They came ready for a victory party and the night was theirs. When the tally was totaled, the tax increase passed with 65 percent of the vote. The tax carried every precinct except one.
Passage means no cuts in municipal services or layoffs of city workers.
Throughout the evening, Karen Graves, a member of the citizens' committee, kept watch on a small computer screen as the votes were reported. She compared them precinct by precinct to the results of August's failed tax referendum. This is an absolute reversal. As evidence mounted that the tax would pass, city employees line danced and City Manager Stet Schanze's three young sons raced around, pumping their arms in the air. Charlie Jones, the South Side's city councilman, crowed over the performance.