Entries associated with the tag "Chicago Sun-Times":

Sunday's Sun-Times shines a front-page spotlight on the roles played by 33rd Ward alderman Richard Mell, Tony Rezko, and Mayor Daley among others in bringing the Home Depot to the corner of Addison and Kimball, a deal that has long infuriated the locals.

Up till now this particular development was known as the one that pretty much forced Mell protege Vilma Colom out of office and ushered in her successor as 35th Ward alderman, Rey Colon.

Oh, by the way, the store sits in its own tax increment financing district. Mayor Daley had the City Council create the Addison/Kimball TIF back in January 2000 to facilitate the development of industry on the site. As you can see, those plans didn't work out.

So far the TIF has collected a little more than $2 million in property taxes -- $2 million that's not going to schools, parks, etc. I'm sure Mayor Daley will find a way to spend it.

Once again the taxpayers of Chicago wind up the big losers. 

I'd like to correct an ongoing mistake I've been making.

For the past several months I've criticized Mayor Daley's oversight boards--the Park District, the Plan Commission, the Community Development Commission, etc--for being rubber stamps.

But thanks to an eye-opening investigation by the Sun-Times I realize that's not the complete story.

Apparently, there's one board in Chicago that stands up to the mayor--or at least to one of his departments--every once in awhile. The Chicago Police Board, a nine-member civilian panel appointed by Mayor Daley, occasionally overturns police department recommendations in hearings involving accusations of roguish, incompetent, or questionable police behavior, according to an article by Annie Sweeney and Frank Main in Sunday's Bright One.

To cite just one example from the story, the police department wanted to fire an alcoholic, manic-depressive police officer who had handcuffed a bartender who refused to serve him. Instead the police board suspended the officer for 17 months without pay.

While this seems like an outrageous decision, I appreciate the board's attempts to give each case a fair shake -- I wish the mayor's Human Resources Board [scroll down] exhibited the same sort of independence. But it makes me wonder: you've got one group of oversight boards routinely approving every dumb idea that pops into the mayor's brain, while another board actually overturns the mayor's police department when it looks like it's making some sense.

Upon reflection, I suggest we put the Plan Commission in charge of police hearings and the police board in charge of planning decisions.

I know, it would be dreadfully unfair to police officers who have been wrongly accused. But on the other hand, it might kill the Michael Reese deal before the mayor can waste any more of our money. 

Boy, that didn't take long.

In July, Mayor Daley promised to purchase and demolish Michael Reese Hospital for no more than $85 million.

He said he'd turn around and sell the property to a developer for at least $85 million, and the developer could build a 7,500-unit housing complex suitable for Olympic housing. All in all, Daley vowed, the deal wouldn't cost taxpayers a cent.

Well, on Sunday, Fran Spielman broke the news in the Sun-Times that the cleanup of the property would cost $32 million, not $20 million, as originally estimated. So Daley will either have to spend more public money to get it ready for resale, negotiate a new deal with Medline Industries to get them to sell it for less, or find a developer willing to pay more than $85 million for the site. We haven't even consummated the deal and it's looking like a boondoggle.

I'm not surprised that the cleanup costs are higher than promised -- the city's notorious for underestimating the cost of a project to minimize public opposition (remember the Brown Line project?). I'm just surprised the news broke so early in the game. Generally, the city doesn't fess up what the real cost of a project will be till about halfway through, when there's nothing the public can do about it. Not that the sheep in Chicago ever actually do anything about the abuses being conducted all around them.

Mayor Daley should give up his dream for the Olympics before we go broke and spend public funds on something we actually need. Maybe it's not too late to ask Oprah to bring back all those Olympians to support a movement to fix up public transportation.

You gotta love the Sun-Times -- God help us all if it goes out of business.

On page seven of today's edition the shameless matter-of-fact corruption of everyday life in Chicago is clearly laid out for anyone to see.

On the right side of the page is a small article by Tim Novak about the $29,000-a-year property tax break that Board of Review commissioners Joe Berrios, Brendhan Houlihan and Larry Rogers gave to Michael Tadin. If you recall, Tadin's the City Hall insider whose trucking company picked up several million dollars in contracts from the notorious Hired Truck program. (By the way, so much for Berrios being the only impediment to reform on that three-person board.)  By lowering the assessment on Tadin's Gold Coast mansion, Berrios, Houhlihan and Rogers gave him about $90,000 in property tax savings until the next reassessment in 2009, which the rest of us suckers have to absorb. Thanks, fellas.

To the left of the Tadin story is an update by Novak on the Park Grill (PDF)--aka the "clout cafe"--which is run by Matthew O'Malley, who fathered a child by Laura Foxgrover, the Park District concessions czarina who helped give him the rights to run the only restaurant in Millennium Park. (Personally, it's my favorite scandal of the Daley years). Bottom line on the update: the restaurant's bringing in about $12 million a year and still not paying any property taxes, thanks to the sweetheart deal it got from the Park District.

Finally, on the bottom of the page is a list put together by Chris Fusco of who in Tony Rezko's empire of pals, aides, and relatives gave what to Barack Obama's senate campaign.

But don't worry, people. What do Daley's lackies and flaks always tell us? Oh, yes -- it's worse in Detroit.