Helen Shiller
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Helen Shiller (born 1947) is a former
Alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denotin ...
of the 46th ward in
Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. Shiller is also a published author, having written a 500-page book on her politics and activism in Chicago from 1971 to 2011. Shiller served in the
Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the Law and government of Chicago, government of the Chicago, City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 Wards of the United States, wards to serve four-year t ...
for six four-year terms, from 1987 to 2011. Shiller was elected to the City Council on her third attempt, as
Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st mayor of Chicago. In April 1983, Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city’s mayor at the age of ...
, Chicago's first black Mayor, was re-elected to his second term, and her election as alderman helped close the Council Wars era in Chicago government. Shiller has been described as "a reformer unafraid to take on the boys in power." A less flattering description is that she is "committed to liberal causes and destroying all within her path". Among her most significant impacts on Chicago were her advocacy for diverse, inclusive, affordable housing and helping craft Chicago's response to the
HIV/AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
crisis. Her commitment to fostering community development without displacement often brought Shiller into contention with some constituencies, real estate developers, and editorial boards. Shiller's oral history was collected by
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
-winning author and Uptown resident
Studs Terkel Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1985 for ''The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral histor ...
in his 2003 book, ''Hope Dies Last''. As she details in her own book, among her policy victories as a City Council member was: getting human rights legislation passed, having Chicago implement anti-apartheid legislation, creating a City Council Subcommittee on Domestic Violence, and building a unique mix-used development.


Early life and education

Shiller was born in 1947 and raised on
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...
in
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
, growing up in a middle-class family. Her parents were home owners. Her father, Morris Shiller, was a self-employed chemist who emigrated to the United States from
Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...
. Some members of his family were
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
victims. Shiller's mother was Sara (née Trop), Sara was born and raised in
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
, where she lived through various occupations, including by the Germans, Polish, Russians, and Soviet Union. Sara came to America through
Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...
at the age of six. She became a nurse and married Morris, in 1936. She died at the age of 96 in the summer of 2011. Helen Shiller earned her high school diploma in 1965 from Woodstock County School in
Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...
, the same progressive boarding school that
Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and social activist. He was a fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s and had a string of hit records in the early 1950s as a member of The Weav ...
's children attended. Shiller graduated with a degree in history from the
University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...
, where she was active in the anti-
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
movement and in the
Students for a Democratic Society Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) was a national student activist organization in the United States during the 1960s and was one of the principal representations of the New Left. Disdaining permanent leaders, hierarchical relationships a ...
(SDS). In 2005, Shiller graduated from
DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...
's School for New Learning Master's Program, where her focus was public policy.


Early career

Shiller moved to Chicago's Uptown neighborhood in 1972 with her husband Marc Zalkin and her infant son, Brendan, and lived on N Malden Street in Uptown. Shiller drove a cab, worked as a waitress and freelance photographer, and got involved in
radical Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...
politics. With one of Chicago's most controversial political organizers, Walter "Slim" Coleman, Shiller helped organize the Intercommunal Survival Committee, a sort of white support arm of the
Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist and Black Power movement, black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newto ...
. The committee evolved into the Heart of Uptown Coalition, a political and social service organization steeped in the rhetoric of
Marxism Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflict, ...
; "comrades" were expected to organize "cadres." "We must have the frame of mind that as revolutionaries we have (to) be able to solve any problem that comes our way ..." Shiller said. The Coalition provided an array of programs geared toward providing essential services for the poor, including medical clinics for pregnant women, mothers and young children; a legal aid clinic, food pantries and distributing clothes and meals to the poor. For decades Shiller and her allies worked to preserve Uptown as the last North Side lakefront neighborhood south of Rogers Park that is home to a significant population of low income households. Shiller supported Michael Bakalis in his 1978 primary challenge to
Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
James R. Thompson, attacking Thompson for "making deals with the Chicago machine" and for being unsympathetic to the urban poor. Shiller helped open an extension of
Shimer College Shimer Great Books School ( ) is a Classic_book#University_programs, Great Books college that is part of North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. Prior to 2017, Shimer was an independent, accredited college on the south side of Chicago, or ...
at 4833 N Broadway in the Fall of 1978. Shiller took on Illinois' dentists when in 1978 the Uptown Peoples Community Services Center joined consumers groups in a federal lawsuit which attempted to break up dentists' monopoly on fitting dentures. From 1981 to 1987, Shiller was president and CEO of Justice Graphics, Inc. a print shop, a small business of which Shiller and Coleman were two of five owners. In 2003 Shiller recalled the period:
I was as student in the sixties, engaged in the civil rights movement, anti-Vietnam War protests. I'd come from New York to attend the University of Wisconsin. It was an exciting time. A lot of active students wound up in different cities and communities as organizers. I chose
Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in Racine County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River (Wisconsin), Root River, south of Milwaukee and north of Chicago. It is the List ...
. I spent three years there. We had developed a legal clinic and we had a whole health program, but the city was too small. I had, of course, heard about Uptown in Chicago, and the challenges. So I wound up here in 1976. I waited tables. I did photography, took pictures for attorneys. Ultimately we started our own print shop in order to print our own newspapers and magazines.


