Good governance is an issue that is important both at the ward and city levels. At the city level, corruption and patronage hiring continue to damage the quality of the local government. We need a city government that is free of self dealing and a city council that is willing to fight for reform. According to one city hall observer, "Alderman are some of the worst offenders. They have called out friends by name in budget hearings asking about promotions. It's shameless."

The gains that the City made under Harold Washington have eroded. Washington turned a patronage system into a professional system and opened government opportunities to women and minorities. These gains have been largely lost as our system has become what Dick Simpson calls machine politics, reform style. The Shakman decree should be reaffirmed by City Council to make the statement that patronage will not be tolerated.¹ Unfortunately, an ordinance introduced to City Council calling on City Hall to stop resisting Shakman was voted down with only 11 votes in favor. The Alderman of the 48th Ward voted NO. The Shakman decree has been under attack by City Hall and when provided an opportunity to vote in favor of Shakman our Alderman said, 'NO.' We need leadership that is willing to stand up to out-dated ideas.

Furthermore, I propose an ordinance that will limit the money elected officials can receive from businesses and developers receiving waivers or other special considerations from city departments. For example, Aldermen have considerable influence over decisions to waive height restrictions, set-back requirements or offer curb cuts. Knowing this, developers make significant contributions to Ward political offices. Under my proposal, any donation received from a developer or business must be repaid to the donor, if that donor has received any Alderman supported waiver or consideration.

City Council is a legislative body but rarely acts as one, typically awaiting substantive legislative proposals from City Hall and in most circumstances voting in favor of what City Hall presents. The Alderman of the 48th Ward has spent considerable time and energy, not to mention taxpayers money, investigating and holding hearings on the best treatment of elephants at Lincoln Park Zoo but has done nothing to address on-going patronage, failing schools, better east-west public transportation, or curb-side recycling.

At the ward level, I propose a system of decision making that is inclusive of a broad representation of people in the Ward. Block clubs will be consulted, as well as individuals and groups in areas closely touched by a development or other ward decision. Significant zoning and development decisions would be taken to the Zoning and Planning committee established by Marion Volini for its recommendations and fact finding. Other community groups will be consulted such as the Edgewater Community Council, the Edgewater Development Council, Organization of the Northeast, local church, business, and school leaders. Smaller decisions may rely on discussion with community members of a block or subsection of a block club. In all cases the final decision will be that of the Alderman. As Alderman I will hold myself accountable for any decisions made and not seek refuge behind the recommendations of non-elected community bodies.

I believe in Harry Truman's old standard, 'The Buck Stops Here.' When I make decisions at Inspiration Corporation, I get input from staff and board members, clients and community members, and then I make a decision and am held accountable for it. In the same way, as Alderman. I would seek input from people affected by decisions, including experts and professionals in the fields, and from block clubs, community groups and individuals. In the end, the community will be able to hold their elected official accountable for the decisions made.

1 That decree is the 1983 Shakman decree stemming from the landmark 1969 lawsuit filed by Michael Shakman against the Cook County Democratic Organization, et al. A decision on the case was handed down in 1972 prohibiting hiring and firing of non-policy-making city employees for political reasons. In 1972 a U.S. District Court judge also ruled this type of hiring unconstitutional. Then in 1983 the court issued an extended ruling laying out specific instructions for public hiring. On March 30, 2004, a U.S. District Court Judge refused Mayor Daley's request to overturn the ban and Daley signed an agreement confirming his commitment to the rules set in the 1983 decision. (from an article by Margaret Lyons for The Chicagoist)

"A major purpose of the consent decrees is to preserve the democratic principal that public employment should not be conditioned on one's political beliefs," said Fross. "The decrees protect applicants and employees from the ever-present honey pot of patronage. The fact that the City in the September 2001 enforcement proceeding was found to have disregarded the consent decree procedures in the hiring of roughly 1,800 employees is evidence enough that executive orders and good intentions are not sufficient to protect this most basic constitutional right, the right to cast a free vote." From Roger Fross, Lord Bisell and Brook Website.