Fioretti Doesn't Trust Rahm's "Infrastructure Trust Plan"

Image from Chicago Sun Times

Some big political action happened this week as Chicago Alderman passed Mayor Rahm Emmanuel's controversial "Infrastructure Trust Plan" on Tuesday, April 24th.  The vote wasn't very close as 41 voted yes, while 7 voted no.

Of interest to us Sloopers, our Alderman, Bob Fioretti of the 2nd ward voted no.  Yesterday, Fioretti sent an email detailing his opposition:

I voted No on the ordinance because I don't believe the city has taken enough time to think through all the possible consequences. The Trust will be run by a five-member board of business executives who are not responsible to taxpayers and citizens of Chicago. The private board will choose projects and arrange private funding which will likely cost substantially more than public tax exempt financing.

While we appreciate the candor and concern from our local city council representative, we aren't sure what to make of the new trust.

We applaud the Mayor for a new and unique approach to our problems.  These are the types of ideas we wanted from Rahm.  We've read about how innovative this is and it's inspiring to hear how our city is going to be a model for the future.  But frankly, the intricacies of this plan aren't clear and we don't really understand how this will be executed.

On the flip side, we've seen and read about so much political shadiness in Chicago we can't help but be skeptical and cynical.

With that said, the Chicago Sun-Times editorial board sums it up pretty well:

The Trust is an innovative idea with tremendous potential to kick-start investment in Chicago’s crumbling infrastructure, and Emanuel gets much credit for championing it. But a mere six weeks after this novel and complex concept was introduced, our confidence is shaky at best.

Time will tell.  Is Rahm the innovator that many voted for or is he just another Chicago politician we come to loathe.  We hope the former...