Campaigns for alderman


First campaign for alderman (1978)

A special election was called for May 16, 1978 in the 46th Ward when Alderman Chris Cohen, first elected in 1971, was re-elected in 1975 but retired in mid-term to head the Chicago regional office of the
United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is a cabinet-level executive branch department of the US federal government created to protect the health of the US people and providing essential human services. Its motto is ...
. On March 6, 1978, Ralph Axelrod, chief administrative assistant to
Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...
Sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...
Richard Elrod, and ward committeeman since 1973, slated himself for alderman. At the time, Shiller was 30 years old and the editor of ''Keep Strong'', a
leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...
magazine. Shiller's first attempt at elected office was to join a multi-way challenge to Axelrod. "I ran for alderman of this 6thward in 1978. I was terrified. I was very shy, afraid to speak to more than five people at a time," Shiller recalled in 2003. Shiller picked up much of the support that
Young Lords The Young Lords, also known as the Young Lords Organization (YLO), were a left-wing political organization that originally developed from a Chicago street gang. With major branches in Chicago and New York City, they were known for their direct act ...
founder and leader
Jose Cha Cha Jimenez Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. Given name Mishnaic and Talmudic periods * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean * Jose ben Halafta ...
had in Jimenez' unsuccessful challenge to Cohen in the 1975 elections. He was running primarily as a defence against the FBI's CointelPro repressive program and to expose the displacement of Latino and lower income areas from the lakefront and near downtown by the Richard J. Daley machine. He still received 39% of the vote coming in second in a three-way race. Shiller's base of support was the same geographic center of the ward, an area of high density, low-income families between Broadway and Clark Street. Shiller campaigned pledging to work to keep the disadvantaged of Uptown from being displaced by
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
. Independents including Aldermen Dick Simpson (44th), Martin J. Oberman (43rd), and Ross Lathrop (5th), and former alderman and mayoral candidate William Singer (43rd), endorsed Angela Turley, founder of the Organization of the Northeast (ONE), a community group. Turley was also unanimously endorsed by the 46th Ward Citizens Search Committee, a group of 50 ward residents who interviewed 10 candidates. Turley and another candidate Carl Lezak, a former priest and former director of the
American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...
(ACLU), were challenged and stricken from the ballot by the Chicago Board of Elections Commissioners, leaving a three-way race for alderman between Axelrod, Shiller, and former television news reporter Michael Horowitz. Shiller charged that the regular Democratic organization used unfair campaign practices against her, challenging about 100 of the 400 new voters she helped register, stealing her campaign posters, and pressuring store owners to remove her signs. The ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' endorsed Axelrod, noting Shiller "runs primarily as a champion of the poor." Axelrod prevailed, receiving 5,575 votes, or 54.5%, to Shiller's 3,475 votes.


