2 little words started race for mayor: forensic audit
Chicago Ald. Scott Waguespack suggested opening the city's books for an audit covering the last 20 years, something that isn't high on the priority list for the powers that be in City Hall. (José M. Osorio, Chicago Tribune / August 16, 2010)
John KassOctober 6, 2010
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Before we feast on the tribalism and intrigue of the upcoming Chicago mayoral campaign, let's not forget something.Let's not forget the guy who may have started it all.
He did it by uttering two little words, and they echoed ominously through Chicago's political sub-basements. Just days after the two little words were said, Mayor Richard Daley announced he wouldn't seek re-election.
Remember those two little words?
"You mean, 'forensic audit'?" said Ald. Scott Waguespack, 32nd. "Those two little words?"Precisely.
Forensic audit.
Waguespack had been talking about running for mayor of Chicago then. He was about the only elected official brave enough to talk publicly about the city's terrible finances, the only one with the guts to say Daley's mismanagement and profligate spending were the cause of it all.
Waguespack's idea of a forensic audit — getting former IRS investigators to open City Hall's books and comb through 20 years of spending and deals — was what you might call a catalyst.
It's just a theory. And you're welcome to disagree. But I think Waguespack set things in motion.
"Just think of what a forensic audit would find about the mayor's friends," said Waguespack.
"And now City Hall is trying to find a guy to keep a lid on things," Waguespack said. "Maybe that's what City Hall wants. A guy to come in and keep a lid on all the things that happened over the past 20 years, to not open up the books."
Sadly, Waguespack's mayoral campaign never got started.
Soon after Daley announced he wouldn't run for re-election, Waguespack realized that he couldn't mount a mayoral effort. He knew that others would jump in, and the campaign would be about personalities and tribalism and who has the cash.
A cursory look at the so-called favorites in the early going reveals some interesting personalities.
State Sen. James Meeks, the African-American Democrat, must be doing something right. How do I know this? Well, the Daleys have chosen a top African-American political operative to front Rahm Emanuel's as-yet-unannounced campaign. And a parade of has-beens and never-weres are lining up to split the African-American vote away from Meeks.
Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart comes up with a snazzy new jail initiative every day. After Shortshanks pulled the plug, Dart stood in a jail garden, holding a couple of eggplants — or perhaps they were zucchini — and suggested inmates could grow their own veggies. Now he wants them to do their own laundry.
And Emanuel? He's been teasing the media the way you'd tease a cat. Rahm gets oodles of free and positive news coverage just by shaking hands at an "L" stop and refusing to take questions. So just think how open his government would be if he's elected mayor.
For all their differences, the three have one thing in common. Not one of them is talking about forensic audits at City Hall. Not one.
And it is what candidates don't say or do that reveals more than speeches and camera-friendly events staged by a public relations firm.
Of course, reform candidates don't listen to me. If they did, then Waguespack would have run for mayor.
Or former federal Prosecutor Patrick Collins would run, or former city Inspector General David Hoffman.
I like Hoffman. He was tough enough to have captained the Yale rugby team — not easy to do when you're 145 pounds soaking wet — and tough enough to become a federal prosecutor, and tough enough to have stood up to Daley at City Hall.
Collins would have been a natural, as the former assistant U.S. attorney who successfully prosecuted former Gov. George Ryan and Daley's patronage chief Robert Sorich. In a one-on-one with Daley, and with his federal connections, Collins would have scared the pants off the mayor.
And Waguespack? He's now running for re-election as 32nd Ward alderman. The Democratic regulars want him gone. So they're sending a series of candidates against him.
You say the words "forensic audit" out loud, and apply it to City Hall, then you must realize there's going to be some payback.
"I'm not saying I would have won, but people reached the point where they were tired of business as usual, and I think Mayor Daley understood that," Waguespack said. "If our city had open books, and people knew where the money was going, then we'd know what we spent and we wouldn't have such a problem with neighborhood services."
Assuming he's re-elected as alderman, Waguespack will continue to offer ideas to bring sunshine to City Hall. These include term limits for the office of mayor, City Council oversight on city contracts worth more than $1 million and creation of an independent budget office.
But no one can say that the top three mayoral hopefuls — Meeks, Dart and Emanuel — haven't been consistent.
Their media shape-shifters have framed the discussion in terms of power and coalitions, not in terms of open government and sunshine.
"If the candidates don't commit to opening the books, then we can't look at the fiscal foundation, which is obviously rotten," Waguespack said. "And they'll be giving the city the same bill of goods that Daley gave, which is no accountability, no transparency, and more business as usual.
"No one is talking about these issues. All the media is talking about are personalities and power," Waguespack said.
And no forensic audits.
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Comments (18)
Add / View comments | Discussion FAQDrBill at 8:37 PM October 06, 2010Kass spends his time seeing gloom in everything--he is the Greek seeking the honest man in Chicago land--Well John,it isn't going to happen as long as your the observer--It takes a person who sees all sides of everything and not just the gloom--sorry John,you will never qualify--
Tell the Truth at 8:11 PM October 06, 2010My biggest beef with John Kass is that he has known for years how corrupt the Daleys have been. Yet, when Daley Jr. decides to join the Army in support of GW's war of choice, Kass got all weak at the knees and had to genuflect in gratefulness for the biggest boondoggle the Republican corporations had seen since, well, Vietnam.
So spare me the cries for a "fiscal audit." If Kass had any credibility, he would have been asking for "fiscal audits" of every Dick Cheney approved sponsor of the war of choice against Iraq.
remingtonpup at 11:27 AM October 06, 2010You can forensic audit all you want, but anything you find will stop well short of Daley. I can guarantee there is at least one protective layer between him and indictment.
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Kass: Alderman's two little words loom large in race to replace Daley
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