One-time Prospect Heights mayor remembered as 'thorn in the side,' taxpayer advocate
During his tenure on the Prospect Heights City Council, one-time Mayor and Alderman Gerald Anderson developed a reputation as a contrarian, questioning the expenditures and motivations of other city officials he regularly battled during lively meetings.
"He didn't accept a simple answer. He wanted the details," said current Mayor Nick Helmer, who regularly attended meetings as a resident before being elected in 2011. "It was contentious at times."
But throughout Anderson's public service - as alderman for a dozen years and as mayor for a tumultuous 52 days in 1999 - he was trying to make a positive impact on the city and its residents, Helmer said.
It's how the current mayor and those who knew him well say they'll remember Anderson, who died last month at the age of 76.
"He'd beat the drum quite loudly to be heard. At times, he was quite good," Helmer said. "He was contentious and he did have a hard line approach to many things, especially spending money."
"He was not an enigma. You knew where he stood."
Anderson died peacefully Dec. 19 at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights after recent health problems, said Kurt Giehler, a friend and political confidant.
Giehler partnered with Anderson on many of his anti-tax campaigns, such as collecting signatures to defeat a controversial arena project at the ballot box.
Anderson also led the opposition to several attempts to institute home rule that would give the city greater taxing powers, and proposals to bring Lake Michigan water to town.
"He made sure (yard) signs got up," Helmer said. "And to date, we don't have (lake) water, so he must have won some of those battles. He was pretty tough on his beliefs, but he had good reasons. He didn't want people to pay for the taxes."
It was when Anderson was going door to door campaigning for office in the mid-1990s that he met Giehler and asked if he could place a yard sign. The two soon became political allies, battling the establishment together.
Giehler, who ran for mayor in 2007 and 2011, said Anderson played the role of being a "thorn in the side."
"It was certainly a sense of righteousness," Giehler said. "He wanted to do the right thing."
Anderson sometimes had allies on the council, like fellow former Fourth Ward Alderman Carole Dujmovic. She said she'll remember him for his "down-home style of representation" in which he rode down the street on his bike and stopped to talk to residents.
"We need more people like Jerry who want to serve our city," Dujmovic said.
First elected to the council in 1997, Anderson initially won the mayor's race as a write-in candidate in 1999. But incumbent Edward Rotchford challenged the results, and a recount determined that dozens of votes were counted improperly in Anderson's favor. A Cook County judge upheld the new count, and Rotchford returned to office.
Anderson won back his aldermanic seat in 2001 and went on to serve for the next decade.
An electrical engineer, Anderson was also a Vietnam War veteran, having served in the Air Force from 1964 to 1968.
A military funeral service is scheduled for April 10 at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood.