Results tagged “aldermen”

City Clerk Miguel del Valle called for a broad review of Chicago's expanding permit parking program on Thursday, the Chicago Tribune reports.

According to an ongoing investigation by the Tribune, 12th Ward Alderman George Cardenas has been using tax dollars to rent office space for his ward office from a company his family owns. The Tribune's investigation into how city aldermen are using their city expense accounts shows that Cardenas spent $17,120 in 2008 to rent his office, which is in a building owned by himself and some relatives. He told the Tribune he didn't see any problem with that, but then backed down when pressed. "There's no reason to be [in the company] if it's going to cause me headaches," he said. "I do everything aboveboard."

Seven months after they approved Mayor Daley's parking meter privatization deal, the City Council held a hearing to angrily express their outrage over the deal. This from the same City Council that voted 45-5 to approve the deal and, when one alderman complained about the lack of time for review, prompted the classic response from Ald. Mell (33rd), "How many of us read the stuff we do get, OK?. I try to. I try to. I try to. But being realistic, being realistic, it's like getting your insurance policy. It's small print, OK?" Small print, indeed.

It looks like Ald. Manny Flores (1st) has a bit of company in his bid to cap Olympic spending. Earlier this week, Flores introduced an ordinance to the City Council and so far 10 more aldermen have signed on to back the cap. They are, according to the Tribune:

In a rare moment of aldermanic clarity, it seems some members of the city council don't believe what they're being told about the city's Olympic bid. Led by 1st Ward Alderman Manny Flores, a group of aldermen are asking for an independent third-party auditor to look through the city's bid book for potential cost overruns. "It is critically important that we pursue the bid in a financially responsible manner and also in a manner where we provide full transparency for the city of Chicago, and fully vetting and evaluating the merits of the Games," Flores told CBS2. "That's what the residents of the city want," Flores said. "They want the assurance they're not going to be put on the hook long term."

In a symbolic move, 33rd Ward Alderman and Rules Committee Chairman Dick Mell and 38th Ward Alderman and Transportation Committee Chairman Tom Allen are demanding that the Chicago Park District cancel its plans to install meters in over 4,000 parking spots in lakefront spaces. "The slogan is, 'Come out and play', not 'come out and pay.' We want to revisit this. People own the lakefront. People own the beach. In this economy, that's the only vacation people can afford," Allen told the Sun-Times. The Park District announced in May that they would begin charging for parking this fall. Mayor Daley, already bruised and battered from voter outrage over the parking meter privatization debacle, dodged comment on the matter, telling the Tribune, "That's the park district."

• Members of the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid team were to hold a secret meeting this afternoon with aldermen to allay their fears about putting taxpayers on the hook for the cost.
• The amazing story of Ald. Don Parrillo.
• State lawmakers are taking a break from working on the budget and will reconvene Monday to pick the problem back up.

With all the talk about the unions and layoffs, it's easy to forget that those city workers who still have jobs were asked to take furlough days to help ease some budget issues. But as the Tribune reports this morning, seven aldermen have yet to chip in their part by going a day without pay. The seven are: Alds. George Cardenas (12th), Frank Olivo (13th), Howard Brookins (21st), Daniel Solis (25th), Scott Waguespack (32nd), Richard Mell (33rd) and Brian Doherty (41st). Mayor Daley requested that city workers take as much as three weeks off without pay, but we doubt anyone has done that yet. The Tribune has full reports of who has, and who hasn't, taken one (or a few) for the team.

Ald. Billy Ocasio (26th), one of the resident raconteurs of the City Council, is finally freeing himself of that particular yolk. Yesterday, Ocasio announced he was leaving his post to, according to the Sun-Times, "become a $125,000-a-year senior adviser to Gov. Quinn working on social justice issues across the state." And as he jumps ship, Ocasio is asking Mayor Daley to appoint Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus in his stead. Said Ocasio yesterday on the prospect of working for an elected official who could be out of a job after 2010:

Crain's Chicago Business is reporting that Wal-Mart, which has indicated recently that it would like to open more stores in Chicago, may not have the support it needs in the city council to move forward with its plans. The Arkansas-based retailer has its sights set on South side communities, including Chatham, Pullman and Washington Park. But while some alderman support the expansion of the retailer's presence in Chicago, the Mayor's office has indicated that unless a veto-proof majority can be mustered, he'd rather not engage in the fight. Wal-Mart "would be welcome to come to Chicago if they gave their workers the right, if they so desire, to organize," 49th Ward Alderman Joe Moore told the publicantion. "We are simply asking them for that level of fairness."

Through Wednesday, we're counting down the top 8 local stories that captivated us in 2008.

City council hearings began yesterday on Mayor Daley's newly-released 2009 city budget, and our aldermen don't seem to be very happy about many of its proposals. Daley's plan to slash police force hiring was a hotly contested item, as well as the scheme to boot cars after two tickets instead of three - a projected $48 million revenue generator.

The City Council's Zoning Committee approved the Children's Museum's move to Grant Park today by a 6-3 vote after six hours of testimony. Next up, the whole City Council votes on the plan next Wednesday, and Mayor Daley says he has all the votes he needs to get the plan approved.

More aldermanic shenanigans today: Dick Mell (33rd) is re-writing a law he accidentally broke. Apparently, Mell forgot to register his arsenal of guns last year, and when he realized he was going to lose his appeal, he decided to change the law.

