THE WATCHDOG'S HAIR GROWS LONGER

In the Bible, Samson is a character who received tremendous strength from God to combat his enemies and perform heroic feats unachievable by ordinary humans such as hand-wrestling a lion, slaying an entire army with the jawbone of an ass and destroying a Temple. He achieved this potency through his long locks of hair. Andy Shaw, Executive Director of the Better Government Association, (BGA) has become a local Samson and his hair just grew longer because of a matching $1 million grant bestowed by The Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Lead Trust.

I first wrote about Shaw’s taking over the BGA on June 19, 2009, when I shared his vision for expanding the organization. He spoke of his many ambitious plans to expand a struggling office with only two employees and that his plan for growth included an, ”accelerated pursuit of foundation grants for specific projects from Chicago’s deeply committed philanthropic community.” The office has grown and the money to help pay for the expansion is coming in. The grant is to “promote honest, efficient, and transparent government through investigative journalism, public policy advocacy and civic engagement.”


In a statement issued by the BGA about the grant, Richard Driehus and Shaw said:

"The BGA reminds public officials—with vigorous investigations, realistic reform proposals and tireless outreach—that these are our tax dollars, not theirs," says Mr. Driehaus. "We are at a critical moment, with government in crisis at all levels, and the BGA represents one of our best hopes for achieving more fairness, accountability, integrity, transparency and honesty from our public officials."

BGA President and CEO Andy Shaw says the Driehaus grant will underwrite BGA projects aimed at ending patronage, waste, duplication, inefficiency and corruption in Chicago and throughout the state.

"Better government is a right and a responsibility," says Shaw, "and if the BGA does its job aggressively, creatively and intelligently, side-by-side with thousands of like-minded Illinois residents, we can make better government a reality."

While there have been BGA investigations where I have not agreed with the conclusions, I will always honor,respect and encourage what they are doing. For more information on the BGA go to www.bettergov.org.