The straight 'dope' about the 11th Ward

Well, County Board member Karen Elyea vanquished former County Board member Tuffy Quinonez in the 11th Ward's Democratic primary for City Council. Jesus, talk about two exceedingly poor choices. Go ahead and search their names through the circuit clerk's online case files. I'll wait.

Note that Tuffy is a nickname. His real first name is Theophelo. Charges alleged battery, possession of controlled substances, etc. Folks allege Elyea is no better.

As recently as 2003, she was charged with alleged manufacturing/delivery of cannabis and sale of drug paraphernalia. Some would allege you can still walk into her store, and walk out with a variety of goodies from around the world, but I'm not into hippie stuff.

If you search the name of her live-in boyfriend, James Harnden, you'll see they're made for each other: There are several charges alleging DUI's, drugs, etc. Oh, it appears they might owe some folks money, too. In one case, in which Karen and James are named defendants, you'll notice her last name is spelled AYLEA, so who knows how many more 'typos' may be obscuring her in the system.

There are rumors of other alleged business ventures she's involved in, but if that's true, she must be keeping her distance and letting others do the gritty work. She does appear to try pushing what little political weight she has around, though.

Within a block of her place, someone appears to have exerted some influence to allegedly crush would-be retail competitors in the local market. One nearby store was closed down after it was discovered it was an alleged bodega.

The hammer also came down on another nearby store that may or may not have been offering a little friendly competition, but one can never be sure.

Frankly, I'm surprised Quinonez couldn't beat Elyea (a DINO, or Democrat in name only, as Chuck Sweeny would say) in a ward with such a high Hispanic concentration.

I'm betting Tuffy is pissed, to say the least, that Elyea ran against him after he helped her get elected to the county board, where she's consistently aligned herself with Republicans. So, although she seems to have much in common with Tuffy, she's significantly less loyal to her party's label.

It should be noted Elyea associates with the likes of John Harmon, a Republican former county board member now running for mayor, and Jim Hughes. Hughes, for a time, was a well-known Democrat, but now that his paycheck is signed by his Republican keepers, he's looks to be playing for the other side.

Just last night, while watching the city council telecast, the two DINO's could be seen sitting together. A banister obstructed the camera's view from the chest down, but with a little imagination, it appeared as though Elyea was jerking Hughes off in the gallery, metaphorically.

With only a couple independents challenging her in April to take Jeff Holt's seat, she unfortunately appears to be a shoe-in. From what I hear, Holt is backing her. I always thought he was brighter than that, but you learn something new everyday. Then again, I suppose Tuffy couldn't expect the endorsement after raising a big stink about Holt's residency after he'd already announced he wouldn't be seeking another term on the council. Talk about burning a bridge unnecessarily. That probably made the difference in the primary.

Honestly, I don't care what someone does for a living, and I believe many types of things ought to be legal, or decriminalized at the very least.

Karen and Tuffy are probably fun to party with, but they are not the sort of representation the 11th Ward needs. It looks to me like their only motives for seeking political office are to protect their personal interests.

But, that's par-for-course in the Forest City. You don't gotta love it, but it looks like we gotta live with it a while longer.