Brunch shorts
Wednesday, Aug 22, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Alderman Stone challenged for Democratic post [This story was broken a week ago by Dog Fight in the 50th Blog. The Tribune offers no hat tip, of course.]
* More eligible for earned income tax credit
* Civic Federation says schools should cut tax levy
* Daley orders second unpaid day off
* Daley stands behind city’s hiring plan
* Mayor to inspector: Deal with it
Mayor Daley on Tuesday flatly denied he’s trying to undermine his corruption-fighting inspector general by creating an Office of Compliance to police city hiring.
“They investigate wrongdoing. This is compliance. It’s day and night. You have to comply first. First you have to get everybody educated about it. You have to work with people. You have to make sure there’s checks and balances in the compliance,” Daley said.
City attorneys filed a hiring plan in federal court sharply limiting the inspector general’s role because they were unable to reach an agreement with federal hiring monitor Noelle Brennan about who should pick up where Brennan leaves off, the mayor said.
* Illinoize: Med-mal reform nears two years…and working
* 18-year old drivers face ban on cell phones
One bill the governor signed Tuesday raises the age at which teen drivers can use cell phones behind the wheel to 19 years old from 18. Other measures require driver’s education to include instruction about distracted driving and call for revoking a young driver’s license if he or she uses a car in a gang crime.
On Monday, Blagojevich signed sweeping teen driving laws that, among other measures, triple the length of time a teen driver must hold a learner’s permit, toughen passenger limits and extend night-driving restrictions for teen drivers.
- Cassandra - Wednesday, Aug 22, 07 @ 11:17 am:
Ms. Brennan has two choices–she can live with it or she can quit.
One hopes she wasn’t naive enough to believe that the Daley administration would give her free reign to reform things. It’s a long struggle. And Daley, to his credit (and unlike Blago) is renowned for hiring smart people and working them to exhaustion. Unfortunately, those smart people are likely working to miminize the impact of Shakman on city hiring.
- Esteban - Wednesday, Aug 22, 07 @ 11:18 am:
Re the cell phone ban for teen drivers: Notice
how they forgot to cover “adult” drivers in
this law (maybe cuz they are more likely to be
voters)?
- Captain America - Wednesday, Aug 22, 07 @ 11:36 am:
I am adamantly opposed to Stone appointing his daughter as his successor. The voters should choose the next 50th Ward Alderman, not Bernie Stone or Mayor Daley.
I remember several years ago that Bernie Stone ran a challenger against an excellent State Representative, Lou Lang, for no apparent reason.
Bernie Stone’s political career is nearly over. I hope Silverstein or whovever defeats him as Committeeman. I imagine Stone will use the time-honored tactic of encouraging multiple challengers to divide the opposition and achieve a plurality, rather than a majority. Someone can set me straight if a majority of 50.1% is required to win the Committeeman post.
- Garp - Wednesday, Aug 22, 07 @ 1:55 pm:
The City of Chicago payroll is a bloated toad.
For example, in 1991 at O’Hare Airport the Director of Ground Transportation reported to the 1st Deputy of Aviation who reported to the Commissioner.
Today, the Director of Ground Transportation reports to the General Manager who reports to the Assistant Commissioner who reports to the Deputy Commissioner who reports to the Managing Deputy Commissioner who reports to the 1st Deputy Commissioner who reports to the Commissioner.
Additionally, Daley has privatized many of the services managed so these individuals don’t even directly supervise employees but only oversee contractors.
Maybe the Mayor should consider reducing his bloated budget than having useless employees not come to work for one day.
These jobs are Shackman exempt so the Mayor will never give them up. Better to privatize the custodians than to cut his cronies. Better to tax drinking water than cut an Alderman’s son in law.
I try to look at life as the glass is half full but there are some news days where the bottom of the cup seems to have a whole in it. This is one of those days. Arrgh.
- Pat Collins - Wednesday, Aug 22, 07 @ 3:24 pm:
More diversity needed
Would it not be better for Mr. Silverstein to NOT challenge Mr. Stone, but rather to help some more diverse person do so?
- Avy Meyers - Thursday, Aug 23, 07 @ 5:53 am:
There was no scoop here. For one it was on my show a month ago. But even before, Silverstein was broadcasting this all over for quite some time.
The dog place copped it off a local message board, posted as a public notice by one of Stone’s top people.
I am more than a little disappointed that Capital Fax is pushing a site that has put forth a tangible percentage of disprovable information as well as mostly speculation and guesses without any real hard facts and sources.
- Rich Miller - Thursday, Aug 23, 07 @ 10:14 am:
Avy, you should’ve contacted me with your scoop. I was completely unaware of it.