Policy

The key to our watchdog work — shining a light on government and holding public officials accountable — comes down to a single word: Transparency.

Bad habits can be infectious, which may explain why Cook County government’s well-earned reputation for wasteful spending, bloated bureaucracy and resistance to change has spilled over to the county’s independent school districts.

This spring marks the fifth anniversary of a valiant campaign to eliminate the “culture of corruption” that’s ripped off Illinois taxpayers and citizens for decades.

As recent polls indicate, Illinois residents are desperate for state officials they can count on.

Shakman wants the court to remove most of the questionable IDOT hires from their jobs, and appoint a “monitor” to keep an eye on potential patronage abuse in the future.

Boburg shares the back story in an email: “Although I had an inkling from the start that this was more than a ‘traffic study,’ it was tough getting any information at all during the two months before Christie’s election in November.

The Illinois legislature’s “diet doctor” is asking his fattest patients to swallow a bitter streamlining pill and, as you might expect, the Rx is meeting a lot of resistance.