The body politic, or at least potential voters, are mighty ticked at state Rep. Eddie Washington for wanting to change the name of the Amstutz Expressway. Poor Melvin E. Amstutz, caught in the middle of a political donnybrook.
As young Bob Dylan recounted: "But it ain't him to blame/ He's only a pawn in their game." The same could be said of the late Mr. Amstutz, the county highway engineer who once upon a time dreamed and worked to build a road from the South Side of North Chicago to Wisconsin. A portion of the dream came true, a small stretch of the road was built which mainly carries rush-hour traffic from the North Side of Waukegan to Abbott Laboratories in North Chicago and Great Lakes Naval Base.
Now comes Waukegan Democrat Washington, locked in what could be a tight race with challengers Angelo Kyle, a County Board member, and Tony Elam. Both are from Waukegan. Washington and Kyle are black; Elam is white. Does The Hound sniff a reverse of the Jane Byrne, Richie Daley and Harold Washington contest in the city of Chicago. Byrne and Daley split the white vote and Harold Washington became Chicago's first black mayor and is still revered in the big city.
Eddie Washington wants to change the Amstutz to the Bobby E. Thompson Expressway in honor of the former North Chicago mayor who now calls Alabama his home. The state rep may have made a strategic error in hopes of currying favor with North Chicagoans. Waukeganites --- at least a lot of white residents --- seem to be up in arms over the proposed name change.
In the meantime, one must ask: What other things are going to be named for Thompson, Lake County's first black mayor? He already has a building named for him, Thompson Manor on Sheridan Road, a senior citizen housing site. Will a school be next?
Or is he, like Melvin Amstutz, just a pawn in somebody's game?
As far as I can tell the Amstutz is in Waukegan not North Chicago so it would be stupid to call it after a mayor from North Chicago when they didn't want it in the first place
THE HOUND SAYS: Part of the Amstutz is in North Chicago, that portion from Great Lakes Naval Base to Buckley Road. Originally, it was to run through North Chicago's downtown, but city officials opposed that because it would "wreck" their downtown, such as it is.