-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
The new allegations involve a third former city employee, who said in Conyears-Ervin’s first few months in office that they were directed to use a vacation day to accompany Conyears-Ervin and her husband, Ald. Jason Ervin, to four senior housing complexes for a holiday ham giveaway. Residents “had to sign for” the hams, according to a May 2021 email sent by the employee to the city’s inspector general’s office, but “(W)What the residents didn’t know is that they were signing petitions to place two individuals on the state representative ballots to be elected."
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.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER