before when it comes to issues ( political and otherwise ) that really, truly affect our present and future lives. Now if only the city's major newspapers would provide as much in-depth coverage of all the other ( i.e., straight ) political candidates running for office this fall.
Michael Hemmes, Lakeview
Your article about the Rodde Center and interview with Michael Harrington brought back some memories, not all happy ones.
Larry McKeon had a cross-country experience with Harrington and Ken Allen [ deceased ] , Michael's right-hand man in the demise of the center. I'll let him speak for himself.
Harrington once asked me to be on a committee of the Rodde Fund Board, after my partner and I contributed $500. I think it was social/political action. When I asked him what I'd have to do, he said, "Nothing. We just want to use your name." This tells me, when placed alongside other similar behavior, such as sacking Al Wardell, that this was to be a one- or two-man band. Al confirmed this to me after he was terminated.
I met Michael at a national Black & White Men Together event in Washington, D.C., shortly after he and McKeon and Allen had toured the LGBT centers across the nation. When I said that LA had a long-standing, viable center, Harrington countered with words like, "Yeah, but they really don't know what they're doing. They need real visionary leadership." Presumably of the type that he was providing for Chicago. Right.
Michael is good at one thing, the thing that oozes through the lines of your interview: self-promotion.
B. Schwartz, Chicago
Belmont Rocks
More than 200 people turned out this spring on city plans to destroy the unique place known as "Belmont Rocks." For years it has been a great spot to cool off, to watch and be watched, away from the bike trails and heavily tread lakefront treadways, or a simple spot for solitude. With trees hugging the shore, it brings shade and a sense of escape from the city, right in the middle of everything. All 200 at that Belmont Rocks meeting raised their hands to vote in protests of the replacement design--which invites bikes, but has a huge drop, preventing one from even wetting one's whistle: a souless concrete runway on the lake.
Despite the outcry, the city plans on going ahead with the design: letting out bids as early as September, with the area fenced off in the spring for demolition. Officials contend by meeting with locals they have fufilled their community obligation--they never promised to actually listen the what the community says. Meanwhile, city plans to destroy Pomontory Point, a similar unique lake front gathering place in Hyde Park, are on hold while an alternative design is in the works for the south side.
Let's rock the city. Let's fight for the unique spirit of Belmont Rock. Get Involved. Don't let them steamroll Belmont Rock. Petitions will hit the streets soon. Please sign them. Or Fax the Mayor at 312-744-2324.
Or for more information e-mail Save Our Shore, via Mekakes@aol.com .
