Though the official vote will not be taken until Monday, two Democratic ward committeemen have already cut a deal to replace state Rep. Miguel Santiago, who was indicted last year on ghost-payrolling charges and resigned from the House Wednesday.
Elba Iris Rodriguez, already a candidate for the March 17 Democratic primary, is backed by the right person: 31st Ward Committeeman Joseph Berrios.
Five committeemen will vote to appoint a successor to Santiago’s unfinished term, which ends next January. But Berrios has a weighted vote, based on the number of precincts he covers, so all he needs is one other committeeman’s vote to appoint Santiago’s replacement.
And Berrios has the vote he needs to install Rodriguez, he said Thursday. “Come Monday, it should all come down the way it’s supposed to,” he said.
Rodriguez could not be reached. But the nature of her apparent appointment enrages William “Willie” Delgado, another candidate for Santiago’s seat, who challenged Santiago two years ago on an anti-corruption platform.
Delgado charges that ward bosses put Rodriguez on the ballot merely to siphon votes from him. He said he thinks Santiago pulled out when his chances were clouded by revelations of a $5,000-a-month job for the village of Rosemont as a liaison to the village’s tiny Hispanic community.
The job was widely seen as an attempt to help the legislator’s legal defense fund.
“For them to go behind closed doors in a smoky-room deal to appoint this woman only because they want to block me is really an insult to the community,” Delgado said.
Berrios said he backed Rodriguez because she’s known in the community as an associate director of a housing agency and a Chicago Alternative Policing Strategy unit.