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Better Government Association

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Posted inAnalysis, Perspective, Policy

What I’m Watching—Jan. 20, 2011

by BGA January 20, 2011November 10, 2022

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  • Rapid response. Cook County ethics chief John Pikarski resigns one day after a BGA/WGN-TV/Chicago Magazine report on his apparent conflict of interest: doing business with and giving campaign cash to the same county official whose conduct is supposed to be investigated by his ethics board. BGA called it “the fox guarding the chicken coop.”
  • Lois leaves loudly. The Trib reports on the resignation of iconic maven Lois Weisberg as Chicago’s longtime commissioner of cultural affairs following a nasty riff with Mayor Daley over his plan to merge her office with another and privatize “Taste of Chicago.”  She says the mayor did her dirty and she’ll dish in a new tell-all book.
  • No showdown slowdown. Also in the Trib, Cook County sheriff Tom Dart continues to fight Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s demand for a 16 percent budget cut in his office.
  • Reluctant raises. The Southtown Star reports on another Cook County story—the Board voting reluctantly to approve raises for top heath officials in recognition of the health governing board’s autonomy.
  • Quinn’s question. Also in the Southtown Star, a story about Governor Quinn’s plan to seek public input before he decides whether to sign a bill repealing the state’s death penalty. BGA wonders if he sought similar input before signing the tax increase.
  • Not so fast Eddie. Former alderman and political powerhouse Ed Vrdolyak begins serving a 10-month sentence in a federal pen for his role in a kickback scheme. This is the case that bounced around the federal courts until a sentencing dispute among prominent judges got resolved.

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