So which is it, Mayor Daley?

For months, officials in the Daley administration have insisted publicly that Chicago still owns the street parking system it hastily handed over to Chicago Parking Meters LLC in 2008. They claim the deal just allows the private company to operate the meters for 75 years. Behind closed doors, they aren't as convinced. Mick Dumke, now with the Chicago News Cooperative, makes a great catch this afternoon. Looking through a recent court filing connected to a lawsuit introduced by the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization last year, he finds that city lawyers openly acknowledge they no longer own the infrastructure. "The fact that the Concessionaire now owns the parking meters and receives the meter fees does not eliminate the public benefits,” they write in a dismissal motion. (Emphasis added)

Daley might have another lawsuit to deal with, as well. David Ormsby reports that a Chicago-based class action attorney might file suit regarding complaints about inaccurate meters. This is a campaign issue that isn't going to disappear before February.