See How Much Clout Your Alderman Has With This Handy Map

By Chuck Sudo in News on Apr 9, 2014 2:00PM

Chicago’s new ward maps are set to take effect in 2015 (although some ward offices aren’t waiting for next year, to the surprise of residents) so it’s time to see if your new alderman, if you were mapped out of your old ward, has the necessary clout to get shit done.

The Sun-Times brilliant new “Early and Often” political blog is keeping tabs on the clout of all 50 individual aldermen and has a handy interactive map showing where ward boundaries have changed and whether your new alderman has more clout or less than your old one. It’s a simple color coding: blue means more; orange means your alderman has little clout and you may be better off patching your own potholes and dispensing of your own garbage.

Play with the map a bit then check out the Clout Meter and ask yourself why in God’s name does Ed Burke need a $10 million war chest.