Thursday, March 28, 2013
The organization claims President Toni Preckwinkle's office refused to divulge information on dozens of her appointments to various county positions.
The Better Government Association (BGA) is suing President Toni Preckwinkle’s Cook County government for denying a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request in January, according to the BGA. The BGA’s denied FOIA request asked for names and addresses of dozens of Cook County board members and commissioners appointed by Preckwinkle. Her office refused to respond after filing for an extension because disclosure of the information “would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” according to the BGA. Preckwinkle’s office did not respond to multiple attempts seeking explanation for the refusal. “It’s clear this information doesn’t belong to the County Board president – it belongs to the public, and she should turn it over…
Saturday, December 22, 2012
The bad news: Job growth in Illinois is too slow, and prison inmates probably watch better TV than you. The good news: Your lawmaker is one of the highest paid in the nation.
Feeling all warm and full of good cheer? Bah! Here's a little something to satisfy the Scrooge in you before the spirit of Christmas takes hold. We Need More Jobs: At 8.7 percent, the Illinois unemployment rate is 1 percent above the national rate. And job creation is improving at a faster clip all around us, in Wisconsin, Indiana, Kentucky, Iowa and Missouri, on average, according to Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner at the Illinois Policy Institute. "The reality is Illinois’ poor policies aren't allowing the state to participate fully in the national recovery. If only Illinois’ unemployment rate were equal to the average of its neighbors, 100,000 more Illinoisans would be working. Yes, jobs are slowly returning to the state, but that’s …
Monday, February 20, 2012
Better Government Association hosts educational session at St. Xavier University for citizen watchdogs.
Want to learn more about how to hold your public officials' feet to the fire? Curious about where your tax dollars are being spent? In honor of Presidents Day, Patch highlights a Citizen Watchdog training session taking place at St. Xavier University. The next Better Government Association Citizen Watchdog Training session takes place Thursday, Feb. 23, hosted in partnership with the Saint Xavier University Center for the Study of Fraud and Corruption. Citizen Watchdog Training empowers you to keep an eye on government by giving you the tools you need to access government. You'll learn from legal experts how to obtain public information using the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act. BGA Citizen Watchdog Training …
Monday, March 7, 2011
A recap of the week's top Evergreen Park stories.
Does anyone else feel like the week went by extremely fast? Well, as many of us gazed out of the window hoping to see some subtle sign of spring, the Village of Evergreen Park was hopping with news. Last week we started off with H&R Johnson Bros. in the Weekly Business Spotlight. Colleen Kant tells us how Tom and Kristin Ollenburger used their expertise to keep Kristin's family business going for the past 17 years. “When we graduated college, we came back to Chicago and at that point it was something that was such an interest (to us),” Kristin said. “Tom got involved as a carpenter and I used my business background. Dad didn’t have sons, so when it got close to the time he was retiring, we decided it was something we could do together and …
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
The Better Government Association is hosting Citizen Watchdog Trainings in Joliet to teach local residents how to be more informed and serve as government watchdogs.
Many local residents feel lost when it comes to their understanding of and involvement in municipal government. They feel like government decisions go over their heads. Or maybe they think something fishy is going on, and although they’re not quite sure how to investigate, they’re concerned enough to have that desire. A group of nearly 50 Chicago-area residents decided to overcome that vulnerable feeling and learn how to take action by attending the first of two Better Government Association Citizen Watchdog Training sessions last week in Joliet. Led by former ABC 7 political reporter and BGA Executive Director Andy Shaw, the training teaches average joes how to monitor local government, access public information and what to do with that …
Steve
5:39 pm on Tuesday, April 2, 2013
There was a time when Illinois was the place to come and find work, Indiana and Iowa are now the places to go. Cook County and Chicago have killed the goose that laid the eggs. Taxes will eat Illinois alive and then the politicans will go to Florida and retire. more ›