Second campaign for alderman (1979)

Shiller and Turley challenged Axelrod in 1979. An extra alarm fire early on Friday, February 9, 1979, weeks before the election, caused extensive damage to the building containing Shiller's campaign headquarters and left 15 homeless. The ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' endorsed Axelrod. Shiller (6,852 votes; 46%) bested Axelrod (6,088 votes; 40%), but, as no candidate received a majority of the vote in the three-way race, a run-off was forced. The ''Chicago Tribune'' and Turley endorsed Axelrod in the run-off. The ''Chicago Tribune'' wrote that "Ms. Shiller's program shares many elements with that of the
Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California ...
and appears to be based on hopes of an eventual "revolution" ot defined" Turley described Axelrod as "the lesser of two evils in the race now." Axelrod enlisted 40 volunteer attorneys and 200 off-duty policemen to challenge ghost voting in a project he called "Operation Safeguard." Axelrod challenged 1,060 voter registrations on the ward's rolls, 931 of which were upheld by the Chicago Board of Elections Commissioners. Axelrod defeated Shiller in the run-off by 247 votes. Shiller later recalled the campaign:
I won the primary, but not with fifty-one percent of the vote. We had a runoff and I lost by two hundred votes – to a machine candidate. We were bringing fresh ideas, but we were not experienced in fighting the machine on election day. I swore I'd never run for alderman again. There was so much racial baiting that it was terrifying. I was called names. ... My posters had black paint all over them with racial epithets. It was very disturbing.


Third campaign for alderman (1987)

In Harold Washington's successful first campaign for
Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...
of
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
in the 1983 municipal elections, Shiller was employed as the campaign organizer for the 46th Ward. Shiller owned and operated a print shop, Justice Graphics, that printed the campaign literature for Washington's first mayoral campaign. Justice Graphics published the ''All-Chicago City News'', a 40,000 circulation pro-Washington,
left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...
, bilingual, biweekly newspaper edited by Shiller and Walter "Slim" Coleman. Coleman formed a plan to register 100,000 new voters for Washington by canvassing public aid offices and became a close advisor to candidate and, later, Mayor Harold Washington. Just before the 1983 elections, Alderman Axelrod resigned from City Council to take a job in the Cook County Sheriff's office. Community activist Charlotte Newfeld and Jerome Orbach ran for alderman and went to a run-off, which Orbach won by 66 votes. Orbach allied with
Edward Vrdolyak Edward Robert Vrdolyak (; born December 28, 1937), also known as "Fast Eddie", is a former American politician and lawyer. He was a longtime Chicago alderman and the head of the Cook County Democratic Party until 1987 when he ran unsuccessfully ...
and the
Vrdolyak 29 The Council Wars were a racially polarized political conflict in the city of Chicago from 1983 to 1986, centered on the Chicago City Council. The term came from a satirical comedy sketch of the same name written and performed by comedian and jo ...
during Council Wars. "Harold was mayor, and he was harping on me to run for alderman," Shiller recalled in 2003. In 1987, Shiller, Nancy Kaszak, and Gerald Pechenuk challenged Orbach. Kaszak was a lawyer, a former vice president of th
Chicago Council of Lawyers
a Mayor
Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st mayor of Chicago. In April 1983, Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city’s mayor at the age of ...
appointee to the
Commission on Chicago Landmarks In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...
, a leader of the Lakeview Citizens' Council, and president of Citizens United for Baseball in Sunshine (CUBS), which opposed night baseball at
Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a ballpark on the North Side, Chicago, North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charl ...
. Newfeld co-chaired Kaszak's campaign. Pechenuk was a consultant for
Lyndon LaRouche Lyndon Hermyle LaRouche Jr. (September 8, 1922 – February 12, 2019) was an American political activist who founded the LaRouche movement and its main organization, the National Caucus of Labor Committees (NCLC). He was a prominent conspiracy ...
Jr. for 12 years, and was treasurer of LaRouche-supported Sheila Jones's mayoral campaign. Shiller challenged Pechenuk's nominating petitions. Mayor Washington endorsed 18 incumbent aldermen and 5 challengers, including Shiller. Washington appeared at a joint rally with Shiller at which she announced her candidacy. Kaszak was endorsed by the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'', the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization (IVI-IPO), the
National Organization for Women The National Organization for Women (NOW) is an American feminist organization. Founded in 1966, it is legally a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization. The organization consists of 550 chapters in all 50 U.S. states and in Washington, D.C. It ...
(NOW), the
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(AFSCME), and former aldermen William Singer and Dick Simpson. The ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' endorsed Orbach. Shiller charged that Orbach catered to developers, displacing people in the wake of rehabilitation that priced housing out of the reach of many, and said she wanted community
zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...
boards, with their decisions binding on the alderman. Shiller charged that most of Orbach's campaign war chest was from developers and regular Democrats outside the ward. In the four-way race, Orbach took 40% of the vote and Shiller 38%, but, no candidate received a majority, resulting in a run-off. Kaszak endorsed Shiller, although many of Kaszak's followers supported Orbach. Orbach tried to position himself on both sides of the pro-/anti-Washington political fence, and late in the campaign attempted to stage a public conversion to pro-Washington positions. Some prominent independents, such as Alderman Marion Volini (48th), state Representative Ellis B. Levin and state Senator William A. Marovitz, endorsed Orbach, as did the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'' and ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
''. "His rbach'srelationship to large real estate developers is very important. He's become more of an advocate for people outside of the ward than for people here," Shiller charged. Some of Orbach's allies spread a rumor, aimed at lakefront
Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
voters, that as alderman Shiller would support a
Palestinian state Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, collectively known as th ...
. Shiller's forces called Orbach a
racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
, although a large number of blacks backed Orbach in his early campaigns. Shiller later said,
The machine alderman who won in 1983 rbachhad a chief of staff who was engaging in racial organizing. There were white gangs up here. One of them he helped organize into a consciously racially white-power gang. They hooked up with both the Klan and the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
.
In the months leading up to the election, the Heart of Uptown Coalition and a Shiller supporter who was director of the Center for Street People, 4455 N. Broadway, organized a voter registration drive that registered 80 homeless people using the center's address, and on election day fed them a meal at a local church hall and helped them vote.
Jesus People USA Jesus People USA (JPUSA) pronounced: ǰ-pu-sa is a Christian intentional community in Uptown, on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. JPUSA emerged from Jesus People Milwaukee in 1972, and maintains one of the largest continuing communities ...
, a 500-member commune/business/charity/religious group with many members living in the ward, had supported Orbach throughout his career, but switched to Shiller before the run-off. Jesus People's spokesman explained "We think Jerry Orbach is a lovely man, but he doesn't have what it takes to stand up to the development ... If things keep going there will be massive displacement. People will be thrown out of their homes. We decided that Helen Shiller would do the most to prevent displacement." Orbach supporters charged that a City official had offered City contracts to the Jesus People's construction firm if Shiller were elected. On Tuesday, April 7, 1987, Shiller defeated Orbach by 498 votes, 9,751 to 9,253, and contributed to a narrow, pro-Washington, reform-minded majority in the City Council which helped draw the Council Wars era to close.


