Chicago Sun-Times Editorial re: CityPayments:”You too can track city spending”

DXO — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 08:26:44 +0000

Here’s an editorial from today’s Sun-Times.www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1653034,CST-EDT-edit06b….July 6, 2009Ever hear about the City of Chicago spending money on something and think to yourself, that’s just goofy?Just the other day, Ald. Ed Burke griped about the city paying a contractor $915 every time it hauls a body to the morgue, while noting that other cities pay far less.Most of us don’t have Burke’s soapbox. But now, in a more modest way, you too can let the world know when you think the city’s blowing your money.In a clever use of technology to bring information to the masses, two civic-minded, tech-savvy guys — Daniel X. O’Neil and Harper Reed — have set up a Web site, citypayments.org, that offers a searchable database of thousands of city contracts for a variety of goods and services, from Chevy Impalas to toilet seats.The City of Chicago offers much the same information on its Web site, but the database on the independent citypayments.org is easier for the average citizen to use.And here’s the best part: Taxpayers can comment on the spending they find at citypayments.org and even flag an expenditure as "goofy."You might wonder if this will accomplishment anything other than providing hours — or at least minutes — of entertainment.Who knows? Maybe a business aced out of a city contract by a clout-heavy rival will anonymously drop a dime at the site. Maybe a city employee, frustrated by waste in her department, will point out a few interesting secret facts about a contract — again anonymously.This could turn into a fine fishing ground for reporters and prosecutors.At the very least, it offers an education on how Chicago spends our tax dollars.The more folks who plunge into the site, the more interesting things might get.Get snooping.

LEGISLATION: Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: City Council keeping info in TIF funds in black hole

DXO — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:11:26 +0000

Here’s an editorial in today’s Sun-Times.www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1488786,CST-EDT-edit22b….March 22, 2009It was a modest proposal. Two aldermen, Manny Flores and Scott Waguespack, suggested shedding some light on the city’s TIF district deals by putting information on the Internet.TIF stands for tax increment financing, but as we have explained before, this is what they really are: Mayor Daley’s private piggy bank.TIF districts allow the mayor to use hundreds of millions of dollars in property tax money to pay for what he’d like done in the city, with little oversight.When the City Council sets up a TIF district, it siphons all the property tax money that’s generated for the next 23 years from rising property values or new development into a TIF fund. That’s money that would normally go to schools, parks and other taxing bodies.TIF money is supposed to foster redevelopment in neighborhoods, but, of course, there’s always a question of which developers get the money and under what terms.The two aldermen wanted to put much of that information in one easy-to-find Web location for all to see.At a Council committee hearing, Dan O’Neil, a representative of EveryBlock.com, which publishes nifty information such as local crimes and restaurant inspections, offered to help the city get the information out — for free.The matter was put on hold.For more study.This from a City Council that can approve a $1.2 billion deal to lease the city’s parking meters after about an hour of debate.The aldermen’s suggestion was nothing earth-shattering.But the Council’s reaction speaks volumes about their cynical attitude toward open government.

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Chicago Sun-Times Editorial re: CityPayments:”You too can track city spending”

LEGISLATION: Chicago Sun-Times Editorial: City Council keeping info in TIF funds in black hole