Act Three

Miner, making her first run for mayor, secured the official party designation by an impressive margin on May 6, obtaining 73 percent to Nicoletti’s 24 percent of the secret ballots cast in ward committee meetings throughout April and into early May. Alfonso Davis, a community activist making his first run for political office, finished a distant third with less than 3 percent.

Joe Nicoletti: “This election is about the future, not the past. They keep saying it’s about the future, but they keep talking about the past.” MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO

“I’ve always been the underdog,” said Nicoletti, taking a brief break between cell phone calls and summonses from his Blackberry. “She’s the political insider,” he said, referring to Miner, now completing her second four-year term on the Common Council. “I have all the respect in the world for her, but there’s a tremendous difference here. If there’s an outsider and an insider, I’m surely not the insider. Designations mean little or nothing to the average voter.”

It was a remarkable act of repositioning for the former councilor-at-large and state assemblyman who launched his campaign before a crowd of dignitaries and union supporters at the Palace Theatre back in February. At that time, 1st District Councilor and Palace impresario Mike Heagerty praised Nicoletti’s insider connections. “He’s worked for three different mayors,” Heagerty said. “He knows how the city works. He’s always had these close ties—he was practically raised in City Hall.”

Nicoletti said he relishes the freedom he feels in his new role of outsider looking in. “I understand that we are going to be the underdog and the outsider,” noted Nicoletti between sips of Sierra Mist with lemon. “Rightly so—she’s been on the Council eight years. I’ve been out of public office for 10 years, raising my daughter, taking care of my parents. She’s the party establishment. I consider myself to be a representative of the people of the city. It’s very refreshing.”

Nicoletti expects a long, hard campaign, which he pledges to wage on the issues alone, although in forum after forum it has become clear that the candidates don’t differ greatly on those issues. Both agree about the importance of supporting schools and the Say Yes to Education program. Both position themselves as pro-labor Democrats committed to diversity and inclusion in hiring and contracting. 

The debate appears to hinge on who can make the more credible claim about his or her experience and temperament. Nicoletti said his experience as a legislator, city manager and in the private sector make him the best qualified. “I’m a professional public servant, and proud of it. I ran this city for four years {as Mayor Roy Bernardi’s right-hand man}. I cleaned up the city after the {1998} Labor Day storm.”

Still, you’d think the failure to win over the committee members portends difficulty in the primary? Not at all, said the cheerful 63-year-old North Side native. “Matt Driscoll was rejected by his party. Joanie Mahoney was rejected by the Republicans.” 

Did his own dalliance with Bernardi, the Republican who beat Nicoletti for mayor in 1993 and then hired him as operations manager, hurt him in the committee vote? “That’s a diversion from the real issues,” insisted Nicoletti. “So what if I was a Republican for a few months years ago? The real issue is ‘who is best prepared?’ This election is about the future, not the past. They keep saying it’s about the future, but they keep talking about the past.”

The Miner campaign appears willing to raise the memory of Nicoletti’s defection, subtly reminding anyone reading her post-designation statement that she is a “lifelong Democrat.” In his own way, Nicoletti raises the issues many expect will dog Miner through the summer: personality and temperament. Nicoletti’s statement following the committee endorsement included the following jab: “We have an opportunity to elect a mayor with the experience, vision and temperament to bring our community together.”

In his sit-down with The New Times, Nicoletti expounded: “I’ve proven that I’m the one who can get the deal done. It’s not just about saying ‘I fought Bob Congel.’ Who can sit across the table from Bob Congel and say, ‘You need to hire a diverse group of workers’?”

Both candidates are going out of their way to court minority voters in this campaign, one that may well end up with either a woman or an African-American sitting in the big chair at City Hall for the first time. The early candidacy of Common Council President Bea Gonzalez served as a focal point for many in the Latino and black communities until she withdrew, citing personal considerations. Many leaders see the allegiance of Gonzalez supporters as crucial to choosing the party’s nominee in September and turning out the votes come November.

Nicoletti is eager to claim the mantle of defender of minority rights, and speaks of a “special bond” with people of color. “I won’t rest,” he said passionately, “until the economic barriers have been removed. I have never backed off from a fight for the minority community. I recognized back in the 1980s that, if we were going to grow as a community, everybody would have to participate. I wrote the Minority and Women Business Statute. I stood up for full value assessment when I saw that South Side homeowners were paying more than their fair share of property taxes. And if I’m mayor, I promise you that Blodgett School is not going to come down until a new one is built.”

Nicoletti continued: “This is a country of second chances. I believe that everyone gets to have a second chance.” This is Joe Nicoletti’s third run for mayor.

—Ed Griffin-Nolan