Regular Reader wrote:
This guy, when he was my alderman, ran an office where constituents could have our issues addressed only directly with him, either by letter, or in his two hour preordained time on Saturday mornings. No one in his office, including the daughter he had briefly installed in his former seat would agree to do anything other than to refer problems to him. One morning I finally had the chance to speak with him about installing a stop sign at a corner near a nursery school, in the hopes of slowing down the idiots flying by down the street. He listened to my concern, then began to patronize me with the 'yes, that is a problem I know about' & 'no one wants to see that happen' crap.
In his next breath, he noted that there was nothing he could do. Keep in mind that a sitting alderman said with a straight face that he was powerless to install a street sign on 79th Street(one lane of traffic in each direction), and that the funds for a stop light weren't available(though I didn't ask for one). He next started to lecture me on my lack of understanding about his office and its authority(this was in part Daley's fault according to him), and how that particular street was a 'federal' thoroughfare and traffic couldn't be impeded by a stop sign. When I called him on that BS, pointing out two separate instances proving it was, He got pissed and basically told me that I had wasted HIS time (3-4 minutes).
I bit my lip, thanked him for his 'help', laughed and walked out.
His terminology was wrong but his explanation was sound. CDOT (Chicago Department of Transportation) makes such determinations on main thoroughfares, and 79th Street falls under their purview. A traffic study has to be performed with the findings that a "Stop" sign would be warranted
and effective. The city has moved away from putting in stop signs on major thoroughfares and prefers traffic lights. However, the costs for the lights comes out of an allocation that the Alderman gets. If he makes the request it will come from his budget and that means (in the case of Beavers) not putting in another 10 blocks of free sidewalks.
As for having subordinates addressing issues, that can be a mixed bag. Routine requests can be handled by the subordinates so long as it doesn't require an expenditure or the actual powers of the Alderman. Something like a stop sign is not the kind of thing that a subordinate would try to handle because they would have to make the case for you (constituent) and if they couldn't, you (constituent) would be upset.
On a side note: Despite the fact that CDOT may have made a "no" recommendation, how many times do you think another request to put in a stop sign will be made? That means another traffic study, with conclusions and recommendations to be drawn. If people wonder why the cost of government goes up, placating constituents has to be taken into consideration
Yes, Mr. Reader, I'll request another study to be done at that corner even though I already know the answer, and I promise to share those results with you.
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