Candidates in running for largest number of retiree delegate spots in Chicago Teachers Union history
Seventy-five candidates are currently in the running for the largest number of retiree delegate slots in the history of the Chicago Teachers Union. During the current election cycle to fill all vacancies in the CTU House of Delegates, the union's retiree members will be electing 36 people to fill the vacancies.
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis (above at podium) spoke to the crowd of more than 250 people at the December 1, 2011 retiree luncheon at Maggiano's Restaurant in Chicago. The retiree group within the CTU has grown to its largest number in history and will elect 36 delegates during the voting that takes place by mail ballot in December and early January 2011. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.As of the time when eligibility was established, the CTU had 3,672 retiree members. According to CTU rules, retiree members (who pay drastically reduced union dues) elect one delegate to the House of Delegates for every 100 dues paying union members (or part thereof). [Full disclosure, the candidates include this reporter, who is running as one of 32 candidates on the ART slate, which generally supports the current union leadership and has the support of the leadership and CORE].
The retiree group is only one of more than a dozen groups within the union which elect delegates to the House of Delegates. The two largest groups, the elementary teachers and the high school teachers, elect delegates from their schools. Other groups (including school clerks and assistants, and clinicians) elect their delegates citywide. Delegates from schools are elected at the rate of one delegate for the first 20 CTU members and an additional "associate delegate" for each additional 40 members at the school. Vacancies in the House of Delegates come up every three years, and delegates are elected for three-year terms. All current delegate terms expire following the January 11, 2011 meeting of the House of Delegates, and new delegates will be sworn in and seated at the February meeting. The House of Delegates meets once a month to set general union policy, except in emergencies.
A slate of 32 candidates was endorsed by the CTU leadership, and ran under the ART (Alliance of Retired Teachers) name. Why? Because some of the people on the ART slate were not yet members of CORE and preferred that the candidacies continue as a coalition. The majority of the ART candidates are also members of CORE (including this reporter). 
Part of the large crowd attending the luncheon can be seen in the above photograph. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.The ART slate, which did a complete mailing to all voters, consisted of the following 32 candidate:
Fred Ackerman, Robert Bures, Theresa D. Daniels, Marybeth Foley, Howard Heath, Patricia Jones Arthur Keegan, Patricia Knazze, Karen Knudstrup, Al Korach, John Lewis, Steve Livingston, Sarah Loftus, Beatrice Lumpkin, Mary McCormick, George Milkowski, Monroe Morgan, Lois Nelson, Debby Pope, Ernestene Qualls, Helen Ramirez Odell, George Schmidt, Jean Schwab, Willie Scott, Jack Silver, Jenean Simmons, Marlene Slavitt, Miriam Socoloff, Drunita Steward, Brian Sullivan, James Ward, and Leandres White
Results of the election won't be know for a month.
According to the CTU rules for the retiree delegates election...
CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey joked with the crowd about the growing size of the retiree group and about some recent factional criticism of the current leadership. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt."Nominations for Retiree Delegates will be taken following the Retiree Luncheon at Maggiano’s Little Italy on December 1, 2011 at 1:30 pm. Paper nominations will be taken to ensure accuracy and to move nominations in a timely manner. Members that cannot attend the luncheon may have someone else in Retiree group make a nomination for them. Nominees need not be present to be nominated. Each nominator will be required to complete a nomination form in order to nominate a candidate. Forms will be available at the nomination meeting and on can be downloaded by clicking this link. You must be a member of the functional group for which you are nominating. Those who second nominations may only do so for members of their own functional group."
The Retiree Delegate ballots were supposed to be mailed on December 9, 2011 to members’ home addresses. Some people in the union staff actually mailed the ballots on December 8. The rules state that completed ballots must be returned to CTU with a postmark date no later than January 6, 2012 and that retiree delegate ballots will be counted at the CTU offices on January 14, 2012.
Robert Bures and Karen Lewis during the luncheon. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt. Retiree Delegate candidates wishing to mail campaign literature to retiree members were required to provide stamped and stuffed literature to CTU no later than December 15, 2011 in order for it to be labeled, processed and mailed to members. As of December 12, 2011, two groups, ART (to which this reporter belongs) and the Pysters had mailed campaign literature. The ART slate included 32 candidates asking for the support of the nearly 3,700 eligible retiree voters. Those on the ART slate include members of CORE, PACT, and former members of the United Progressive Caucus (UPC).
A complete list of all the candidates follows here:
ART candidate — and a strong supporter of the union president — is retired Lane Tech teacher and coach John Lewis, seen above at the luncheon. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt. 1. Ackerman, Fred 2. Adler, Gerald R 3. Allen, Chestine P. 4. Anderson, Shirley J. 5. Ardito, Peter 6. Arnieri, Thomas N. 7. Ball, Portia M. 8. Baker, Barbara J. 9. Barron, Leslie R. 10. Bearden, Allen E.
11. Bures, Robert F.
12. Cannella, Nick
13. Cohn, Lance
14. Daniels, Theresa D. 15. Duboff, Shari M. 16. Dykas, Colleen R. 17. Fitzpatrick, Mary B. 18. Foley, Marybeth 19. Friedman, David B. 20. Gerace, Brigid D. 21. Gidden, Judith A. 22. Gray-Jones, Verna 23. Hardaway, Eugenia 24. Heath, Howard L. 25. Jacobs, Mary Jo 26. Jones, Patricia A.
27. Kane, Michael A.
28. Keating, John 29. Keegan, Arthur E.
30. Knazze, Patricia A.
31. Knudstrup, Karen A.
32. Koffman, Gail
33. Korach, Albert
34. Kuner, Charles
35. Laughlin, Laurence
36. Lebrecht, Margaret M
37. Lewis, John W.
38. Livingston, Stephen D.
39. Loftus, Sarah E.
40. Lumpkin, Beatrice S.
41. Magee, Phyllis
42. McCormick, Mary T.
43. Milkowski, George E.
44. Mitchell, Linda L.
45. Moran, John W.
46. Morgan, Monroe
47. Myron, C. Diane
48. Nelson, Lois
49. Orlowek, Sharon A.
50. Perkins, Thelma J.
51. Perrotte, Richard R. 52. Pope, Deborah A.
53. Pyster, Louis N.
54. Pyster, Marianne L.
55. Qualls, Ernestine
56. Ramirez-Odell, Helen M.
57. Rapoport, Barry
58. Reilly, Mary Sharon
59. Roberts, Bernice S.
60. Rodriguez, Maria J.
61. Schmidt, George N. 62. Schwab, Jean R.
63. Scott, Willie
64. Siegel, Jerald A.
65. Silver, Jack
66. Simmons, Jenean D.
67. Slavitt, Marlene
68. Socoloff, Miriam A.
69. Starnicky, Thomas J.
70. Steward, Drunita
71. Stewart, Earl
72. Sullivan, Brian R.
73. Ward, James F.
74. Wilson, Roberta
75. White, Leandres