Aldermanic career

In her six terms as alderman, Shiller served on eight committees: Budget and Government Operations; Buildings; Committees, Rules and Ethics; Finance; Health; Housing and Real Estate; Human Relations; and License and Consumer Protection.


First term (1987–1991)

On December 16, 1987, Shiller was among the supporters of the 1988 City budget, proposed by Washington in late 1987 and passed 29-19 under Mayor
Eugene Sawyer Eugene Sawyer Jr. (September 3, 1934January 19, 2008) was an American businessman, educator, and politician. Sawyer was selected by the Chicago City Council as the 53rd Mayor of Chicago, Illinois after the sudden death of then–mayor Harold Was ...
after Washington's death in office. Shiller was among opponents of Sawyer's 1989 budget, approved 34–13 on December 7, 1988. In January, 1988, Shiller was named one of "88 People to Watch" by ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' staff. Shiller was Mayor
Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh ter ...
's staunchest opponent in City Council votes in the last three months of 1989, in Daley's first year of his first term. In 1989, Shiller sponsored a resolution creating a sub-committee on Domestic Violence. Shiller backed a group of 50 to 75 people including more than 40 homeless people and six children who erected a "tent city" from doors and wood on a vacant lot at 4425 N. Malden to illustrate the plight of the homeless. On Friday, October 14, 1989, Shiller was among five arrested when police, called by the owner, evicted about 100 protesters from the lot. Shiller was charged with trespassing and spent "about two minutes" in jail before charges were dropped.


