The Chicago Reader recently posted a spreadsheet of Our Village Elders' expense account transactions for 2008.
Charge it to my account once more
Mick Dumke, Chicago Reader, February 26, 2009
The spreadsheet revealed a wide-spread pattern of mysterious large expenses, with no vendor specified, near year-end. For example:
- On New Year's Eve Eve, Tuesday 12/30/08, Ald. Joe Moore (49th) expensed $34,500.82 with no vendor specified.
- Then, the next day, New Year's Eve, Wednesday 12/31/08, Moore expensed $525.64 with no vendor specified.
Hey, Joe, can I hold on to that $35,000 for ya?
The $35K self-awarded performance bonus came at the end of a year Mayor Daley described as the most severe financial crisis in the City's history, in the same year as aldermen approved a 6% pay increase to $110,556.00 for themselves for 2009, and of course it's all carefully beyond the pale of the City's Inspector General.
Moore's lump-sum expenditures to unspecified vendors at year end deprived the taxpaying public of accountability for nearly half of the $73,280 per year per alderman expense account allotment.
Only Daley appointee Alderman Michelle Harris (8th) had a larger year-end expense with no vendor, $35,147.69 on 12/30/08. Candidate for US Congress Patrick O'Connor (40th) expensed $24,531 on 12/30/08 with no vendor.
13 comments:
Empower the City of Chicago Inspector General. Read and sign the petition here:
http://nhna.blogspot.com/2009/02/empower-inspector-general-of-chicago.html
I'm going to die one day too, Tea Party. Someone's surely going to be waiting up-stairs to kick my ass. It ain't going to be no tea party. That's for sure. I'm guessing I'll get 86'd?
In conclusion, TP. I don't mind making Joe's life a living hell -- but let's not wish death on the man. All our time's going to come to an end soon enough. Let's not push it.
That is just horrible - how do you just spend taxpayer money with no accountability? Joe could have at least purchased a few trash cans for his neighborhood with $35K! How nice to continue to vote to give increases to yourself - what a job these Alderman have!
Get a load of this bullshit form joey moore e-mail:
49th Ward Zoning Process Most Transparent in Chicago
Dear Neighbor,
I'm pleased to report that the agendas and minutes of the 49th Ward Zoning and Land Use Advisory Committee are back online. A well-meaning student intern in my office had accidentally erased the minutes from my web site some time ago. After months of hard work, we've been able to restore the agendas and minutes and put them back up
This asshole moore is really insulting the voters! Listen all of the voters need to remeber these insulting e-mails , joey really thinks we are stupd, I have to give joey the props that for the last maney years he has been all of you goofs who keeping voteing for him proves his tactics, which is "the voters believe all the crap I feed them"
Wise up do not vote for little joey moore in the next election!
Regarding Joe's latest load of email B.S. that an intern is responsible for the missing zoning committee minutes:
Joe's logic suggests those minutes where never shared with anyone, never sent to or by anyone.
The only copies of those minutes were on one computer and nobody but Joe ever saw them or had a copy of them?
Damn right it's transparent.
I read that and couldn't believe he was blaming an intern!! You really have to be kidding with that one - he should be embarrassed to even say something so ridiculous. I have had plenty of interns and I check their work to make sure it's done correctly - give me a break. So where is his transparency with this year end money he took?
not only did he blame an intern, he also said that reposting a few pdf files to a website took "months of hard work". My grandma could learn how to do that quicker than his crack team of web designers.
What is really interesting, is the the Mayor & the Aldermen of our city are screaming about being over budget, haveing to cut city workers finding more ways to tax the people of Chicago. But yet the take raises (making 110,000 dollars) spending money on their expenses without having to be accountable for what they are spending!
This attitude of everyone but our elected officals haveing to make sacrifices is getting to much!
I am drawing a line in the sand and telling the aldermen to take a pay cut, for their part time job. Cut out their expenses 35,000 plus with no accountablity is an insult to the voters.
Time to look in the mirror and start making the cuts to the man looking back in the mirror!!
Recently new to the neighborhood, i was in the Alderman's office and i overheard a lady ask for a check for NYE for "the heartland cafe"... it seems to fit the scenario, not sure if the Heartland is mentioned in the line items, didn't have time to check.
I also think it's quite insulting how all the politicians from the top down are telling the "regular" guy to take a cut and sacrifice, while they live it up! Accountability, transparency, etc etc - all a big joke!
Its most likely a year of receipts that he keeps then pushes threw when he knows he has a surplus left in his expense account.
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