Chicago aldermen George Cardenas (12th Ward) and Tom Allen (38th Ward) are up in arms over an example of what they call wasteful government spending -- a problem city reformers have decried since the dawn of time. Problem is, these guys picked the wrong fight.
Last week, a federal hiring monitor awarded $75,000 to Jay Stone, the son of alderman Bernard Stone (50th Ward) as compensation for an unfair 2003 aldermanic election. In that 32nd Ward race, Stone advanced an independent, anti-machine platform that included term limits and other campaign reforms, but ultimately lost by a considerable margin to incumbent Ted Matlak:
Federal monitor Noelle Brennan believed Stone's claim that he didn't stand a chance against then-Ald. Ted Matlak (32nd) because Matlak had the support of a political army of city workers commanded on city time by now-convicted former First Deputy Water Commissioner Donald Tomczak.
Cardenas, who has long been bolstered by the pro-Daley Hispanic Democratic Organization, lashed out at news of the settlement, suggesting that Stone was an inadequate candidate who stood zero chance of winning:
"Somebody lost an election and, somehow, that's an injury the city is liable for? It's an outrage. This is crazy. What about all the people who lost elections against the union machine? This monitor has no clue."
Allen, a little more reserved, also rebuked the settlement:
"We've got potholes to fix. We spend $20 million on snow removal and the federal monitor decides in her infinite wisdom to give somebody $75,000 because they lost an election? Can I sign up for that program?"
But Cardenas and Allen miss the point.
(More after the jump ...)
The anti-democratic machine in Chicago and Cook County needs to be dismantled and is clearly not going to reform itself. Stone's compensation -- and the full $12 million granted to victims of the city's rigged hiring system -- makes a statement that the longstanding system of patronage and political discrimination will no longer stand.
Moreover, as the Chicago Reader's Ben Javorsky notes, Cardenas and Allen have had plenty of opportunities over the years to critique how the city employs Chicagoans' tax dollars, but have often held their tongues:
I appreciate that aldermen Allen and Cardenas are finally speaking out against wasteful city spending. But I find it curious that they choose to take their first great stand over the relative peanuts dished out to Stone. I mean, just think of all the potholes we could have filled and the snow we could have plowed with the money saved from, oh, let's see, Hired Truck, the Duffs, the Soldier Field renovation, overruns at Millennium Park, the Block 37 underground train station, and countless TIF handouts to well-connected downtown developers. Funny, those scandals and deals came and went with nary a peep of protest from Cardenas, Allen or most of their council colleagues.
I suppose the aldermen are selective opponents of wasteful spending. As long as it's Mayor Daley doing the wasting, it's OK.
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