* 49th Ward mailer uses resident's address

By LORRAINE SWANSON Staff Writer - Pioneer News Star

A campaign mailer purportedly sent from a non-existent political organization that appears to target 49th Ward aldermanic challenger Don Gordon and uses a private resident's home address for the return address hit North of Howard residents' mailboxes last weekend.

Gordon is in a heated runoff with 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore that has polarized the racially diverse neighborhood.

The pink postcard carries a political message that is allegedly intended for North of Howard's low-income residents, stating that Gordon will encourage "more home ownership and not low-income housing." Gordon has repeatedly stated throughout his campaign that he wants to improve and create more affordable rental housing.

The mailer states that it is "Paid for by Conservatives for Gordon" and gives the home address and unit number of North of Howard-resident Toni Duncan, a local blogger who has been an outspoken critic of Moore's and is a Gordon supporter.

"The mailer is fraudulent. There's no such organization at this address and it is intended to shut me up or target me," Duncan said.

"Obviously whoever put this out has no idea of the time and effort (Eva McCann, the CAPS beat facilitator) and I have put in to help residents in some of the neighborhood's low-income buildings establish a tenants' organization to protect their rights and to secure safety for the whole North of Howard neighborhood," Duncan added.

Gordon also confirmed that the political organization from which the mailer supposedly originated does not exist.

Moore's campaign manager, Alex Armour, said the postcards did not come from the alderman's campaign or any of the organizations that have endorsed the alderman.

"My best guess is that (some other local bloggers) sent it out to muddy the waters," Armour stated.

Duncan said about 20 mailers have been returned to her home address that were sent to residents' forwarding addresses that had since expired. Duncan filed a police report with 24th District police, who have placed her residence under a special watch, she said on Monday. Mailers were also turned over as evidence to a U.S. postal inspector for further investigation into possible mail fraud.

Residents as far west as Clark Street and as far south as Morse Avenue reported receiving the mailers over the weekend. North of Howard-resident Maryon Banks said she received one in her mail last Saturday.

"I feel intimidated because it was in my mailbox. I feel like I'm being spotted out," Banks stated, who is African-American and has a Gordon sign in the front window of her residence.

Armour went on to say that Moore's campaign was more concerned about possible violations of voters' civil rights in Tuesday's runoff election after receiving word that Gordon's campaign will place "challengers" at each of the 49th Ward's polling places.

A source with the Gordon campaign confirmed that volunteers will be challenging judges to ask voters with questionable addresses to produce a photo ID based on tracking sheets.

"My fear is that (Gordon's poll watchers) will be challenging those who they perceive to be Joe Moore voters in violation of the 1965 Civil Rights Act and the Help America Vote Act," Armour said.