Uptown Chicago Commission funding

In November, 1987, Shiller's first budget cycle, she recommended to the Budget Committee that the City cancel a federal grant for the Uptown Chicago Commission (UCC), a 32-year-old community group in Uptown that often contended on issues with the Heart of Uptown Coalition, of which Shiller was co-chairman with Walter "Slim" Coleman. The recommendation came during Budget Committee hearings on the distribution of $95.1 million in federal
Community Development Block Grant The Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), one of the longest-running programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, funds local community development activities with the stated goal of providing affordable housing, anti- ...
s. Mayor Washington's budget recommendation included a $20,000 grant to UCC to facilitate residents applying for home improvement loans. The UCC's service area included the adjoining 48th Ward, whose Alderman Kathy Osterman also supported the funding. Shiller requested that the committee deny the UCC its grant. Shiller accused the UCC of helping developers displace low-income Uptown residents. After heated debate, the Budget Committee voted 9–5 in favor of Shiller's amendment to remove the grant for the UCC. Upon the death of Mayor Washington in office, Shiller supported Alderman Timothy C. Evans for mayor, but supporters of Alderman
Eugene Sawyer Eugene Sawyer Jr. (September 3, 1934January 19, 2008) was an American businessman, educator, and politician. Sawyer was selected by the Chicago City Council as the 53rd Mayor of Chicago, Illinois after the sudden death of then–mayor Harold Was ...
prevailed. Weeks later, at the first City Council meeting under Mayor Sawyer, the UCC funding was restored. Shiller said restoring the grant to the UCC would affect only the 48th Ward, not her ward. "I was not going to have them operating in the 46th," Shiller said, claiming she had reached an agreement to keep UCC services out of her ward several days before Washington's death. "Mayor Sawyer had nothing to do with this," Shiller claimed. "He had recommended no changes."


