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A $46 million city initiative, Our Roots Chicago, aims to plant 75,000 trees in five years. Chicago lags behind many other cities in overall canopy coverage, and over the years has planted significantly fewer trees in lower income communities of color on the South and West sides.
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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As a city resident, I’m glad to see tree planting is competitively contracted to private contractor (7-D in this case) vrs having City of Chicago/ Streets & San crews perform tree planting. Which raises the bigger question– why is City using city Water Dept crews to perform lead pipe replacement? water line replacement? etc. Or in some cases still has CDOT crews replacing sidewalks & ADA compliant sidewalk access?,etc. All of this work could be competitively bid to private contractors at a fraction of cost vrs city direct hire crews with all their crazy soon to be state constitutionally guaranteed… Read more »
Yup, correct on all counts.
Want something done quickly, professionally and at a reasonable cost? Put out a request for bid, vet the bidders without prejudice (how much will you contribute to my next campaign?), then hire and let the city workers do whatever they normally do. In truth, how are they supposed to do all that extra work over and above their normal duties?
How many generations will pass through Chicago before all the lead pipes are replaced? BTW: the lead pipes that were REQUIRED.
Good idea but giving out contracts to vendors without expecting some cash in the elected thieves pockets is a laughable concept.