Mayor Richard J. Daley of Chicago, acting on instinct, knew just what to do: Say “no” to easy revenue that had been coming in for years. The city’s reputation was far more valuable. By dropping a charge of ten cents for public toilet use in 1973, he provided an object lesson in how not to leave a needlessly bad taste in the mouths of residents and visitors.
A largely unasked question is becoming glaring: Is Illinois doing all it should to use artificial intelligence to make government cost less and work better? So far, the evidence says no.
JB never had to pay this tax.