Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Public Land, Private Gain, Part 4

"Aldermen must reject the [Chicago Children's] museum plan," says the editorial page of today's Chicago Sun-Times, "if only to show voters that we live in a democracy, where such quaint concepts as the people's will matters, and not the whims of one man intent on getting his way, no matter how poor the plan, no matter how high the cost."

On June 8, the Chicago Tribune spoke directly to the elected officials: "Aldermen, think of the heroes of earlier centuries. Think of your legacy—stewardship or betrayal?—to your descendants, the kids of future centuries. Then tell the museum executives they cannot have Grant Park."

Unfortunately, the majority of those aldermen, not burdened with independent thoughts, spinal cords or an iota of concern for "such quaint concepts" or for what future generations might think, voted 33-16 and approved the plan.

There will no doubt be lawsuits over this (one has been filed already), but don't be the least bit surprised if, in the middle of some night in the very near future, ground is broken and construction is started--because that's exactly the kind of straightforward, forthright, principled leader Mayor Richard M. Daley is.

1 comment:

JB said...

Most of this city's aldermen suck. They suck not only at making independent, sensible, brave decisions, but they also suck royal at just doing their daily duties. Working at City Hall for nearly eight years, with a desk just a couple yards away from both department's commissioner and deputy commissioner's offices, I saw and heard plenty about the aldermen. Some are hard-working, some are slackers, some are just plain dumb. Not a good mix of flks to be making decisions about Chicago's welfare.