Andy Shaw

Perhaps we’d see more progress in Springfield on the big issues if the leaders whose names we do recognize would start listening to their lesser-known rank-and-file colleagues.

It took more than a year of complaints, a Springfield intervention, and even pleas from members of Congress, before the Emanuel administration agreed to hear from homeowners concerned about excessive jet noise from O’Hare Airport.

Thankfully, the budget standoff didn’t poison the entire well, so lawmakers were able to address a number of issues on our Better Government Association reform agenda.

Barbara Byrd-Bennett is gone, but the questions linger on.

Together we shine a light on government and hold public officials accountable for the way they spend our hard-earned tax dollars and make the policy decisions that affect our lives.

Latest mishap involving dog accidentally left in Chicago Animal Care and Control van for days is latest evidence the public and benefactors are being ill-served.

We don’t expect to be loved when we carry out our watchdog mission. It’s enough to be respected, and perhaps appreciated.

The landscape has indeed changed, so reform efforts have to change too if we’re ever going to limit the corrupting influence of money in politics.

BGA’s “open letter” to Mayor Emanuel: Time to finish the reform work that’s left over from your first term.

There’s red ink flowing over every level of government—villages, towns, cities, and, of course, the State of Illinois, which is the biggest fiscal train wreck, followed by the city of Chicago and its public schools.