-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
Commissioner Bridget Gainer had the worst attendance record, records show. The North Side Democrat missed 162 of 504 meetings of the board and its committees — nearly a third of the official meetings she was supposed to attend in the past five years.
Summary and audio linked here.
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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I recently sat @ a few board meeetings. Many of these “public servants” surf FB on their laptops and pay very little attention to the testimonies being discussed; however, Mr. Blakemore is quite knowledgeable and entertaining:
http://people.chicagoreader.com/who/george-blakemore/profile/