“(Inmates) probably get better medical services than you or I do,” Kramer said. “But if you don’t have good medical services, and someone has a beef with you, it’s probably going to go to the federal courts. Lawsuits cost the county a lot of money.”

The bold idea was that private financing could be found for much-needed, big-ticket improvements for the city, making it possible to get more of them done sooner and sparing taxpayers from having to foot the bills. City Hall says that still can happen.

But the infrastructure trust has fallen short of the expectations the mayor laid out. It has yet to raise a dime in private financing for a single public works project, records show. At the same time, it has cost Chicago taxpayers more than $5.1 million to pay for its handful of employees, offices on Wacker Drive,

The board members of Evanston Township High School District 202 have no business throwing up roadblocks between the public and that information. That’s exactly what they’ve done by passing a resolution enjoining themselves from sharing memos and emails written by the superintendent and board president. Comment: The president of that school district is Pat Savage Williams. You’ll be hearing more about her and her central role in “equity training” for area teachers.