Sometimes it takes a tragedy to remind us that public service is more than high level officials with fat salaries and generous benefits, and low-level bureaucrats who watch the clock as they push paper around.
BGA
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation, Newsroom
Pension Official Defends Actions, But Promises Changes
Last week the Better Government Association and Crain’s Chicago Business exposed some questionable behavior of a board member who helps govern the $1.7 billion retirement plan of the Chicago Transit Authority.
Posted inPress Release
BGA Kick Starts “Smart Streamlining” Initiative
A new year brought new opportunities to keep a closer eye on the Capitol with the help of local civic, business, philanthropic and media organizations.
Posted inPress Release
BGA on WBEZ: What’s America’s Problem?
The Better Government Association CEO and President Andy Shaw, Alden Loury and Chicago magazine’s Cassie Walker Burke joined a segment on WBEZ’s “Afternoon Shift” to discuss our UNO investigation.
Posted inFollow-Up, Investigation
Beating The Meter
Five years after city officials effectively sold Chicago’s parking meter system to a private consortium at the urging of then-Mayor Daley, one neighborhood is realizing what this entails – aggressive ticketing – and is fighting back.
Posted inAnalysis, Perspective, Policy
CTA Pension Fund Gives Us More To Rail About
Let’s say a trustee on the board of a public pension plan is running for political office, and solicits campaign contributions from the fund’s investment advisers — firms the trustee has the power to hire or fire.
Posted inFollow-Up, Legal, Results & Reforms
TIGHTER ALCOHOL CONTROLS FOR COPS
Following a BGA/NBC 5 report that found some Chicago-area police departments allow officers to work with high levels of alcohol in their system, a state law enforcement agency recommended a standardized policy that would limit the acceptable blood-alcohol content level to 0.02 statewide for on-duty personnel.
Posted inFollow-Up, Legal, Results & Reforms
PENSION REVIEW PROMISED
After the BGA and Crain’s Chicago Business raise questions about a member of the CTA retirement fund soliciting charitable donations from financial firms working for the pension agency, the Regional Transportation Authority and the CTA retirement fund pledge a review to see whether rules or laws were violated.
Posted inFollow-Up, Legal, Results & Reforms
TAXES PAID
Just days after the BGA questions U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.) about his finances, he pays nearly $16,000 in delinquent property taxes, some going back five years.
Posted inAnalysis, Perspective, Policy
When A Teen Plays Cop
The teenage son of DuPage County Sheriff John Zaruba was too young to vote, buy a beer or work as a deputy in his father’s cop shop.