Progress Illinois

It’s been two weeks since almost every aldermen signed off on Pat Dowell's (3rd Ward) resolution aimed at forcing Mayor Daley to disclose the details of the Chicago’s thus-far-secret stimulus wishlist. While it looks like a hearing on the matter could be around the corner, add us to the list of folks not willing to simply hope the information surfaces.

Yesterday, we filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with both the City of Chicago Corporation Counsel and Gov. Pat Quinn’s office seeking access to the list.  (In the case of the latter, we’re assuming that state officials aren't letting Daley exclude him from the details as well.)

In Springfield, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) recently posted (PDF) their project list online -- an encouraging sign. A spokeswoman for the governor says that more details are soon to follow from other agencies. As they surface, we’ll keep you updated.

In the meantime, Brian Imus, director of the Illinois Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), continued to criticize officials across the state -- but Daley in particular -- for not making their wishlists accessible to the public:

“It’s particularly important in this case precisely because there’s a lot of confusion, even by agencies, about how they can spend this money,” he said. “We’ll be doing them a favor by helping sort out the appropriateness of projects.”

We caught up with Ald. Dowell yesterday for an update on her effort to keep Daley from jamming his pet projects through city council without any input from the members. In early March, Dowell plans to call the heads of various city departments before a joint Finance and Budget committee hearing where she hopes they’ll spill the details of the mysterious “shovel-ready” list. (Finance Committee chairman Ed Burke’s office said they’ve received the request but couldn’t confirm a date).

An exasperated Dowell told us that for the time being, aldermen are still in the dark about how the city could benefit from the federal cash. “[W]e have no idea how much Chicago is going to get from the federal stimulus.  We need to know how this money is to be spent.”

We couldn’t agree more.

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