Thursday, October 9, 2008
News / Clout City Blind faith
Posted by Mick Dumke on Thu, Oct 9, 2008 at 6:58 PM
Quite a few aldermen fretted aloud Wednesday that the Daley administration was hurrying them to approve the unprecedented deal to privatize Midway Airport—in fact, many noted that they didn’t see the specifics of the plan until a few days before the meeting, and several told me point blank that they didn’t understand it well enough to know if it really was a good deal. "It’s a leap of faith," as Sixth Ward alderman Freddrenna Lyle put it. They all voted for it anyway. It passed 49-0.
There was a simple reason for the seeming contradiction, according to 27th Ward alderman Walter Burnett, one of the most vocal worriers. "You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t," he said in an interview Thursday. And he decided he’d rather be damned for doing.
"It’s hard because it’s a budget crisis and you feel you have to do something about it, you have to bring some money in, but you feel rushed," he said. "The only reason all of us went with it is that some deal is better than no deal. The money is too good. And [city budget officials] made allusions to the fact that if we didn’t approve the deal now it might go down the drain and 'It’ll be your fault.' All these financial crises are putting a lot of pressure on us. I know my colleagues felt the same way—they just weren’t saying anything. If the economy weren’t what it was this would’ve been deferred."
Burnett said he’s still upset the council was put in that position, calling the administration "disrespectful" for assuming aldermen would sign off with just a few days to ask questions and scrutinize the deal. “The media even got the details before we did,” he said. "At the briefing all we heard was what we’d read in the papers. We go home and look on the internet and we read things that we haven’t even seen yet. We have a big responsibility, and I try to take it seriously. But you feel half-blinded."
Not known for publicly criticizing the administration, Burnett said a couple of Mayor Daley’s aides asked what had driven him to question the timing of deal on the council floor. "People were asking me, 'Are you all right?'—like there was something wrong with me," he said. "We just wanted some time and courtesy. We’re the ones who get blamed when things go wrong."
But some of his colleagues were banking on the assumption that voters wouldn’t be paying attention that closely. As one explained to me, privatizing assets gives city officials political cover to jack up fees on the public. If aldermen voted to raise the tolls on the Skyway or the price of parking downtown, citizens might actually get upset at them, he said—so why not let a private company do it and take the blame while the city gets its cut of the cash? By that time, people are likely to forget about the lease deal.
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City Council voted 49-0 . Thats unbelievable! Has it ever happened before? They all agreed with the Mayor? 49-0, I guess I was wrong. I said the Alderman are nothing but pct captains for Mayor Daley. We should divide the City of Chicago into more wards ,so we can have more Alderman!maybe split the 50 wards to make 100 Alderman. Than the vote could be 100-0. This City is pretty fucked -up!
It's so old, so predictable and so not Democracy. The city council is the Legislative Branch of our city government. It exists to LEGISLATE. Yet, what we have is 50 assholes farting on the mayor's command. 50 assholes more concerned with keeping their 100k+ a year part time 'jobs', than with fulfilling the duties of their office. 50 assholes more interested in their own self-interests than in the best interests of those who elected, empowered and entrusted these bung holes with the authority and responsibility to LEGISLATE. 50 assholes so pussy whipped by the shortshanked liar that they dare not ask any other question than 'how high' when the mumbler says 'jump'. To even begin to address what is wrong with these 50 assholes would take gigabytes of text data. Suffice to say that there is no joy in this giant mudhole of a city, this potentially great and beautiful city of my birth, not while the likes of shortshanks the master thief remains the default dictator of the 50 merry assholes. HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT
I assumed the role of the Mayor and city council was that of stewardship and not of ownwership. If we live in a Democracy the issue of selling or leasing public assets would be place on a ballot referendum. In a Monarchy, the citizens are left out of the the decision making loop. Our rulers do not feel obligated to inform us,but only to follow the orders of the king.
Maybe daley is trying to tell us he is too stupid to run the airport.
Will be continually terrorized by these elected thugs.If anyone else would steal taxpayers property it would be a crime. Look at the city pensions also.The investment banking firm Lehman Brothers, which crashed during the economic crisis, may be responsible for approximately $15 million in losses at the city's four pension funds! "It's outrageous," said Ald. Ed Burke, who, along with Ald. Leslie Hairston, has filed a resolution directing the city corporation counsel to sue Lehman Brothers and its CEO, Richard Fuld Jr., in hopes of retrieving the pension fund loss. • • Back story: Fuld denied responsibility for hiding information regarding the firm's bad investments during his appearance before Congress. • • Art smart: Meanwhile, the aldermen want the city corporation counsel to petition the Circuit Court of Cook County for a temporary restraining order preventing the tycoon (Fuld) from selling his modern art collection at a Nov. 12 Christie's auction in New York. • • Art dart: Noting Fuld owns a master sketch titled "Study for Agony I," Ald. Burke stated: "He has created agony for cops and firemen and city workers whose retirement depended on these funds!" • • Shop 'em: In addition to his $15 million art collection, Fuld owns a $13.75 million oceanfront house in Jupiter Island, Fla., a $21 million Park Avenue co-op, and homes in Vermont and Sun Valley, Idaho.
Alderman Burnett's oratory supporting his vote in favor of the Midway deal: Thank you, Mr. President. I just want to say a few things. One, I think that this is a good deal. I want to commend Volpe and Mr. Smith and everyone involved in putting such a deal together. God knows we can use the money right now, but I would be re miss if I did not acknowledge the fact that I really feel like I'm being pushed because for once, we found out about this deal in the newspaper, three days before we sit down and talk about it, and then we, you know, are on an obsticle course trying to figure it all out and look at it and ask all of the questions, you know I think it's very unfair to us and I just have to point that out. I think it's a good deal but I don't like the way that it was shoved down our throats, and I don't appreciate that and I think that's wrong that I had to, if I have a financial decision to make at home, I talk to my wife and we got to work on it together before we make a decision. You know, we don't even get the chance to read the whole document and do all of the research before we have to vote on such a big deal, and I know we're in a financial crisis, but it's wrong how you guys did it and it's very disrespectful to all of us as Aldermen, very disrespectful and I'll tell you if things like this continue to happen as we go through this budget, there's going to be a problem because, you know, you are just choking us and making us do things whether it's right or wrong, you need to give us the respect as elected officials in this council. I know you all have been working on it for years and two years and three years but you got to give us the respect because we're the ones who vote on this and make it happen. Thank you.
aw, poor alderman thinks he was disrespected at least the Alderman got behind-closed-door briefings hey, try being a taxpayer sometime when was the public hearing on this? when did my neighbors and I get to read the proposal and ask questions?
Cut: 1. Gallery 37 2. Tim Degnans contracts 3. Jerry Joyces contracts 4. Victor Reyes contracts 5. The big legal contracts like John Schmidt at $525 per hour 6. Oscar D'Angelo land deals 7. The Duffs contracts 8. The Hanleys contracts 9. Grant money going to Rev Sweet Lucious Hall 10. Michael Marchese should pay more than $1 for prime land 11. Cut John Daley's insurance contracts 12. Cut Michael Daley's legal fees 13. Cut Bill Daley's lobbying and legal fees and investment banking deals 14. Eliminate HDO 15. Eliminate the 11th ward regular Democratic organization 16. Eliminate the 19th ward regular democratic organization with all this you will be giving money back
Alderman Burnett's comments are a good sign. I can't remember the last time an alderman generally supportive of the Mayor has publicly complained about being a rubber stamp. It is the job of every legislative branch to question the executive branch. We just haven't seen much of it in Chicago, and I assume it is because the Mayor has a private agreement with most of the alderman where they agree to ask their tough questions privately and be publicly silent and supportive of the Mayor, in exchange for the Mayor using his control over the city departments to promptly react to local priorities identified by the aldermen. By sharing his frustration publicly, Burnett has broken his promise to the Mayor, without notice. This suggests he is approaching the breaking point with the rubber stamp arrangement. And that's a step in the right direction.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MGT_cSi7Rs
Oh, great. Now the people who make sure that the planes don't fly off into the residential neighborhoods nearby will be the same corporations that fucked up our economy. Here's looking forward to that exiting crash footage!
Sorry rudy, but it's all hot air, stinking, nasty butthole gas, nothing more. No doubt directed BY daley, in his orchestrated symphony of the phony, composed by the master lie maker and performed, on cue, by his fart machine orchestra. If there were a microscopic smidgen of integrity in any of our alderfarts, even a hint of commitment to sincerely, honestly and intelligently performing their duties as LEGISLATORS, there would rarely be a piece of city legislation that passes without public debate, thoroughly discussed during every city council session. Think in terms of the state and federal legislatures, where the Executive Branch must seek the approval of said legislators, prior to doing anything that requires either the spending of taxpayers dollars or the adherence to the laws said legislatures enact. In a Democracy, the Legislative Branch and the Executive Branch both propose and dispose, with the Judicial Branch being the final determiner of the Constitutionality of the actions of the other two branches. In a Monarchical Dictatorship, the Legislative Branch is controlled by the Executive Branch, as is the Judicial Branch, thus rendering impotent both branches' functions as a check on the Executive Branch's power to rule. With the Legislative Branch failing to represent the people, and the Judicial Branch failing to uphold the Constitution, the Executive Branch runs wild. EXACTLY what our country's Founding Fathers feared could happen. And it has, here in the Heartland of America. All the hot air posturing means nothing, if not backed by actions. Methinks the adlerwhores doth protest too much, seeing as their vocal objections are reliably followed by them all, in unison, bending over, dropping their pants, or raising their skirts, as the case may be, and welcoming the corn holing that the mayor is so adept at giving them. Or is it these 50 assholes understanding that they are actually bending us taxpayers over?
They're bending us over and we love it by re-electing them over and over again! We'll never learn!
I agreed with the mayor for many years.
"Alderman Burnett's comments are a good sign. ... a step in the right direction." Burnett's comments were comments a good sign would have been a vote in opposition a step in the right direction would have been a motion to defer in favor of further hearings and deliberation
If you cannot make it on one paycheck, get another job. Make your wife work. Also make sure you get a job that pays well. You might lose your house if you lose your job and live on credit cards. Frank Coconate could wash dishes for Mrs. O'Connor but he is too proud and lazy.
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