Low-income housing consent decree

As early as 1966 Uptown was among the possible sites proposed for a northeast-side commuter campus in the
City Colleges of Chicago The City Colleges of Chicago is the public community college system of the Chicago area. Its colleges offer associate degrees, certificates, free courses for the GED, and free English as a second language (ESL) courses. The City Colleges sys ...
community college A community college is a type of undergraduate higher education institution, generally leading to an associate degree, certificate, or diploma. The term can have different meanings in different countries: many community colleges have an open enr ...
district. The Uptown site west of the Wilson
Chicago Transit Authority The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is the operator of public transport, mass transit in Chicago, Illinois, United States, and some of its suburbs, including the trains of the Chicago "L" and List of Chicago Transit Authority bus routes, CTA bu ...
(CTA) station was opposed by those concerned for the displacement of low income residents, largely blacks, southern whites and American Indians. The project was mired in heated controversy for decades. ''Avery v Pierce'', a federal lawsuit filed in 1975, alleged that the razing of about 3,000 low-income housing units for the development of Harry S Truman College constituted misspending of funds by the City and
Chicago Housing Authority The Chicago Housing Authority (CHA) is a municipal corporation that oversees public housing within the city of Chicago. The agency's Board of Commissioners is appointed by the Mayor of Chicago, city's mayor, and has a budget independent from that ...
. Plaintiffs were represented by Shiller's former campaign manager, attorney James P. Chapman of the Uptown Peoples Law Center. In 1985 Randall H. Langer, a young real estate developer active in apartment rehabilitation in the neighborhood, aided the creation of a local
historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains historic building, older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal p ...
, the Sheridan Park Historic District, which critics charged was of dubious historical value and created to facilitate
gentrification Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more Wealth, affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has ...
. Nineteen tax delinquent properties in Uptown were offered for sale by auction by
Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...
in Fall, 1987. Since 1983 Cook County had a program to afford local governments the opportunity to acquire tax delinquent properties for almost nothing, prior to the county's scavenger sale to the public, if the local government had a specific development plan. On October 28, 1987, Shiller urged the Tax Delinquency Subcommittee of the Cook County Board to accept a no-cash bid from the city for the 19 tax-delinquent parcels in Uptown. A decision was deferred when Commissioner Rosemarie Love requested a delay on grounds that the Washington administration had not provided a development plan. Subcommittee chairman Commissioner Richard Siebel said the county's no-cash sales program was "designed to place property back on the tax rolls as quickly as possible – not for land-banking. It's not appropriate for us to pass this until the city tells us, parcel by parcel, what they intend to do and how they plan to pay for it." Another commissioner noted that the City already owned 7,000 tax-delinquent properties, and another added, "Properties we gave to the city 12 years ago are still war zones. I don't want the same thing to happen here." As a bench ruling in ''Avery v Pierce'' neared, Shiller proposed an ordinance that directed the city to settle and accept a
consent decree A consent decree is an agreement or settlement that resolves a dispute between two parties without admission of guilt (in a criminal case) or liability (in a civil case). Most often it is such a type of settlement in the United States. The ...
. The consent decree would have put most vacant parcels in Uptown into a land bank for future affordable housing, administered by a
community development corporation A community development corporation (CDC) is a not-for-profit organization incorporated to provide programs, offer services and engage in other activities that promote and support community development. CDCs usually serve a geographic location su ...
, funded by the city with $100,000 over two years. The consent decree also would have made a "desirable" goal of 3,000 low-income housing units in Uptown. On November 16, 1987, the Committee on Finance of the Chicago City Council, chaired at the time by Shiller ally Alderman Timothy Evans, voted 21 to 2 to recommend the consent decree. Shiller gloated during committee hearings that, with Mayor Harold Washington's backing, the decree could not be stopped.
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
-winning commentator
Mike Royko Michael Royko Jr. (September 19, 1932 – April 29, 1997) was an American newspaper columnist from Chicago, Illinois. Over his 42-year career, he wrote more than 7,500 daily columns for the '' Chicago Daily News'', the ''Chicago Sun-Times'', an ...
wrote in the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'':
One of the most depressing sections of Chicago is the Uptown area on the North Side. Shabby apartment buildings, vacant stores, wino bars, littered vacant lots, junkies, muggers, and career down-and-outers. It also has a new alderman, Helen Shiller, and she has a vision of what that seedy old neighborhood should be in the future. And apparently her vision is that Uptown should remain a seedy old neighborhood.
In 1988 Royko wrote of Shiller, "her main motive was that she was building a political power base, which included as many winos as she and Coleman could drag to the voting booth." Shiller's proposal was criticized in a series of editorials. The ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' called the proposal "silly," editorializing:
It would have enabled her hillerto strangle commercial development in her Uptown ward and keep it poor. ... It was a flagrantly bad idea and deserved its defeat. It would have put Helen Shiller and her sidekick, Slim Coleman, in charge of a "community development corporation" whose avowed purpose would be to block private investment in the 46th Ward and use all available space for low-cost housing. This would consolidate their own power by ensuring a constituency of poor and dependent voters.
In 2003 Shiller explained the editorials:
When I first became alderman, there was a developer up here who felt very threatened by me. He hired a publicist to really go after me. Any time I talked about development without displacement, they would ream me. They went to the press and got some of the most vicious editorials published.
On December 3, 1987, 16 of the parcels were sold to private bidders at Cook County's annual scavenger sale, and Langer and partnerships Langer controlled bought 13 of the parcels. On December 9, 1987, at the first regular business meeting of the City Council after the death of Mayor Washington in office, Washington foes brought the proposal out of committee. Alderman Bernard Stone joined Alderman Osterman in blocking the agreement, saying Shiller's "arrogance prevailed and that arrogance has to be answered on this floor." The Council rejected the consent decree 29–17.


Second term (1991–1995)

In 1991, Shiller supported Danny K. Davis in Davis' unsuccessful primary challenge to Daley. Daley endorsed Shiller's challenger, Michael Quigley, campaigned with Quigley and sent letters in support of Quigley. Shiller finished seven votes ahead of Quigley, but a third candidate got 3.4% of the vote, which forced a runoff, the third straight run-off for Shiller and the fourth straight for the 46th ward. In the run-off, Shiller won with 53% of the vote, amid charges that Quigley was a
carpetbagger In the history of the United States, carpetbagger is a largely historical pejorative used by Southerners to describe allegedly opportunistic or disruptive Northerners who came to the Southern states after the American Civil War and were pe ...
. Shiller added a budget amendment to triple the city's
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
budget in 1992. Shiller was one of nine alderman voting against Daley's 1993 budget, which included a $28.7 million property tax increase. Shiller was absent for the 1994 budget vote, and was one of four aldermen dissenting on Daley's 1995 budget.


