City Government is Getting A Bit Nutty

By vouchey in News on Nov 23, 2004 1:00PM

Outside of Chicago, Mayor Richard M. Daley is viewed as a model big-city mayor. And when you talk to the average Chicago citizen, Da Mare is generally thought of as good for the city. Hey, props to you Big Guy. So all that happy, fuzzy stuff aside, what the heck is going on with city government lately?

The city towing stuff just keeps rolling along, with the Mayor finally agreeing to give towing victims/suspects a couple more weeks to come up with payments.

And the Chicago City Council is beginning to feel its oats lately by criticizing elements of city government in a way that suggests displeasure with the Mayor's administration. Shocking! Case in point, yesterday's raking over the coals of city Inspector General Alexander Vroustouris during a budget hearing. Aldermen wanted to know why Vroustouris didn't catch the Hired Truck Scandal, or the city towing problems before the newspapers did.

'I would recommend and ask you to reconsider your employment with the City of Chicago and resign,'' said Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd).

And then last Sunday, Mayor Daley announced he was "sick and tired" of public corruption, so he's outsourcing paving work. Outsourcing paving work is often a good government step, and there's been more than a few problems with city workers messing with asphalt money. But wasn't this a bit out of left field? Chicagoist has been reading about tow trucks lately, not asphalt.