Civics Chicago Style

Another Illinois politician hauled off by the Feds, this time a Chicago alderman, Arenda Troutman. The lady has a history of ill-judged remarks and relationships, including a close one with the fugitive alleged leader of the Black Disciples, Donnell "Scandalous" Jehan. Sun Times story:

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Shapiro described Troutman's words on tape as "colorful" and mockingly called her case a "civics lesson" in how things were done in the 20th Ward.

"You want the alderman's support? You pay the alderman, you pay Arenda Troutman," Shapiro said. "And best of all, in the 20th Ward, everything's negotiable."

Troutman is charged with taking $5,000 in cash -- with the expectation of another $10,000, along with $5,000 in campaign contributions -- in return for helping a "developer" convert 5730 S. Halsted into a mixed-use development. The developer actually was fictitious, and the go-between negotiating the deal was wearing a wire. Troutman also allegedly asked for a residential unit in that development in exchange for her help in getting the deal off the ground.

Tribune editorial notes a little history:

Not so long ago, aldermen were being convicted at an impressive clip of roughly one per year: 25 current or former aldermen were convicted of bribery, fraud or other breaches of the public trust from 1974 to 1999. But it has been six years since we sent an alderman to prison--Percy Giles, of the 37th Ward, convicted of racketeering and extortion.

The Tribune further notes apparently things haven't changed.

Levois at It's My Mind has a nice pix.

You will also note that the criminal charges involved a real estate deal for mixed use development, with a residential unit thrown in for the alderman. You might say indicted Wilmette businessman Tony Rezko dabbled in real estate. Rezko was the governor's top fundraiser, did a few deals with Sen. Barack Obama and Rep. Luis Gutierrez, not to mention Patti Blagojevich. And Rezko's former top aide, Kelly King Dibble, was later appointed by Governor Blagojevich as head of the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA), which is pushing mixed use "affordable" (read subsidized) housing into pricey Chicago suburbs.

When you have a scarce resource that's governed not by the market, but by the government, you have an invitation for corruption, locally and at the highest levels.

Recently the NY Sun related the curious tale of recently retired UN Sec. Kofi Annan's apartment with a nice view across the river from the UN. The apartment was supposedly "affordable" housing for New Yorkers. And curiouser and curiouser, Kofi "lived" in the apartment even after taking on the UN's top job. Now some of his relatives live in the apartment.

So the next time a politician says he or she is acting in the public interest, we can be forgiven for our skepticism. And for watching our wallets. And the public-private real estate development next door.