Problem Do you wonder how busy downtown traffic is able to go and stop in Chicago? Is it because Chicago has traffic control aides in the streets? That’s up for debate. According to the City of Chicago’s website, traffic control aides assist in facilitating the movement of traffic; keeping intersections clear; allowing police to be...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson In New Jersey, auditors concluded the New Jersey Turnpike Authority “wasted $43 million on unneeded perks and bonuses.” The audit found public funds were spent on an employee bowling league and an event for toll operators which “none of the authority’s employees actually attended.” In an egregious example highlighting the problems with the current compensation...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Between September 2008 and August 2010, the Spoon River Partnership for Economic Development in Canton, Illinois received a $40,000 grant as part of the Grant Management Program. This program allows the General Assembly and the Governor to give “grants to specific local governments, units of government, educational facilities and not-for-profit organizations…for specific purposes to bolster the State’s economy,...
by Wesley Fox In 2008, the Chicago Architecture Foundation was awarded a $100,000 grant from the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity to “assist in the development of the 2008-2009 Special Exhibitions.” According to the DCEO Grant Tracker (Under “Search Grants by Organization” search Chicago Architecture Foundation, Grant #09-335008), the Special Exhibitions will feature a “state-of-the-art scale model...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson Competitive bidding rules help governments save money, increase transparency, and avoid “pay-to-play” politics. Unfortunately, government officials don’t always play by the rules. The Chicago Tribune reports: City officials circumvented competitive bidding rules to steer a $23 million digital-radio contract to Schaumburg-based Motorola, according to City Hall’s top watchdog and documents obtained by the Tribune. Inspector General...
The Problem Blago, Ryan, Walker—Illinois has a sorry history of crooked governors. Currently, the Illinois General Assembly has a monopoly on the gubernatorial removal process by way of impeachment proceedings. Citizen-initiated recall is one way to vest citizens with the ability to remove corrupt or poorly performing elected officials from office. Unfortunately, the Governor Recall...
by Amanda Griffin-Johnson According the 2010 ALEC-Laffer State Economic Competitiveness Index, Michigan ranks 50th for economic performance, 50th for personal income growth per capital, and 50th for job growth. Detroit has lost half of it’s population since 1950 and was the 2009 “murder capital.” Is this the time or place for new light rail construction? From Reason.tv: The Motor City...
The Problem Although tax increment financing (TIF) has been around for over thirty years, many people do not understand how it works, how it affects their communities or their pocketbooks. Most people have no idea a significant portion of their property taxes are flowing into the hands of real-estate developers instead of their schools, public...
by Kate Piercy Although Recovery.gov promised transparency on how the government spends every dollar of stimulus money, USA Today reports “there’s $162 million the website doesn’t disclose,” finding: Recipients of 352 federal stimulus contracts, grants and loans have failed to report how they spent the money, the status of their projects or how many jobs were funded, according...
The Problem Do you know why there are so many single-parent families in Illinois? Not enough fishing! Believe it or not, that’s part of the rationale behind the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Urban Fishing Program. According to the program’s website, “much of Illinois has been transformed from a quiet rural setting into an urban...
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger’s deputy chief of staff, Carla Oglesby, has been accused of rigging contracts. The story in the Chicago Tribune described the details. “A bond hearing is scheduled today for a top aide to Cook County Board President Todd Stroger accused of steering hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts to her own...
The Illinois Policy Institute and Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) released a new report shining the spotlight on state spending: If You Build It, Debt Will Come: A Closer Look at the Illinois Capital Spending Spree. The latest piglet book identifies a series of egregious spending examples included in the $31 billion capital bill that is...
“Imagine for a moment that your father, brother or husband had prostate cancer. That is bad enough, of course, but now imagine that they had to unnecessarily wait in long lines to get the most advanced and least invasive treatment possible, or perhaps, not receive this better treatment at all. Or imagine it is your...
In 2008, the Illinois Dept. of State Police paid 3,520 employees a total of $266,671,219 in wages, which is fourth highest among all departments. What is more interesting is that 730 employees made over $100,000, which is 20.7% of its employees. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean wage for state police and sheriff...