The Slickest Mayor In America

Politicians are dropping like flies these days. Whether it be an undocumented immigrant house worker, a mistress in Argentina, or a failure to pay taxes, there is no shortage of pitfalls for American politicians. One man though stands out, my beloved mayor of Chicago the honorable Richard M. Daley. Mr. Daley has the uncanny ability to survive each scandal by always having a “rouge” underlying take the fall and remained tight lipped. It truly is like something out of the movie The Godfather, but hey the streets get plowed and the street festivals are awesome in Chicago.

Here are a few highlights of my favorite Mayor Daley moments:

1. Hired Truck Program- a Federal investigation into City hiring practices at city hall involving, surprise one of Daley’s “rouges’, patronage chief Robert Sorich. Sorich basically rigged city hiring in favor of those with connections. Sorich was convicted on two counts of mail fraud (weak feds, weak!) The basis is truck drivers paid bribes to get the work and were well connected, I am sure Daley knew nothing. Daley said that "It is fair criticism to say I should have exercised greater oversight to ensure that every worker the city hired, regardless of who recommended them, was qualified and that proper procedures were always followed.
2. Bye Bye Meigs Field Hello Concert Venue! This is the best type of scandal, destroy something regular people don’t care about and build a concert venue you can profit from. Never mind Daley, had no right to destroy it! The demolition of the Meigs Field airport, which Daley ordered be carried out under cover of darkness and did not inform the Federal Aviation Administration (for which the city was fined $33,000), angered many, not least the owners of planes parked at the airport.
3. Streets and Sanitation Aide Convicted, Let’s Have a Fundraiser- Former Daley administration aide Al Sanchez was convicted of rigging city hiring practices to help enhance Mayor Richard Daley's control in Chicago's growing Latino communities. A couple weeks after his conviction a private fundraiser for Sanchez occurred. Sanchez's attorney said the event was to help Sanchez, not strictly to help pay for legal bills. Awesome!