Wednesday, March 11, 2009
News / Clout City Upon further inspection
Posted by Mick Dumke on 03.11.09 at 08:56 PM
The debate (if you want to call it that) over the latest proposal to strengthen the role of the inspector general centers on whether the office should be allowed to investigate aldermen. But the effectiveness of the measure really hinges on a provision that would expand the office’s budget and shield it from a politically inspired axe.
“To protect the inspector general’s office from retaliatory budget cuts from either the mayor or the city council, our proposal locks in a minimum annual budget amount for the inspector general’s office of no less than 0.15 percent of the entire city budget,” alderman Joe Moore, the chief sponsor, said yesterday.
It's not like aldermen haven't been tempted to take a hatchet to the inspector general's budget before--IG opponent Berny Stone proposed it last fall, and other aldermen have previously expressed their displeasure at the office spending money they'd rather have for, well, almost anything else.
But the proposal from Moore and his allies would do more than protect the office's budget--it would hike it dramatically. This year it would go up 50 percent, from $5.9 million to nearly $9 million.
Inspector General David Hoffman has so far declined to comment to the media on this proposal (or another floated by Daley ally Pat O’Connor), but Moore said he’d called Hoffman and “ran it past” him. “He thought it sounded good,” Moore said. “I haven’t gone into any detail with him about how the money would be spent, but I think, based on previous conversations, that he’d like to do more audits.”
Most of the office’s current budget goes toward salaries for its 65 full-time employees, and most of its employees (43) are assigned to investigations of corruption and fraud in city government. Less than 10 percent of the office’s funding is designated for auditing city departments and programs to find more routine waste.
Moore predicted that this would result in savings far exceeding the extra budget costs. "It would pay for itself," he said. But even if the office could use a funding boost, it’s not clear how much is enough—Chicago already devotes a bigger share of its total budget to the IG’s office than either of the nation’s two other largest cities.
New York City has a whopping $59 billion annual budget, which includes money for a court, jail, and hosptial system that here are the responsibilities of county government. Of that total, about $21 million, or 0.04 percent, is spent on the city's Department of Investigation, which is responsible for rooting out fraud and corruption. But the department is organized to cast a wider net than Chicago’s IG office—separate inspectors are assigned to scrutinize each of the city’s other major departments and agencies.
In contrast, Los Angeles, with a $7.1 million budget, doesn’t have a separate IG or investigative agency at all—those duties are divided up between the city controller and inspectors in some city departments.
Even if some form of Moore’s ordinance passes—which is a big if—it would only allocate money for fighting waste and inefficiency after the fact. Many aldermen believe the biggest problem in Chicago government is its deeply flawed budget process, in which the mayoral administration crafts and presents a budget that aldermen have a couple weeks to look over before deciding whether to vote for it. Most aren’t able to study more than a few portions of it, even if they’re willing. New York, on the other hand, has a $3.2 million-a-year Independent Budget Office that generates reports and analyses that council members can use come budget time.
“Wouldn’t it be cool to have something like that so we could go through the budget line by line?” Moore said. “That would certainly be on my wish list.”
Comments (24)
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“Wouldn’t it be cool to have something like that so we could go through the budget line by line?†Moore said. “That would certainly be on my wish list.†Gee, wouldn't that also be possible if there were 26 out of the 50 bums we have as our city's legislative branch with enough balls to vote no on the mayor's budget until they've actually at least read the motherfucking thing, let alone challenged and debated the details of it?
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Mick, why do you waste your time with this? Everyone in this town knows that anything proposed by Lying Joe Moore, the City Council's biggest hypocrite, is DOA from the start.
Mickey D, Put Joltin Joe Moore on his heels. Ask him why I was not protected by the Whistle Blower ordinance. Was it because he was scared of Daley? With all this corruption , not 1 person has been protected by the Whistle Blower ordinance . Alderman Joe is a phony, this is just another commercial to bull shit the taxpayers , so they think that the Alderman really cares about cleaning up City Gov., when in reality it will still be business as usual as long as the fear Mayor free flights!
Why does the Reader allow every thread to be hijacked by this fellow Coconate who has a personal ax to grind ? BTW, Moores proposal is DOA - no way 26 aldermen vote to allow this. It will be sent to the rules committee to die - just like the future re-appointment of Hoffman.
