ALL OF CHICAGO IS A STAGE

The position of Legislative Inspector General, that was created months ago by ordinance, whose mission will be to “investigate” ethics complaints against Chicago Councilmen, has not been filled. Is anyone surprised? Fran Spielman wrote in Tuesday’s Sun-Times, “The City Council's Rules Committee, chaired by powerful Ald. Richard Mell (33rd), has yet to appoint a search committee to recommend candidates for the four-year term of legislative inspector general.” Once the panel is appointed, the new job has to be advertised. Even if aldermen have a retired judge in mind for the job, the search committee has to go through the motions. Applicants need time to apply and be interviewed. The City Council then must ratify the panel's choice, establish a budget and staff for the office and find a way to fund it.” I have written so many blogs in support of the City Inspector General (who cannot investigate aldermen) and the ordinance that created the Legislative Inspector General (who can investigate aldermen) that people might be getting bored. But the topics are so important that they cannot be ignored. Until I read Spielman’s story, I had no idea that the City Council had not acted upon the legislation. Not that having a Legislative Inspector General will do much good because he will be a “toothless tiger,” as Alderman Joe Moore (D-49th) has said. I wrote in my blog, “As The Alderman Like It” on April 13th, when the legislation was still pending, that the Legislative Inspector General, “would be appointed to a four-year term after a search panel chosen by the Rules Committee recommends candidates to the City Council. The new IG would have subpoena power. But, all investigative findings would have to be presented to the city's Board of Ethics, which has never taken action against aldermen. “ I also wrote about Moore’s frustration in that the ordinance “includes the provision that there must be “signed and sworn complaints,” for an investigation to proceed. Alderman Joe Moore (D-49) finds that provision troubling; ‘It’s as bad, if not worse than doing nothing,’ Moore said.” There is no investigative agency in the world that needs a sworn complaint. Not the U.S. attorney, not the state's attorney. Not the attorney general. Not the [city's] inspector general. It really prevents any serious investigations from taking place." While I wrote in April about the ordinance being a sham, “The proposed ordinance for a “Legislative Inspector General” would create a “Potemkin Office,” that would exist just so the Mayor could tout to editorial boards how he was opening the window on the days of the lives of Aldermen,” it never occurred to me that City Council would not be making some sort of effort to fill the position! How stupid was I?

Alderman Richard Mell (D-33rd) chairman of the The City Council's Rules Committee, has not even appointed a search committee for recommendations of potential applicants to fill the position. The process after the committee makes suggestions entails advertising the job, vetting potential candidates, interviews, City Council ratification of the choice, etc. etc. There hasn’t even been any discussion how the office will be funded or staffed. Because the legislation virtually handcuffs the Legislative Inspector General, including that all investigative findings would have to be presented to the city's Board of Ethics (which has never taken action against aldermen) why is Mell dragging his feet? He is already being humiliated by the actions of his son-in-law Rod Blagojevich so one would think he would at least pretend to care enough about the ethics of the Aldermen to get someone in position to investigate! I concluded the blog back in April by writing, “The Potemkin Villages (Russian: Потёмкинские деревни ) were fake settlements erected at the direction of Russian Minister Grigory Potyomkin to fool Empress Catherine II during her visit to the Crimea in 1787. The villages were facades that appeared to anyone passing by that they were of substance. The villages were hollow, just like this proposed ordinance. Emperor Daley wears no clothes, when will Chicagoans realize it?” At least the Crimeans spent the time painting the facades of the buildings, Mell isn’t even doing that. The stage might be set, but no actor is even allowed to play the role. Mell is really a master thespian.