VOTERS CELEBRATE BAN OF ALCOHOL; LIQUOR SELLERS FEAR FUTURE

Chicago had its driest election season ever as voters in 18 precincts, a
record, voted to ban the sale of alcohol in their neighborhoods.

The votes affect 42 establishments in 10 wards, but on Wednesday one
man in one ward was able to take credit for most of the damage.

On the Far South Side, Rev. James Meeks of the Salem Baptist Church
organized his large and influential congregation in a referendum
battle to stop the sale of liquor at 30 businesses -- 25 in four 9th
Ward precincts and five in one 34th Ward precinct.

The church has championed the ballot measure as a way of ridding the
community of rowdy bars while promoting redevelopment.

Meeks said his church received more than 100 calls from residents
Wednesday asking what they can do next to nurture new business growth
that doesn't involve liquor.

"I think it means the community realizes the authority it has, and it
can turn itself around," he said.

The votes, known as local options, represent a small but growing trend
in Chicago, as activists, aldermen and -- perhaps most important --
Mayor Richard Daley push for drying up communities. The result has
been higher success rates and more such initiatives on the ballot.

Daley has been a big booster of Chicago's unique law allowing its
residents to vote to make a precinct or portions of it dry. With
Tuesday's vote, 468 of the city's 2,450 precincts are dry or partially
dry.

"This shows again what can happen when people are determined to take
control of their communities," Daley said Wednesday. "A bad liquor
establishment can tear the fabric of the community out and send it
into a decline."

A local option also can tear up someone's livelihood.

"It's a shock to me to know that it went this way," said Lenwood
Cherry, who for 25 years has owned Cherry's Cocktail Lounge at 11592
S. Michigan Ave. "Why me? I did what I could to take care of my
customers, my building. It's nothing easy to take."

Another 9th Ward business owner, Omar Ziadah of Ziadah Food & Liquors
at 11525 S. Michigan Ave., said he might lose his house if he loses
his business.

"It is not a good feeling knowing that you're going to lose everything
you worked hard for," said Ziadah. "I put all my life savings in this
business and just like that it's gone."

While most of the local options had the backing of the alderman of the
ward, the 9th Ward's Robert Shaw remained neutral in this election.

Records obtained by the Tribune provide one possible reason for Shaw's
stance. His wife owns a company that supplies video poker and other
amusement devices to taverns in the ward, including three
establishments that were voted dry on Tuesday.

"Other than, `The people have spoken,' I don't have any reaction to
it," Shaw said Wednesday. He said the vote may create more vacant
buildings in his ward.

Voters at the polling places were greeted Tuesday by Meeks'
parishioners and a small cadre of men and women hired by the liquor
industry. Both sides passed out fliers and pamphlets.

At times on Tuesday, there were angry shouts between the two factions,
especially across the street from Shaw's Democratic 9th Ward
headquarters where as many as 15 supporters and opponents gathered
outside a nearby polling place.

According to a spokeswoman for the city's Law Department, the
liquor-license holders will be notified that they must stop selling
liquor within 30 days after the election.

The liquor license holder at the New International Amphitheater in the
11th Ward filed a federal lawsuit last week challenging the
constitutionality of the law that allows voters to make dry a single
establishment instead of the entire precinct.

Ald. James Balcer (11th) was pleased by Tuesday's vote.

Local residents "had problems with parking and congestion" generated
by events at the Amphitheatre that draw "thousands" of people, Balcer
said. There also were problems with rowdiness and public drunkenness,
he said.

In addition to the International Amphitheatre, three other ballot
measures approved Tuesday involved liquor license holders at specific
addresses.

One of those was in the 36th Ward on the Northwest Side, where Ald.
William J.P. Banks helped lead the charge to vote dry what
neighborhood leaders contend is a troublesome bar. For good measure,
residents also voted dry the precinct just to the east as "a safety
valve," though it contains no liquor establishments, Banks said.

Voters "came out in force, absolutely magnificent," the happy Banks
said. "The (ratio) of victory was a little better than 6-1. People
were just ecstatic."

Daley reminded voters they will have another chance on Feb. 23 to vote
to make precincts dry. Petitions seeking referendums must be filed by
Nov. 25 with the city clerk.

Tribune staff writers Gary Washburn and Andrew Martin contributed to
this report.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry