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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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“In 1,204 locations, there is not enough horizontal or vertical distance between underground water mains and sewer lines, according to the audit. In 39 spots, the “water main or service line in fact crossed through sewer infrastructure,” Witzburg wrote.” OK, what’ really needed here is the perspective of an honest civil engineer who is experienced in potable water distribution system design and construction AND wastewater / stormwater collection system design and construction. I am one of those people so let me add my $0.02 worth. Yes, there are standards that have been in use for a long time. The… Read more »
Thanks very much for that input. Substantive comments like that are really appreciated.
Very good
Ahh, Chicago, there must be something in the water.
Just don’t hire anybody with Cali water management experience. Problem solved.
According to the OIG report, the City continued to work with and pay the contractor, CTR, even after the problem was discovered. CTR also failed to provide “as built” drawings which the contracts required. It would be interesting to find out who is behind CTR.
I don’t know the details of the contract. However, for me as a civil engineer, I wouldn’t have the contractor provide the “as-built”, sometimes called “record” drawings. I would have a surveyor from my office (if we had one) or hire an independent surveying / engineering company to do the surveying work to obtain and draft the “as-built” data). I’m not going to say that I don’t trust each and every underground construction contractor to accurately survey their own work. I just think having an independent party gathering and drafting that as-built data is a better way to ensure impartiality… Read more »
Sure, it would be better if the “as built” drawings were independent of the contractor. But better to have them by the contractor than not to have them at all.
Takeaway: don’t drink the Chicago tap water, certainly never at Cook County Building. Chicago is truly a 3rd world Banana Republic.