CITY HALL — The only thing clear from the list of 53 names being considered for 7th Ward alderman is that the era of Jackson and Beavers appears over.
The Office of the Mayor released a list of 53 persons being considered by a selection committee for the post, with Mayor Rahm Emanuel intending to pick from three or more finalists to make the appointment. At first glance, the most noteworthy thing about the list, compiled from online applications, is that nowhere does a Jackson or Beavers appear on it.
Cook County Commissioner William Beavers (D-Chicago) was the longtime alderman in the ward going back to before the Harold Washington administration. When he moved over to the Cook County Board in 2006, he orchestrated the appointment of his daughter, Darcel Beavers, by Mayor Richard M. Daley. Yet Sandi Jackson, with the help of her husband, then U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., swept in and won the next election in 2007, and defended it against Darcel Beavers in 2011.
Now the Jacksons have both resigned their seats, amid his health woes and an ongoing federal investigation, and Commissioner Beavers, while still in office, is to go on trial this year on federal corruption charges.
Darcel Beavers does not appear on the list, and neither does Jonathan Jackson, another son of civil-rights leader Jesse Jackson Sr., who's been mentioned as a possible successor to Sandi Jackson. Keiana Barrett, Sandi Jackson's chief of staff, whom she put forth as a replacement.
The mayor's online request for candidates attracted 65 applicants, but a dozen were found not to live inside the ward — a condition Emanuel set for eligibility.
It does include two previous candidates: Gregory Mitchell and Sidney Howard Brooks III. Mitchell drew 12.6 percent of the vote in 2011, running third behind Jackson and Beavers, while Brooks drew 1.5 percent. Brooks has already announced he'll run in the next aldermanic election in 2015.
Otherwise, the selection committee appointed by Emanuel's office will be sorting through a batch of fresh names. The other candidates, in no particular order, are Tennesha Frierson, Natashia Holmes, Kenisha Clorinda Davis, Roberta S. Howard, Carl L. Bibbs, Bernie Riley, Walonza Lee, Lionell Romeo Martin Sr., Jesse L. Harley, Thesby Douglas, Lanita Ross, Margie Reid, Pauline Lee, John Hayes, Leori Moore, Joseph Moseley II, Change Hamilton-Hayyim, Glen Harston, William Taylor, Lorse Sizer, Leticia B. Ransom, George Pruitt III, Mia Henry, Leanne Theresa Muller-Wharton, Marja Ann Stanford Leak, Vicky Michelle Wooten, William Campbell King Jr., Benjamin Boone, Jaqueline Harris, LaMeise Turner, Flora Digby, David Lee, Fareeda Watson, Scott Onque, Jesse Pettway, Brittney Stinson, Frances Pratt, Quentin Scott, Dennis McCullum, Jason Bertrand, Andria Blackburn, Carlos Maxwell, Michele Kroeger, Lashonda Flowers, Dorian Myrickes, Mark Wallace, Joyce Brown, Marcus Wolfe, Deveree Greenwood, Charles McMillan and Clara Hubbard.
Emanuel wants to have the process completed next month.