Third term (1995–1999)

The ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' was among newspapers that endorsed Shiller for re-election in 1995, and she won with 57% of the vote, without a run-off. Shiller supported U.S. Representative
Bobby Rush Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician, activist, and pastor who served as the U.S. representative for for three decades, ending in 2023. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter ...
in his unsuccessful challenge to Daley in 1999. "Arguably, the single most important legislative responsibility that aldermen have is voting on the city budget each year," Shiller said. She was the lone dissenting vote on Daley's 1996, 1997 and 1998 budgets. During hearings on Daley's 1996 budget, which included a $19.5 million property-tax increase, she submitted 123 questions on the budget in writing to department heads, but only 35 were answered. She objected to the tax increase in a period of several years of budget surpluses. She attended every hearing on Daley's 1997 budget armed with policy questions that she said went unanswered. She was often the only alderman present at budget hearings.


Fourth term (1999–2003)

In 1999, Sandra Reed, a black high school English teacher, and two other women opposed Shiller, the first all-female field in an aldermanic race in Chicago history. The ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' again endorsed Shiller. Shiller prevailed with 55% of the vote in a runoff. Shiller was inducted into the
Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame The Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame (formerly Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame) is an institution founded in 1991 to honor persons and entities who have made significant contributions to the quality of life or well-being of the LGBT community in Ch ...
as a Friend of the Community in 2000. On November 17, 1999, Shiller joined in unanimous support for Daley's 2000 budget, her first affirmative vote on a Daley budget and only her second affirmative vote on a City budget. Aldermen applauded. Shiller again joined in unanimous support for Daley's 2001, 2002, and 2003 budgets. In the 2001 redistricting of Chicago wards, Daley tried to deprive Shiller of her most committed supporters, but failed when none of the aldermen in adjacent wards wanted to contend with Shiller's supporters. Shiller and Daley, however, reached an understanding: the mayor supported her in the 2003 elections and also pushed forward development of Wilson Yard, a Chicago Transit Authority facility destroyed by fire, into affordable housing and a
Target Target may refer to: Warfare and shooting * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artille ...
store, using the Wilson Yard
Tax Increment Financing Tax increment financing (TIF) is a public financing method that is used as a subsidy for redevelopment, infrastructure, and other community-improvement projects in many countries, including the United States. The original intent of a TIF program i ...
District and the $26.5 million it generated. Subsequently, Shiller consistently voted in support of the mayor's agenda.


Fifth term (2003-2007)

Shiller and Daley supported each other for re-election in 2003. Shiller cited Daley's commitment to affordable housing, and in particular his Planning Department's work on the Wilson Yard project. Columnist Mark Brown wrote in the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'',
The last squeaky wheel in the City Council had been greased. The last independent voice had joined the chorus ... Shiller's endorsement of Daley is all the more amazing when you look at where she started, about as close to a Marxist as you'd ever find at City Hall.
Shiller defeated Reed again in 2003, this time with 58% of the vote. Shiller again joined in unanimous support for Daley's 2004 budget. Shiller was the only alderman who did not cast a vote on the passage of the Big Box Ordinance, which required large retailers to pay a living wage. Target sent a letter to Mayor Daley and alderman indicating that if the ordinance were not overturned, they would not proceed on projects in Chicago. Shiller voted to sustain Daley's
veto A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president (government title), president or monarch vetoes a bill (law), bill to stop it from becoming statutory law, law. In many countries, veto powe ...
.


Sixth term (2007–2011)