The 2016 Committee is lying to you. Here are their 5 big lies (1 for each ring)... 1. The games create jobs. We know that some jobs would be created from over $2 billion in bloated construction projects. But we want jobs that will benefit ALL Chicago and that will build Chicago for the future - not for a party that lasts three weeks. The trades in Vancouver were promised great jobs and then found out that those construction jobs were given to low-paid workers brought in from abroad! 2. The games make money. The games are huge sink holes for their host cities. Vancouver is on the verge of bankruptcy and the London games are almost $9 billion over budget. Remember, the Mayor loves to use your money for his pet projects and they always go WAY over budget. Can you say "Soldier Field"? Or "Millennium Park"? Folks, the federal government is broke. The state is $9 billion in the red. The county budget is a joke. The city is over $460 million in the hole. How can we afford over $890 million in stadium construction and all the other costs that we know is involved? The city of Montreal hosted the 1976 summer games and they JUST paid off their debts in 2006! 3. The games bring civic pride. The 2106 boosters say they want to make Chicago a "world class" city. We ARE a great city. What would make us better would be all our kids getting a world class education and all our citizens getting world class health care. Real pride comes from a world class transit system, decent housing for all and a police force that respected human rights, not abused them. Realize that the Olympic Games bring a mini-police state with them and civil rights are curtailed and the homeless are swept away to avoid unpleasant TV images. Ask the folks in Atlanta or Vancouver where poverty was and is being criminalized. 4. The games are green. That's a laugh. Most of the venues in Chicago are slated for public parks which will be torn up and paved over to accommodate stadiums and support facilities and then mostly torn down. A 20,000 seat tennis venue is supposed to be built in the shadow of the Jarvis Bird Sanctuary in Lincoln Park at a cost of $31 million. The Park District is laying off hundreds of workers now and they can't pick up the trash or clean the bathrooms - so does it make any sense to spend our money on a tennis stadium that will destroy the bird sanctuary and then be torn down? It's the same or worse in Douglas Park, Jackson Park and Grant Park. 5. The games will benefit neighborhoods. Despite what some neighbors have been told, you will NOT benefit from the Olympics. You won't get a job. Your business will not reap huge profits. If you live near an Olympic venue you WILL see your property taxes go up. If your home is in the way of a needed venue site - you will be forced to sell and move. If you are part of an effort to extract some goodies from the city in return for your organization's support for the games, you are being duped. Who is the agreement with? Who will enforce this agreement? Have you had good luck with the city's other promises? How is the city's overall record with regard to the rule of law and accountability? Don't be fooled by threats or bribes. The games will not help our neighborhoods. They WILL help gentrify them. They WILL bleed them of needed funds and they WILL push people out. THE ONE SAD TRUTH... They play. You pay. The Olympic Games will bankrupt the city of Chicago and YOU will pay the bills. HELP US FIGHT THE SCAM! The 2016 Committee has raised about $50 million to sell this scam to the public. They will probably spend a total of $100 million before the International Olympic Committee renders its decision in October of this year. Big business, banks, construction companies. consulting firms, wealthy individuals and even Chicago's major foundations have all contributed millions. But it's going to be OUR MONEY that will fuel this boondoggle. The City Council has already pledged $500 million to support the games. The sate is likely to pledge the same. The city also said it will pay for security - the security costs for Vancouver are already at $1 billion! So it will take YOUR MONEY NOW to stop this monumental rip-off that is COMING!
I'm just a taxpayer speaking my mind about a corrupt Administration that continues to spend our tax dollars on special projects like River Walk and the Olympics, while people can't afford there homes,food and medications! Alderman Joe Moore comes up with a distraction like Mick is writing about and da mayor comtinues to steal at the taxpayers expense with NO heat from US Attorney Fitzgerald..
Someone (the IG) needs to ask Joe Moore why his political stratigist, Wayne Fraiser, has a taxpayer funded, city job, and also gets paid to run Joe Moore's field campaign operations and gets paid out of Moore's campaign war chest ? Until Joe answers that, he should shut the f%ck up.
Before anything is done to increase the IG budget any more, someone really need to look at the current IG statistics on how many investigations have been conducted, in what areas and how many city contractors or employees have been found committing misconduct. This office was given a huge boost in its budget when Hoffman took over for Vroustouris, including a big increase in positions. I would like to see just how much more productive Hoffman's office has been as compared to the prior IG. My guess is, if someone looks, you won't see much difference. In fact, I bet Vroustouris, with no where near the amount of staff or money that Hoffman has did as much or more. The City Council should first make Hoffman show how much more productive his office has been with the money and staff given to him. If he can't, he should be taken to task.
Coconate got fired square and fair. The judges thought he lied under oath. Mara Georges would have put him back to work if he was honest. He must have lied under oath. He is getting sued for lying about people. Sachay must think Coconate is a liar or he would not be suing Coconate. The Reader got off the hook, Coconate is still holding the bag, allegedly. Coconate must be careful what he says to avoid lawsuits. Malcolm Chester is a great lawyer for James Sachay a former City Employee. I feel sorry for James Sachay. It hurts when people lie, James will be better some day.
Brown: Local banks duck mortgage do-overs March 12, 2009 4:29 AM | 6 Comments With new statistics showing that Illinois ranks in the top 10 states in foreclosure activity, Cook County Court Clerk Dorothy Brown says she is alerting President Barack Obama and other national leaders that local banks appear to be "attempting to elude the president's foreclosure plan." At a press conference later today, Brown will cite statistics showing that since Obama's inauguration the daily average of mortgage foreclosure case filings in Cook County has surged to 277 a day from 161, a 72 percent increase. "The recent spike in the number of foreclosures filed make it appear as though some banks, even though they have received bailout funds, are rushing troubled homeowners into foreclosure rather than help them restructure loans," she said. If present trends continue, she said, the county will see more than 50,000 foreclosures by the end of the year. According to figures released Wednesday by RealtyTrac, more than 14,200 homes in Illinois received some sort of foreclosure filing in February, a 1.6 percent drop from January, but 62 percent higher than a year earlier. Nationally, foreclosure filings were up 6 percent in February from January and 30 percent from February 2008.
