By Steve Rhodes
“Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel is talking to his own candidates for Chicago police superintendent while he awaits the results of a formal search committee,” the Tribune reports.
I don’t care if the mayor names his own police chief but then let’s dispense with the charade of the police board. One of the many ways that Richard M. Daley set up Jody Weis to fail was to go outside the process to secretly interview and hire Weis – without any explanation of why he thought Weis was the best person for the job.
Weis came into the job as the mayor’s secret guy, which only created suspicion and skepticism among cops and the portion of the public who was paying attention.
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I talked about this and other issues on an Off 6rd panel last week.
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“Emanuel said will not circumvent the Police Board search, which is required by city ordinance, but he also won’t ‘stand passively waiting’ for it to recommend three candidates because he wants the superintendent lined up when he takes office.”
How is that not circumventing the search?
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“Emanuel declined to name names Tuesday, but sources said his list includes at least two top officials inside the Chicago Police Department as well as a few chiefs from outside. He plans to encourage them to submit applications to the Police Board by its April 11 deadline.”
So some candidates will be able to name Rahm as a reference?
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It’s deja Daley all over again.
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See also the item Carney Blarney in this column.
Rahm’s Wrigley
Emanuel: Amusement Tax To Fund Wrigley Field Repairs A ‘Non-Starter’.
Good for Rahm. Like Daley, he’s not gonna be wrong all the time.
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But look at how Fran Spielman frames her story:
“Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday he wants to find a way to save 97-year-old Wrigley Field, but the taxpayer-financed plan being floated anew by Cubs’ chairman Tom Ricketts is a ‘non-starter.'”
There is no evidence that Wrigley Field has to be “saved.” Even if that’s the word Rahm used – and I don’t know if it is – that accepts as fact that Wrigley is endangered and requires drastic and even urgent action lest it collapse or face demolition.
That may be what the Ricketts’ want you to believe, but it simply isn’t true. For the 20 years I’ve lived here, and before that I’m sure, Wrigley has been in a constant state of disrepair requiring immediate public financing, and yet, it’s still there!
The Tribune Company invested in its property and so should the Ricketts’. They bought Wrigley with their eyes open – and they can certainly afford it.
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“[T]he mayor-elect said it’s not his job to suggest financing alternatives to Ricketts.
“‘That’s their responsibility. They’ll come up with ideas There’s work that needs to be done. They know that, and they have to come up with a proposal that works both for them as well as for the public. Their job is as owners of the team. My job is representing the taxpayers, and I was clear about that,’ he said.”
Quinn vs. Quinn
Quinn Says Budget-Cutting Governors Have It Wrong
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Illinois Human Services Receive $211 Million Less Than Last Year In Gov. Quinn’s New Budget.
Too Big And Rich To Fail
God forbid a big contributor like Alexi Giannoulias go without a public job.
Libya Leadership
If Obama really wanted to be clear about Libya and rebut those pointing out the inconsistencies in his actions there versus other areas of humanitarian disasters at the hands of tyrants, he would just say that Libya presents a unique opportunity for American military involvement because of the momentum created by recent events in the Middle East as well as the rare consensus among Western allies, the Arab League, and even nations such as China and Russia, which abstained in a United Nations Security Council vote instead of objecting.
I agree with many of the points raised by critics of Obama’s policy on Libya, but I also ever-so-slightly tend to lean toward thinking he’s doing the right thing. Obama’s lack of clarity, more than anything, is the biggest problem here in my view, and that creates room for doubt because it means we’re engaged in an operation that even potential supporters don’t understand.
Architecture Killer
That would be Richard M. Daley.
Snow Job
“The $142,464-a-year deputy commissioner of Streets and Sanitation who presides over Chicago’s Snow Command should be fired for using city employees to perform his personal errands on city time, Inspector General Joe Ferguson has concluded,” the Sun-Times reports.
Send Us Yours
There Are At Least 50 Things Wrong With This Morning Show Visit By Benny The Bull.
iPads in Chicago Classrooms
Absolutely. More, please.
Chicago My Town
Is it yours?
West Side Legend
Catching up with Rick Pettis, who played with the Temptations, Four Tops and Rufus.
Year of the Rookie
Here comes Darwin Barney!
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The Beachwood Tip Line: Scared crooked.
Posted on March 30, 2011