Over the past year, Mayor Daley managed to ram through an ill-conceived parking meter lease, hand millions in tax increment financing money over to deep-pocketed corporations, and charter out more local schools to private operators despite no clear evidence that they provide a better education. So it's no surprise that a coalition of civic groups -- organized under the Developing Government Accountability to the People (DGAP) project -- has given the mayor a failing grade for his job performance over the past year. Here are the toplines from their annual scorecard:
Criminal
justice (D); economic development (D); education (D+); environment (B); ethics and corruption (D+); housing (F); and transportation (D).
“Despite all of its efforts to beautify and modernize the city through
environmentally sound technologies," concludes DGAP director Michaela Purdue of the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, "local government does not
adequately and equitably serve all of its communities, particularly
those most deeply and often most negatively impacted by key,
issue-based policies.” Sounds a lot like Amy Dean's appraisal last October.
You can read DGAP's recommendations for boosting those scores here.