Dorothy Brown was a Daley ringer,she other phony Black mayoral candidates serve Daley well. Also star trek Mara George is the queen of liars. Coconate major screw up was, he turned on the people close to him for a few dollars. In other words he lost his creditability,or street credit.
Screw James Sachay. He is just another washed out Daley hack thrown under the bus.
“Wouldn’t it be cool to have something like that so we could go through the budget line by line?†Hint: The budget has 99% the exact same line items every year, so quit making excuses and do your job. Start now.
Wouldn’t it be cool to have aldermen who can read a budget? Hint: You guys get $6M a year for 3 f/t staff each. Can't you maybe talk amongst yourselves and manage to hire a couple few out of that 150 that can read & analyze a budget if you can't?
" ... the mayoral administration crafts and presents a budget that aldermen have a couple weeks to look over before deciding whether to vote for it." Crazy idea: Oversight of City spending is a 24/7 52-weeks-a-year job (that pays 50 people $105K each and another 150 people $6M). If you want to improve the 2010 budget, start by find the problems with the 2009 budget. Do it now.
It has been quiet in that ward. Some bust out let the cat out of the bag. For real!
The $22 million price tag for this phase of the project, financed through the Central Loop tax increment financing district, increased by several hundred thousand dollars from the contract bid because of unanticipated construction costs, said CDOT spokesman Brian Steele. The bid itself was roughly double the city's original estimate of $10 million to $12 million in 2002. Steele said early estimates had tagged the cost of the entire project at $50 million, but increases in fuel, steel and construction costs will put it higher. He said he could not estimate how much higher, however, until after designs for the next phase of the project—extending the river walk to Lake Street—get under way later this year. Over budget? Come on , not a Daley project. He will just lay off more City Workers. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-riverwalk-city-zonemar12,0,764986.story
But who watches the watcher ? Hoffman was asked to leave the US Attorney's office for being an insufferable lout. He will be gone by October. Any alderman that votes for this is insane.
Collector holds unique autographed baseball March 5, 2009 By CHRISTOPHER PETERSON cpeterson@pioneerlocal.com What do Rod Blagojevich, Patrick Fitzgerald, Jesse White and Mayor Richard Daley have in common? They all signed the same baseball in 2002, and a Winnetka collector has it. Keith McDonough, owner of Bleachers Sports in Winnetka, holds a baseball signed by former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald, and Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. (Rob Hart/Staff Photographer) Keith McDonough, owner of Bleacher's Sports in Winnetka, snatched it up just as America was getting its first taste of the alleged Blagojevich-senate-seat-selling scandal in December. For McDonough, the timing couldn't have been better. "I've had people call and tell me all you need on there is Roland Burris," he said. McDonough may have in his store the last remnants of teamwork between the impeached governor, the man who indicted him, the Illinois secretary of state who stood in his way, and the mayor who appears to be the only person in the country without an opinion on the matter. "This is something that's never going to be duplicated," McDonough said. "These guys will never sign something like this again." He bought the baseball from a dealer in downstate Illinois in December. According to the legend behind the baseball, each man signed at different times, with Blagojevich as the last one on the ball. While he might not go so far as to say that he's got this baseball and it's bleepin' golden, McDonough is looking for the highest bidder. He's asking for at least $1,000 from the lucky political junkie who decides to scoop it up. "Ideally, we'd like to get a charity that wants to use that as a fund-raiser and get the maximum value," he said, although he's open to selling it to an individual collector and then turning over some of the proceeds to charity. For now, though, McDonough keeps the ball safely in its case, right next to a ball signed by Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. "It's in good company," he said.
Moore said he’d called Hoffman and “ran it past†him. “He thought it sounded good,†if you're going to print Moore's claim that our IG semi-endorsed his proposal, don't you sorta owe to readers to call the IG's office and get the IG's "no comment" on both Moore's and O'Connor's proposals on the record?
related to Mr. Patrick McDonough, whistleblower of Hired Truck Scandal fame and www.chicagoclout.com I presume? I think that ball the Patrick Fitzgerald signed is worth at least $10,000.00 in today's money! Also friend and bar hopper of Alderman Moore?
“Wouldn’t it be cool to have something like that so we could go through the budget line by line?†Moore said. “That would certainly be on my wish list.†My Wish List Wouldn't it be cool if in Chicago we had a whole independent branch of government, with a paid, year-round, full-time staff of over 200, with an annual budget of over $22M, whose primary responsibility was budget oversight? And wouldn't it be cool if Illinois state law FORCED the Mayor to get their approval? oh, wait...
Byline: Justin Kmitch Daily Herald Staff Writer Bensenville Village President John Geils has racked up nearly $80,000 so far in legal bills for the libel lawsuit he filed against his mayoral opponent, John Wassinger, the day before the April 2005 election. Some of those bills were paid by the village itself until legal experts Bensenville officials consulted advised that using public funds might not hold up in court, if challenged. So village officials and Geils himself said he repaid the village every cent of taxpayer ...
