A row of antique flashlights from the first half of the 20th century. David Klobucar/Chicago News Cooperative
Aldermen Contemplate Mayor’s Budget Proposal
Wednesday’s City Council vote on Mayor Richard M. Daley’s $6.1 billion budget for 2010 presents another chance to see if the rubber stamp that has backed virtually all of the mayor’s proposals — like the parking meter lease and his Olympics financing plans — is beginning to bounce against him.
Alderman Eugene Schulter, a staunch ally of Mr. Daley, is among aldermen who say they are not yet committed to supporting the mayor’s budget.
Mr. Schulter said he had voted against the mayor’s budget only once during Mr. Daley’s 20 years in office, in 2007. That year was the closest budget vote during Mr. Daley’s tenure, as the budget passed by a vote of 24 to 21.
Mr. Schulter said he was concerned about how quickly the city was spending its parking meter windfall — Chicago Parking Meters LLC paid the city $1.15 billion in February for the right to reap all parking fee revenues for 75 years — the decline in the ranks of police officers and rising property taxes.
“We were sold the bill of goods on the parking meters,” Mr. Schulter said, “and I’m not going to ever let that happen again. We are being very deliberative.” DAN MIHALOPOULOS
Exhibit of Flashlights Shows Them as Art
With his income dwindling in the gloomy economy, Robert Reddy believed that within darkness lay a ray of hope. Literally. He abandoned convention, and opened Progress Gallery in Evanston and, within it, The Antique Flashlight Museum.
The exhibit pays homage to the flashlight’s first 50 years, 1898-1948, when they were, in Mr. Reddy’s eyes, elegant. Of the 140 flashlights exhibited, some are ornate, decorated with ribs of black vulcanite, or silver end caps embossed with buffalo or lightning bolts.
An artist, Mr. Reddy is poetic about his flashlights.
Holding a flashlight, he said, “you can get a visceral sense of others who held it in their hands. Light is a metaphor for love, knowledge, understanding.”
His wife is a little more practical. With more than 400 flashlights stored in boxes, Mr. Reddy admits, “my wife just wishes I had a working flashlight at home.” LORI ROTENBEEK
County Board ShowsWhere the Money Goes
Thanks to a mandate passed by the Cook County Board, the second installment of the 2008 property tax bill shows, for the first time, how the government plans to spend your tax dollars. And it shows that more than half of a Chicagoan’s 2008 Cook County property taxes goes to schools.
In Chicago, 54 percent goes to education, with the Board of Education getting 51.3 percent and the balance going to other educational institutions like community colleges.
Nearly 23 percent goes for municipality taxes like the Chicago Library Fund, while about 12 percent goes to things like the Water Reclamation District and the Park District.
Tax bills, due Tuesday, came with a paid advertisement from Chase Bank saying that taxes can be paid there. But a flier from the Cook County treasurer had the best advice: “Pay only what you owe.” JAMES O’SHEA