Wednesday, June 4, 2008
News / Clout City "Great."
Posted by Mick Dumke on 06.04.08 at 03:22 PM
Aldermen get defensive when they're accused of being mayoral rubber stamps. But it's a given around City Hall that the fate of most of the matters sent to them for "consideration" has been decided well beforehand. A few examples from the past two days alone:
Accurate prediction made by the chairman of a council committee to a reporter just before the committee began debate of a controversial ordinance:
"It's going to pass."
Exchange overheard in the hallway outside City Council chambers, minutes after a council committee unanimously approved the sale of some city property for $1 to a church:CITY OFFICIAL TO CHURCH PASTOR: Now all we have left is the full City Council, and they'll approve it at their meeting next week. You don't have to come down here for it.
CHURCH PASTOR: OK, great.
Statement to reporter by veteran alderman chatting up the prospects of a proposed ordinance before another committee:
"Well, the committee chairman is obviously in favor of it, and ordinarily if it gets through a committee it'll be approved by the full council."
Sample of aldermanic comments in the first few minutes of another committee meeting:
ALDERMAN A: I think this is great.
ALDERMAN B: I want to commend you. I think this is great.
ALDERMAN C: This is really a great project.
ALDERMAN D: I'd love a project like this in my ward.
ALDERMAN E: Why are we here?
Comments (11)
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What my wife does is her business, especially when she's making $22,000,000.00. Thats twenty two million dollars for you stupid taxpayers that don't understand.
It took me less than five minutes to read a neighborhood paper distributed in the Lincoln Square area of your fine city during a recent visit to realize that TIFs are not all they were cracked up to be when sold to the citizens of Chicago. (And I knew nothing of TIF's when I arrived). I came to this site via a google search to send information about TIF abuse to a liberal friend who lives in Chicago and enjoys whining without thinking. My thought is to make her look in her own backyard for facts, rather than taking on the more "daunting" task of actually pondering how "national" issues evolve therefrom. Thank you for showing (once again) that politicians improve nothing with tax money but their personal lives. I look forward to returning to your city as often as I can before the confiscatory taxes make it into another Gary, Indiana.
How many TIFS are in the 40th ward? How does Patrick O'Connor vote on the TIFs? The alderman, with some notable exceptions, are rubber stamps. They are woefully ignorant and uninformed of city business. Why have alderman at all. So many alderman have gone to jail it is a joke. And to think fat ass Pat O'Connor almost became our State's Attorney. But RMD screwed him on that one too.
Rob, I have to disagree with you. Alderman Pat,the un-official Daley floor leader, is quite svelte.Also, I would like to add, quite rich! The O'Connor you may be talking about is his brother Rob, who is on the Pay-Roll at Water Management. I wouldn't consider Rob fat, he is BIG-BONED!
If we were way back in the day coco-head. My friend Brian would call your sorry ass out,to a duel,and I would honorable serve as his second. Your insults regarding his family are not the act of man,but of a bottom feeder. To bad we don't live in an era of honorable men.
"The alderman, with some notable exceptions, are rubber stamps." true, except for the "some notable exceptions" part
"How does Patrick O'Connor vote on the TIFs?" I assume this is a rhetorical question, but in case it is not, here is a handy cheat sheet for aldermanic voting on TIF: there are currently approx 160 TIF districts in Chicago (they pass so many it's hard to keep exact track), and in those TIF districts there are hundreds of TIF-subsidized projects in all the votes on all those TIFs and TIF projects since 1983, all have been unanimous in favor except for one: Moore voted against the LaSalle St TIF
