In Chicago, even garbage is a matter of politics. The city generates 1.1 million tons of trash a year, and all of it is collected by individual aldermanic wards, all 50 of which have their own Streets and Sanitation offices.
Critics of the system say it costs the city millions of dollars and point to Los Angeles — which picks up more garbage across a larger area with more than 100 fewer trucks and fewer workers — as a model worth emulating.
But some veteran aldermen do not want to change.
“An alderman is judged mostly by his garbage collection,” said Bernard Stone, who has been an alderman in the 50th Ward since 1973. “When you transfer it downtown, you may think you’re saving money, but you lose the personal touch.”