Blago's Got This Thing, and It's F-ing Not That Great

By Prescott Carlson in News on Jan 19, 2009 5:30PM

It's probably a safe bet that our infamous Gov. Rod Blagojevich won't be parachuting himself into his last remaining appointment -- a seat on the board of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. The position became available when former commissioner Patricia Young -- who was first elected in 1992 -- decided to take a new position. Young, a single mother, found the necessary evening and weekend hours more difficult and made the change to spend more time with her adopted son. The board oversees Chicago's wastewater treatment, and as Young says, "it's essenial to our lives and essential to protecting our health."

While the appointment is decidedly less glamorous than a seat in our nation's Senate, it is worth $50,000 a year, and as the Sun-Times describes it, it's "often seen as a stepping-stone to higher office." So expect some crony to be slid into the spot under the radar -- there are plenty to choose from that know a thing or two about shit flowing through our city.