A new era begins on Monday

This post may be bumped up towards the weekend, just as a forewarning.

Well I've been wanting to write this post since the conclusion of last month's run off races. I wanted to write about Alderman Lyle who is leaving the city council and the coming of Roderick Sawyer who defeated her to take the 6th Ward seat. Also note that for the first time in 22 years Chicago will be under a new Mayor with Rahm Emanuel.

When there is all this newness I'm sure there is a lot of excitement, but there is uncertainty. What will an Alderman Sawyer really mean to our communities here in the 6th Ward? What will a Mayor Emanuel mean to the rest of our fair city?

Well because there will be new fresh people who will not only lead our city but serve on the Chicago City Council I can sense there is a certain amount of excitement. People were excited about Roderick Sawyer representing our part of the city. Indeed many people reminisce about his father who also used to be Alderman of the 6th Ward.

Unlike what was indicated by a caller who called into a Sunday morning live program with Munir Muhammad on channel 19 of the Chicago Access Network, Sawyer doesn't become Alderman until May 16. And this program featured of course the outgoing Alderman Lyle.

While her service office will remain open through to the end of the week which she says will be the final pay period in her service as Alderman, I do have some remarks.

Mainly that she was an important part of this blog in it's earliest days. She always did offer what she know about certain issues that were brought up on the blog or even in recent months the Facebook page. At least there are indications that she isn't going away.

Sunday morning with Munir Muhammad she let's us know that she will continue to live in our ward. That there is still her not-for-profit organization, Lyle for Kids that she will continue with. I think that's important hopefully she will continue to provide programming for our youth to keep them out of trouble. Which means hopefully I can still catch one of those oratory contests at Harlan High School.

She will remain Democratic committeewoman and even indicated that she will help Kari K. Steele who is part of the 6th Ward Young Democrats (assuming she no longer heads that organization). Hopefully whether or not she will remain a Democratic committeewoman, my hope is that she will continue to be a leader in our community and use her 13 years on Chicago's City Council for the betterment of our community.

At this juncture however it's time to give Roderick Sawyer the opportunity to represent our ward. Let's see what he can do as Alderman, and hopefully he will be able to inspect the ward and be proactive as he claims he would. May he be a successful Chicago Alderman.