And Dan Stands Alone

As a political junkie, I've been looking forward to the April municipal elections. For the past six months, there have been rumors of various candidates looking to topple the mayor of Orland Park. After 20 years of Dan McLaughlin, I've heard the usual rumblings that maybe a change was in the air.  

Most of the speculation started over a year ago when Mayor McLaughlin announced the village would be bankrolling the 9750 rental complex on 143rd and LaGrange. A public hearing on the topic brought out hundreds of residents; most opposing the project.   

I suppose that a would be mayoral candidate would find that encouraging.  

Here's the problem; people seldom come to a hearing to show their support for a proposal, but most people who are vehemently opposed will come out in droves.    

Please pardon my "when I was in band camp" moment, but I remember that at the end of my term on the District 135 School Board, I was asked by the cub reporter from the now defunct Star Newspaper how I felt about being "so vilified". Basically, I was vilified by about a half dozen people. A very vocal half dozen, but never the less, I was vilified by 6 people. I still remember all of their names.  

You can see how it seems like so much more. You've got six people slamming you everywhere, all the time and it seems as if you're lined up against the universe. You see scores of folks speaking out against the 9750 project, with so few speaking in favor of it and it would appear that the mayor would be vulnerable.  

OK, so one of these, or maybe several of these would-be mayors decides that he or she could win. The next step is to get petitions signed, raise money and recruit volunteers. You run into a very silent majority who are happy with the direction of the village and you soon realize that there aren't enough people opposing 9750 to put together an effective campaign.  

After it was announced that Mayor McLaughlin would run for his sixth term without opposition, commenters were critical of several people, namely, County Commissioner Liz Gorman and District 135 President John Carmody because they opted not to run. There were others rumored to be running who chose not to as well. My guess is that they soon realized that the angst about 9750 was not going to generate the necessary support to bring Orland Park a new mayor.  

A lot has been said on both sides of the 9750 issue. While it is not without controversy, I believe that McLaughlin has built up enough good will in the last 20 years to earn him the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps a mayor in his first term pursuing something like this would be vulnerable. There is an old adage that "good governmnet is good politics". I guess that proves out here. A silent majority wins out over a very vocal minority. Every time.