Aldermen are breaking local and state laws with astonishing regularity, according to a new report from The Beachwood Reporter and Chicago Talks. No one keeps written records, and not enough aldermen are present for votes or meetings.

A 14-year-old Illinois girl was on a cruise off the coast of California with her family when her appendix burst. The USS Ronald Reagan was dispatched to rescue her, and they did--including a helicopter transport between the ships. [Trib]

Aldermen Helen Schiller and Danny Solis introduced a measure yesterday that would make feeding pigeons illegal. And the punishment would be up to $1,000 fine and six months in jail.

Former Chicago Police sergeant John Herman faces a minimum of 24 years in prison after he was convicted of rape this week. Herman had a bench trial rather than a jury trial, and Judge Joseph Claps not only found Herman guilty, he also had some additional harsh words for the rapist. "The defendant's testimony is unreasonable and nothing short of perjury," Claps said. Claps also didn't believe two officers who testified on Herman's behalf, saying...

Wow, it's been hours since Al Sharpton was in the news, so here we are today with a new round of Sharpton headlines. He held a press conference outside the Mayor's office this morning demanding that the City effectively treat its police brutality issues--or Sharpton will campaign against Chicago's Olympic bid. He also urged aldermen to reject Daley's nominee for police superintendent Jody Weis's because Daley selected Weis without input from the black community. Psst,...

One of the races that we've been watching this winter is the Democratic Primary in the 3rd Congressional District. Incumbent Dan Lipinski is hoping voters will send him back to D.C. for a third term, but he's facing a tough challenge from Mark Pera, an assistant county prosecutor from Western Springs. That challenge may have gotten a little tougher yesterday when Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool endorsed Pera. If you don't remember the 2004 general...

Alderman Howard Brookins Jr. of the 21st ward was hit with a lawsuit this week that claims he owes $41,819.18 in back rent for the Loop offices of his law practice. Brookins didn't know about the suit until the Sun-Times contacted him. Sounds like a fun phone call: S-T: Hi, this is a reporter from the Sun-Times. Brookins: [dryly] Grand. S-T: I'm calling about the lawsuit. Brookins: The what? S-T: The lawsuit? That your office...

Yesterday was the 20th anniversary of the death of Harold Washington. The Chicago of 1983 was very different from the Chicago of 2007: factories were shutting down, and white middle-class homeowners were leaving the city in droves, taking their property taxes and urban stability with them. An alarming upswing in crime and drugs, coupled with escalating racial tensions left many Chicagoans nervous about the future. Richard J. Daley had been dead for seven years, and...

Happy 80th birthday, Alderman Bernie Stone! All the other aldermen threw him a surprise party today. Squee, cutest city council meeting ever.

Yesterday was Principal for a Day, er, day at Chicago Public Schools, and over 1,600 business leaders, politicians and other bigwigs— including 27 aldermen, five players from the Bears, 30 people from JP Morgan Chase, 71 people from Merrill Lynch, and a bunch of White Castle execs—participated. It's a weird, weird list that you can download from District 299, our go-to CPS blog. But CPS has issues that can't be solved with Charles Tillman's suggestion...

Judge Joan Lefkow handed 28 aldermen their asses today, denying their request to force the City to disclose the names of the police officers accused of brutality. Lefkow said that the case is currently being appealed (busy day at the 7th Circuit), but if the aldermen want to sue the City, they can. Have you been wondering which 28 aldermen signed the petition? We sure have. We called Manny Flores's office and were told there...

As several commenters pointed out, Second City Cop has been on the CTA identity theft case for a few days--and the story there is that a reverend who's on the CTA board attempted to keep the arrest quiet. The only reverend on the CTA's board of directors is Charles E Robinson. Our call to the Board's main office was not immediately returned. Jeanette Sliwinski's psychiatrist testified today that she "didn't see any psychotic symptoms"...

Property tax rates for the Chicago area were announced yesterday, and the fight over how much to raise taxes flared up again. While Todd Stroger tried to make his proposed increases more palatable by offering to rebate any leftover cash from a tax hike that hasn't yet been approved, Mayor Daley took a different approach, sending Library Commissioner Mary Dempsey to a city budget hearing yesterday to shill for higher property taxes. Predictably, county commissioners...

Ugh, finally: 28 aldermen are filing a petition to U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow demanding the City release the names of the most-complained-about police officers. The Sun-Times's spot-on editorial is completely degraded by heinous illustration that accompanies it, from the same "artist" who also did yesterday's ricockulously bad Stroger drawing. The Book Cellar is hosting "Chicago’s Wittiest Women Writers" tonight. We deeply resent not being invited to participate, but cannot deny the wit of Stacey...

Aw, Mayor Daley's mad at the press for blasting his new tax plan in editorials and offering pretty negative coverage in articles. (And cartoons.) Addressing reporters at a news conference, he said "...all of the sudden, you decided that everything is bad. Everything is wrong. That I don't understand struggling families. That's an insult to me...You've done a lot to me over the years. You try to put me in different images. And you have...

Mayor Daley unveiled his $5.4 billion budget today, and with it the expected $108 million increase in property taxes and the 10-cent charge on bottled water. City stickers for SUVs will be more expensive, parking fines will be higher, the tax on liquor will also increase, and the monthly phone surcharge that covers 911 costs will go from $1.25 to $2.50. Also, every time you hear a baby giggle, you have to give the City...