Daley and the ‘Airport Albatross’
Rick Moran at Pajamas Media reports on Mayor Daley’s O’Hare boondoggle - $15 billion (we think the number is more like $20 billion) to build two runways that arguably are not needed in the midst of an economic crisis.
And, of course, if it’s anything like a normal Chicago/Cook County project, it will run overbudget and over deadline (remember Millenium Park and the new CTA mega-terminal in the Loop?)
Here’s an excerpt from Moran’s report:
Now that Governor Rod Blagojevich is, politically speaking, pushing up daises, attention in the Land of Lincoln is going to be drawn to efforts by Chicago’s Mayor Daley to latch on to a portion of the coming “stimulus package” in order to fund his dream of expanding O’Hare Airport.
Never mind that no one wants to pay for it — including the city, the county, the state, the airlines, the taxpayers, or, until now, the federal government.
We hear ya’ Rick. Let’s hope this “albatross” can be stopped, and we urge all local elected officials to make their voices heard with their state officials, county officials, and members of Congress.
Blago’s Removal from Office
Well, as expected, Rod Blagojevich was removed from office today.
No big surprise there.
The most important thing to take away from this situation is that Illinoi scorruption didn’t begin with Rod Blagojevich and doesn’t end with Rod Blagojevich.
With our former governor - a Republican - in jail, and now our current governor being removed from office, it is clear that our state’s problems stem from a bipartisan addiction to corruption and cronyism that has destroyed any semblance of a two-party system in Illinois.
The voters of Illinois need to start holding our state’s attorneys accountable - to ensure they are no longer asleep at the switch and “punting” corruption investigations to the feds.
And reform-minded officials and voters in all political parties need to clean house and restore dignity and integrity to Illinois government.
Our condolences
We sadly have to report to you that David G. Ornee has passed away. David served as a Republican Election Judge and Equipment Manager for many local elections. He will be missed - and our condolences go to David’s family and friends.
Following is the obituary that ran today:
David G. Ornee, age 62, of Western Springs, beloved husband of Janet, nee Dykstra; loving father of Amy, Christina (Jon) deRidder and Mary; proud grandfather of Naomi, Caleb and Peter; loving son of Gertrude and the late Hardy; dear brother of Marie (Klaus) Rau and Glenn (Candy) Ornee. Services were held last week.
Suburban Life Covers Peraica Town Hall Meeting
Commissioner had a great town hall meeting prior to the Brookfield Village Board meeting in which he provided a “State of the County” address.
Suburban Life newspaper gave a great account of the meeting:
In a front of a standing room only audience, Peraica broke down where the county’s dollars come from. He said one-third comes from real estate tax, one-third comes from fees for services provided and another one-third comes from sales tax.
Peraica’s discussion also stirred the room when stating Cook County had the highest sales tax in the country at 10.25 percent. About 50,000 foreclosure cases were handled in 2008 and about the same number is expected in 2009, he said. The foreclosure problem might even extend to 2011, Peraica said.
About $3 billion dollars is collected for the county budget, according to Peraica. The majority of the money is spent on health care, public safety and administrative funcitons, Peraica said.
Peraica ended his presentation with his goal for managing government more efficiently by encouraging a balanced budget and living within the county’s means.
Stay tuned for additional upcoming town hall meetings…
Today’s Board Meeting
The Cook County Board meets today…some more wrangling over the Stroger’s proposed county budget that heaps a huge back-door tax increase ($740 billion in new bonds) on the Cook County taxpayers.
At the last meeting, Tony Peraica introduced several common sense, budget-cutting amendments that were summarily rejected - including a measure to cap the budgets of commissioners’ offices. We thank that last one struck a nerve with some commissioners…stay tuned for what happens today.
Mayor Daley’s “Business Roundtable”
So, Mayor Daley today convened Chicago business leaders for a “roundtable discussion” of how to improve the local economy.
No doubt Hizzoner will spend at least some time drumming up support for his “Runway to Nowhere” O’Hare expansion debacle.
But we wonder if the business leaders in attendance will speak truth to power in urging the mayor to ease up on the fee increases that seem to be hitting Chicago workers and residents left and right … and to pressure Todd Stroger and his allies on the county board to repeal the massive sales taxes enacted last year.
If local tax relief - especially something as harmful to local businesses as sales taxes - isn’t on the agenda, then the roundtable is useless.
In reality, however, Daley is just using this roundtable as an example of his thoughtfulness before pressuring his friend (the President) to send big federal funds his way so he can dole them out in nice contracts to friends, cronies and politically-connected contracts.
The hidden CTA tax
When CTA drivers blow red lights and get picked up by the traffic-enforcement cameras, who pays?
Well, you do, of course.
That’s, right, the CTA pays for its drivers’ fines. A nice little perk for CTA employees. Another hit for our taxpayers.
It would be unbelievable if it wasn’t so…well…believable.
Want some dirt?
We urge all of our readers to visit a terrific new site launched today by our friends at the United Republican Fund: www.IllinoisDirt.com.
As you can see, this site is tied-in with the Twitter hashtag: #ildirt.
Follow the conversation about Illinois Corruption at www.illinoisdirt.com, or via twitter at #ildirt.
Welcome to the battle to reform Illinois!
Alvarez on the ‘Reform Commission?’
Excuse us if we find it a bit comical that new Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez is serving on Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn’s “Illinois Reform Commission.” As head of the County State’s Attorney Public Integrity Unit, she did not aggressively (if at all) fight public corruption (plent of it in Cook County, no?) and the finance chair of her campaign for State’s Attorney was major Blagojevich fundraiser Bob Clifford - a trial lawyer who has made a fortune suing the county that Alvarez now represents.
So we found this snippet funny from CBS 2 Chicago’s coverage of the Commission’s first meeting yesterday:
Another touchy moment came when former state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger, R-Elgin, said “the level of corruption in Illinois is unprecedented and unmatched” and asked “why Illinois’ 100 state’s attorneys are not more engaged in uncovering it and prosecuting it.”
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez, a commission member, sat expressionless as he spoke.
Our Letter in the Sun-Times
Filed under: Reform, Spending, Taxes, Todd Stroger
Our recent letter to the editor was picked up in the Chicago Sun-Times:
Ideas on cutting budget ignored
January 20, 2009Todd Stroger, John Daley and their acolytes on the County Board are delivering their annual winter budget ultimatum: Either raise taxes or face Armageddon.
Last year, they accomplished a trifecta: growing the bloated county budget, rewarding political insiders and raising taxes.
This year, they’ve proposed the same (although they’re trying to hide their tax increase in the form of a $740 million bond — new debt paid for by county taxpayers in an economic crisis).
Not a single one of my fellow commissioners rose to second my proposed amendment to eliminate the $1,200 per month stipend “perk” given to Cook County commissioners — on top of their $85,000 annual salaries.
My fellow commissioners also voted down each of my other proposed budget-reform amendments: a cap on the budgets of commissioners’ personal offices, a 4 percent budget cut and a 2 percent compromise budget cut.
The higher our taxes rise, the more threatened our employers become. That leads to fewer employers, which leads to fewer workers. That, in turn, leads to less county tax revenue — with more unemployed citizens in need of county-funded services.
The choice this year is up to my fellow commissioners. Next year, it’s up to the voters.
Tony Peraica,
Cook County commissioner,
16th District
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