Criticism of Shiller in the 2007 election largely focused on the lack of communication with ward residents, failure to obtain input from residents for
zoning In urban planning, zoning is a method in which a municipality or other tier of government divides land into land-use "zones", each of which has a set of regulations for new development that differs from other zones. Zones may be defined for ...
changes in the ward, her lack of involvement in
community policing Community policing is a philosophy and organizational strategy whereby law enforcement cooperates with community groups and citizens in producing safety and security. The theory underlying community policing is that it makes citizens more likely t ...
meetings, and the many years of blighted retail in the ward. Some critics charged that Shiller was frustrating developers while using the Wilson Yard project to maintain her political base. In 2007, Shiller defeated social worker James Cappleman with 53% of the vote. In October, 2007, Shiller became chair of the City Council's Human Relations Committee. In 2009, Shiller was criticized by Uptown residents for her perceived lack of engagement in addressing crime in the neighborhood, including a string of violent robberies in nearby Lakeview that attracted the attention of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'', ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...
'', and local TV news. Police interviewed said interventions from Shiller and her staff facilitated the protection of gang members from policing activity, allegedly for gaining voter base, according to a report in '' Chicago Magazine''. Mayor Daley was among supporters of the Wilson Yard redevelopment project celebrating the completion of construction on July 20, 2010. The project included 98 units of subsidized housing for low-income residents in two buildings, one for seniors, and another for other families. The Target store opened on Sunday, July 22, 2010. On August 2, 2010, Shiller announced she would not run for re-election in 2011. Shiller reflected,
... we should be able to make sure that everyone has a place in the city, and when we do development ... we should make sure that the people who are here today will be here when that is complete ... my most singular perspective was to prove that that is possible. ... we have to have a city that is not just inclusive about our diversity but is serious and honest about making sure that everyone has a place here ...
On closing her ward office, Shiller wrote:
I am most proud of my achievements in tripling the City's funding budget for HIV/AIDS victims and for developing the toughest stance on Apartheid that was ever written in the 90's, for my work on domestic violence issues and establishing 24-hour daycare for children, the Ruth Shriman House for senior living, the Wilson Yards Development and for welcoming Target as a neighbor and partner, and of course setting the bar for affordable housing in Chicago.


Retirement and the Westside Justice Center

Shiller retired from politics in 2010 after her sixth term as alderman. In 2014, her son Brendan, a defense attorney, found a few empty buildings on Chicago's west side and laid out a vision to his mother that included setting up shop for his law firm, Shiller and Preyar. Shiller used her years of experience in government work and community advocacy to create the Westside Justice Center which officially opened in 2015. By 2017, the Westside Justice Center became home to two law firms, several sole practitioners, three non-profits, and a cafe. The main non-profit, also called the Westside Justice Center helps to connect low-income communities to social services with the help of the center's legal team.


Personal life

Shiller separated from her husband Mark Zalkin, one of Mayor Harold Washington's assistant
press secretaries A press secretary or press officer is a senior advisor who provides advice on how to deal with the news media and, using news management techniques, helps their employer to maintain a positive public image and avoid negative media coverage. Duti ...
, and with Shiller a leader of the 46th Ward Community Service Center (later the Uptown Community Service Center) and an editor of ''Keep Strong'' magazine, and with Shiller and Coleman an editor of ''All-Chicago City News''. Zalkin died on February 23, 1998, at age 49 due to complications from
multiple sclerosis Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease resulting in damage to myelinthe insulating covers of nerve cellsin the brain and spinal cord. As a demyelinating disease, MS disrupts the nervous system's ability to Action potential, transmit ...
. Shiller and Zalkin have one son, Brendan Shiller. Brendan attended Joseph Stockton Elementary School, a
Chicago Public School Chicago Public Schools (CPS), officially classified as City of Chicago School District #299 for funding and districting reasons, in Chicago, Illinois, is the List of the largest school districts in the United States by enrollment, fourth-large ...
, and Whitney Young Magnet High School, a selective-enrollment public magnet high school in Chicago's Near West Side. While attending Truman College, Brendan was managing editor of ''All-Chicago City News''. After Truman, Brendan went to
Howard University Howard University is a private, historically black, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity" and accredited by the Mid ...
in Washington, D.C. For two years starting in February, 1997 Brendan edited '' StreetWise'', a street newspaper sold by people without homes or those at-risk for homelessness in
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. In 2003, Brendan graduated first in his class from John Marshall Law School and currently works as a lawyer representing criminal defendants and police misconduct plaintiffs. One of Shiller's granddaughters is the published poet Britteney Black Rose Kapri. Shiller is now a professional poker player. Helen Shiller and her long-time staff member Maggie Marystone were interviewed in separate chapters in ''Hope Dies Last'', a collection of
oral histories Oral history is the collection and study of historical information from people, families, important events, or everyday life using audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These interviews are conducted with people who pa ...
by
Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
-winning author and Uptown resident
Studs Terkel Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1985 for ''The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral histor ...
.


Publications

* *Shiller,Helen (2022), Daring To Struggle, Daring to Win


Further reading

*


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shiller, Helen Chicago City Council members Jewish American people in Illinois politics University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni DePaul University alumni Illinois Democrats Living people 1947 births American people of Latvian-Jewish descent Women city councillors in Illinois 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American women Jews from Illinois People from Long Island