47th Ward Alderman Eugene Schulter (D-North Center) announced he will be kicking off his campaign for reelection October 21 at Excalibur, 632 N Dearborn. Excalibur is located in the River North District.
Dan Luna, a spokesman for the Schulter campaign, was asked why the campaign choose an out of area venue. He said, “Excalibur is a great place to have an event and it can hold 500-700 people with room to spare.”
Schulter was first elected to the city council in 1975. He claims credit for
- the renewal of Winnemac Park,
- the movement of the Old Town School,
- the commercial development in the Lincoln Square mall,
- the development of the Sulzer library and
- the Brown Line renewal project.
Schulter has received criticism for
- sponsoring the city Landscaping Ordinance,
- the use of eminent domain to force business in the 4800 block of North Western Ave to vacate.
Excalibur, one of the top 100 night clubs in the country, according to its web site, is known for its 4AM bar. Noted as a three $$$ out of four $$$$ on Yelp!, the club is normally between $30-60 for a visit. Schulter’s campaign web site has a minimum ticket price of $125.
The Schulter campaign is flush with cash, with a balance of $141,535.89 in the Citizens for Eugene Schulter account, $105,620.47 in the Democratic Party of the 47th Ward account and an additional $642,552.92 held in investments by the CFES account. $889,709.28, total, or about $15.89 per person in the ward. The balance in the accounts put Schulter on the map as a potential mayoral candidate in early lists.
His only announced opponent, Ameya Pawar, has filed that he has $5,983.20 on hand.
Ald. Eugene Schulter is asking for a minimum of $125 to attend his kickoff reception at Excalibur, a 4AM nightclub in the River North District.
The ald does an excellent job keeping this the finest neighborhood in the city by far. You can take Lincoln Park AND STICK IT.