September 2010 Archives

(Chicago) I know this is heresy, in the city of broad shoulders.  And I may lose a few friends at city council because of this.  But why on earth do we have so many aldermen?

Every other city in the country has seven or nine or even eleven council members to represent their community.  That seems to work just fine in other major cities.  Why does Chicago have 50 elected representatives?  Pulling down sizeable salaries with all the requisite staffing and perks that come with being the king or queen of the ward? 

You say it's a necessary evil?  To make sure the garbage gets picked up on time and new sewer projects get completed?  But is it really all that complicated?  Is picking up garbage all that difficult to coordinate? 

Every other entity on the planet has had to endure job cuts and do more with less.  Regardless of the industry or the enterprise, everybody I know is doubling up in the work place ... doing what used to be the work of many people.  Why should Chicago city council be any different?               

The new mayor has painful decisions to make when he or she takes office.  We're looking at a mushrooming $600,000,000 budget deficit that'll probably be a billion-dollar hole by the time Mayor Richard Daley hands over the reigns of power.  As his first order of busness, why doesn't the new mayor shrink the size of city council? 

O.K., I guess he'll need some help to do that.  He'd probably need the aldermen themselves to approve the restructuring (which is why this will probably never work).  

Only an uprising by city taxpayers could force such a drastic change.  But it's more than the $110,000 salaries with nice perks.  Look at the needless duplication in staff.  What about the rent aldermen have to pay to lease expensive storefront offices in pricey areas of the city?   50 aldermanic offices.  Think of the money taxpayers could save if you reduce the 50-fold bureaucratic layers you see across the city?   Don't forget all the committees the 50 aldermen have to staff and commission studies for. 

Why not consolidate this tangled mess down to eleven aldermen.  You'd save a ton of money and needless legislative gridlock.  And you'd send a message that city leaders are ready to shoulder their fair share of the economic burden.  Why does everybody else have to down-size and suffer through the lingering effects of the Great Recession?  But Chicago's bloated city hall gets a free pass?        

Julian Crews - WGN-TV News          

(Chicago) Congressional press aides usually have a good idea of where their bosses are, on any given work day.  It's their job to know what's on the calendar.  But staffers were in a state of uncertainty, Wednesday morning, when it came to the whereabouts of congressman Jessie Jackson, Jr.  

"Do you know where he is this morning?"  I asked a sleepy Chicago-based press aide over the phone.  "We'd like to talk to him."  News of the congressman and his self-admitted "social acquaintance" with a cigar & martini bar hostess had just blown up.  There were also new allegations that Jackson directed a scheme to offer campaign millions to Rod Blagojevich for the vacant senate seat - an allegation the congressman denies, saying it's  nothing new.   

I stood with a battalion of reporters, photographers and microwave trucks - camped out in front of the congressman's South Shore home early Wednesday.  He'd been sighted the night before at his wife's Hyde Park fundraiser - keeping the press at arm's length.  He and wife, alderman Sandy Jackson, issued written statements.  But no opportunity to ask questions.  And there was no sign of life in his southside home Wednesday morning.       

"I couldn't tell you where he is right now," Jackson's staffer repeated.  "I think he's going to Washington today."

Subsequent calls to the congressman's Washington press chief were unreturned.  And a busy capital receptionist said she wasn't sure when the press chief would be in.  "Could you ask him to please call me?  What about congressman Jackson?" I asked.  "Is he in yet?  May I speak to him?  What time do you expect him in the office?"

"He's in flight right now," the harried receptionist said.  "He's coming here."  Finally I had a shred of information!  And I pushed on.  "So he's boarded the plane?" .. wondering how we missed him leaving his house (we were in position at 4:00 in the morning).  Or maybe he never returned home the night before, I thought to myself.   

"So he will in fact be in Washington today?" I sought to clarify.  "He's in flight," was all the flummoxed receptionist could tell me.   

Given that it was 8:00 in the morning, I reasoned, it seemed likely he'd reach the Capitol by Noon ... something I could report in my WGN Noon LIVE shot.  "No, he'll still be in flight," the receptionist said. 

"Still in flight??"  I did a double take.  "Does it take that long to fly from Chicago to D.C?"   'No,' I said to myself.  I've flown to Washington before.  My sister lives in a Northern Virginia suburb.  And it's never taken me that long to fly there.  

Early Thursday, we heard the news that Jackson flew into the Capitol late Wednesday night, missing a couple of votes on the floor (and the TV news cameras).  Guess the receptionist described things accurately.  Seems like the embattled congressman is still in flight.

(Chicago) From the investigative I-Team at WGN Morning News comes this ridiculous piece of information.  Believe it or not there's a website called Thisiswhyyourefat.com   And it has pictures of Bacon Lasagna, Cheesey Cheese Casseroles and Deep Fried Cheesecake (not something you're likely to find at Eli's Cheesecake World anytime soon). 

It's the place "where dreams become heart attacks," according to the website creators.  Aside from pictures of stuff you'll never eat (unless you want to kill someone) are some funny, tongue-in-cheek commentaries.   Buen provecho!