The Reader's Mick Dumke said all that can really be said about yesterday's Chicago City Council meeting.  In a string of glowing speeches, alderman after alderman blessed the Olympics host city agreement -- which exposes taxpayers to unlimited financial liability if the 2016 games go over budget -- and voiced their support for some modest oversight measures. As Dumke put it, "the mayor has persuaded aldermen to work together to give him the authority to determine how they will provide oversight for the Olympics." 

While we don't have much to add, we do want to quickly highlight the remarks given by Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th Ward).  In explaining why she supports the 2016 Olympic bid, Smith chose to cite the "legacy" of the 1976 Montreal games.  Listen:

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SMITH: I was up in Montreal attending a meeting on behalf of the City of Chicago. And having looked at what they call the Old City, with all the old landmarks and so forth, we took a look at another part of the city. Everyone said, "Oh, you gotta go look at this part of the city."  Well, it turned out to be the part of the city that was the legacy from the Olympics.  It was the legacy from the Olympic Village. Astonishing architecture and rolling landscapes that now belong to the people of the City of Montreal.  And I want that for Chicago.  And I'm so happy to be casting a vote in support of this today.

Smith might want to read up on the financial legacy of those games before repeating the words, "I want that for Chicago."  After all, it took Montreal 30 years to pay off the debt caused by construction cost overruns.