XPost: ba.politics, dc.media, soc.penpals   
   XPost: alt.burningman   
   From: chicago@illinois.com   
      
   Convicted ex-Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Alfred “Al”   
   Sanchez’s political comeback hit a major roadblock Thursday: an   
   elections board kicked him off the Cook County ballot because   
   he’s not done with his parole.   
      
   State law allows convicted felons to run for County Board, but   
   Sanchez was on supervised release stemming from a city hiring   
   fraud conviction when he filed his paperwork to secure a spot on   
   the March 18 Democratic primary ballot.   
      
   Sanchez attorney Dan Johnson argued that state law only required   
   Sanchez to be finished serving his sentence by the time he would   
   take office Dec. 1. Johnson argued Sanchez was eligible to ask   
   to have his parole terminated in July, and the elections board   
   should err on his side.   
      
   “In baseball, there’s a rule, the tie goes to the runner, and   
   here the rule is similar,” Johnson argued via speaker phone in a   
   basement hearing room at the George W. Dunne Cook County Office   
   Building.   
      
   But an attorney representing a resident of the South Side and   
   south suburban district who was challenging Sanchez’s ballot   
   spot contended state law required Sanchez to be eligible when he   
   filed papers to run. “There is no tie to the runner in this   
   case. There are no extra innings,” election lawyer Adam Lasker   
   said. “We have shut out Mr. Sanchez.”   
      
   Donald Pechous, an elections board member representing the   
   state’s attorney’s office, said the decision was easy.   
      
   “The candidate was not qualified when he filed his statement of   
   candidacy,” Pechous said. “And it is wholly speculative that he   
   will be eligible on the day of the election or when he would   
   take office if elected.”   
      
   Sanchez was convicted of rigging City Hall hiring to benefit   
   political foot soldiers under then-Mayor Richard M. Daley. In   
   addition to running Streets and Sanitation, Sanchez also headed   
   the once-powerful pro-Daley Hispanic Democratic Organization and   
   was the highest-ranking Daley appointee sent to prison following   
   a federal investigation into hiring.   
      
   Sanchez had hoped to challenge Commissioner Stanley Moore, who   
   was appointed to replace William Beavers after Beavers was   
   convicted of taking campaign and county expense money for   
   personal use without paying taxes. Also running are Robert McKay   
   and Nicholas Smith.   
   Sanchez said he was not sure whether he’d appeal.   
      
   “I’m not a legal beagle, but I thought I was eligible,” he said.   
   “They didn’t want to see me on this ballot. That’s what it’s   
   about.”   
      
   Another convicted felon, former Chicago Ald. Isaac “Ike”   
   Carothers, filed to run in another County Board district.   
      
   http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/clout/chi-hearing-   
   officer-recommends-sanchez-be-thrown-off-ballot-   
   20140116,0,4629987.story   
      
        
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)