The CEO was fired because he didn’t play politics with the head of the Illinois senate and came out publically about it. Now virtually every member of the board has resigned as more shady dealings have emerged. Any idea how this will turn out? It still remains Illinois.
In my opinion, Mr. Clifford should not have been given that severance package (I’m sure I’ll hear an “Amen!” on that!), but he also should not have been fired in the first place.
One solution would be to just hire him back. He’s willing to come back, I heard this morning, and I’d say that he’s pretty well been vindicated. Of course, there’s now no board that can hire anybody, let alone him.
Meanwhile, even without all of these yahoos and hacks sitting on the handlebars, Metra seems to be pedaling along fine.
Chicago is Chicago - which says it all.
Your comment is an outsider’s and has little to do with the reality. Metra’s governance has been a mess, but not because of chicago politics.
The Metra Board
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Chairman of the DuPage County Board with the advice and consent of the DuPage County Board and shall reside in DuPage County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Chairman
of the McHenry County Board with the advice and consent of the McHenry County Board and shall reside in McHenry County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Will County Executive with the advice and consent of the Will County Board and shall reside in Will County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Lake County Board with the advice and consent of the Lake County Board and shall reside in Lake County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Kane County Board with the advice and consent of the Kane County Board and shall reside in Kane County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Mayor of
the City of Chicago with the advice and consent of the City Council of the City of Chicago and shall reside in the City of Chicago.
Five (5) Directors residing in Cook County outside of
the City of Chicago, as follows:
(i) One (1) Director who resides in Cook County outside of the City of Chicago, appointed by the President of the Cook County Board with the advice and consent of the members of the Cook County Board.
(ii) One (1) Director who resides in the township of Barrington, Palatine, Wheeling, Hanover, Schaumburg, or Elk Grove.
(iii) One (1) Director who resides i
Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
Mac
[quote user=“schlimm”]
Your comment is an outsider’s and has little to do with the reality. Metra’s governance has been a mess, but not because of chicago politics.
The Metra Board
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Chairman of the DuPage County Board with the advice and consent of the DuPage County Board and shall reside in DuPage County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Chairman
of the McHenry County Board with the advice and consent of the McHenry County Board and shall reside in McHenry County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Will County Executive with the advice and consent of the Will County Board and shall reside in Will County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Lake County Board with the advice and consent of the Lake County Board and shall reside in Lake County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Kane County Board with the advice and consent of the Kane County Board and shall reside in Kane County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Mayor of
the City of Chicago with the advice and consent of the City Council of the City of Chicago and shall reside in the City of Chicago.
Five (5) Directors residing in Cook County outside of
the City of Chicago, as follows:
(i) One (1) Director who resides in Cook County outside of the City of Chicago, appointed by the President of the Cook County Board with the advice and consent of the members of the Cook County Board.
(ii) One (1) Director who resides in the township of Barrington, Palatine, Wheeling, Hanover, Schaumburg, or Elk Grove.
(iii) One (1) Director who resides in the township of Northfield, New Trier, Maine, Niles, Evanston, Leyden, Norwood Park, River Forest, or Oak Park.
(iv) One (1) Director who re
Politicians are like a bunch of bananas.
They hang together,
They’re all yellow,
And there’s not a straight one among 'em.
Disclaimer: Sarcasm intended.[;)]
[quote user=“billio”]
[quote user=“schlimm”]
Your comment is an outsider’s and has little to do with the reality. Metra’s governance has been a mess, but not because of chicago politics.
The Metra Board
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Chairman of the DuPage County Board with the advice and consent of the DuPage County Board and shall reside in DuPage County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Chairman
of the McHenry County Board with the advice and consent of the McHenry County Board and shall reside in McHenry County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Will County Executive with the advice and consent of the Will County Board and shall reside in Will County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Lake County Board with the advice and consent of the Lake County Board and shall reside in Lake County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Chairman of the Kane County Board with the advice and consent of the Kane County Board and shall reside in Kane County.
One (1) Director shall be appointed by the Mayor of
the City of Chicago with the advice and consent of the City Council of the City of Chicago and shall reside in the City of Chicago.
Five (5) Directors residing in Cook County outside of
the City of Chicago, as follows:
(i) One (1) Director who resides in Cook County outside of the City of Chicago, appointed by the President of the Cook County Board with the advice and consent of the members of the Cook County Board.
(ii) One (1) Director who resides in the township of Barrington, Palatine, Wheeling, Hanover, Schaumburg, or Elk Grove.
(iii) One (1) Director who resides in the township of Northfield, New Trier, Maine, Niles, Evanston, Leyden, Norwood Park, River Forest, or Oak Park.<
[quote user=“billio”]
I was simply responding to Balt’s ill-informed suggestion that the problem with Metra is Chicago politics. I am very familiar with the GOP politics in the western suburbs, which are often nearly as dependent on "clout’ as any precinct in the city, and frequently corrupt. The entire state suffers from bi-partisan co
Illinois, like Gaul, is divided into three parts, Chicago, the collar counties, and downstate. The composition of the RTA and Metra boards was dictated in an inordinate amount of negotiation and horse-trading based on the collar counties’ historic distrust and fear of anything coming out of Chicago, which in turn is based on the historic American anti-urban bias (all cities are evil places) from the Jeffersonian era.
While “railfanning” over the recent past weekends with some of my buddies at Eola we’ve decided that if Metra wants us, we’ll be happy to step up and run the agency for them. We have a nice mix of railroaders (Carl, we could use your help if you would be available), business managers (like yours truly), etc. that could easily fill the shoes of the political appointees who recently vacated the Metra board slots! I’m sure just about any of us could run a REAL railroad agency better than some “reverend” who wouldn’t be able to tell a 110lb rail from a 110lb pulpit!
So true. One of Metra’s biggest goofs was eliminating the discount on 10-ride tickets, a tradition dating back at least 60 years. result? Ticket sales have had an 18% decline. And that one was not even a function of rail-related knowledge, just basic marketing and pricing.
Regrettably, I can’t join in this because Metra is considered a railroad–and I can’t work for any railroad without jeopardizing my pension. Nor have I ever been good at persuading railroads to do things my way. And if the salary of a Metra director would offset my pension pay…well, it really shouldn’t!
The discount on ten-ride tickets has varied over that time, though–from 95 percent down as low as 80 percent. I think that before it was eliminated you paid 90%–get ten rides for the price of nine. Heck, even going to 95% would have given people a break.
If you need a retired engineer familiar with Metra operations, I might be available.
Of course, like brother Carl, I wouldn’t want to jeopardize my pension, so I’d have to work for stock dividends, cash, and other under-the-table goodies.
Oh, wait, isn’t that how all of this got started…?
Nevermind.
What this is plain old Illinois politics. Payoff a good ole; boy who is loyal to the party no matter which one it is with a plumb job. How many illinois govenors, alderman and othe politicans have gone to jail in the last 25 years for illegal activites? Many by my count…
Don’t forget the METRA Chairman that met the knuckle of one of his locomotives - at speed.
Illinois is by no means unique in this sort of stuff, they’re just not as discreet as in other states.
Maybe not uniques, but we surely lead the way.
Regarding governors,
7 have faced criminal charges.
4 on charges related to the office.
3 on charges for crimes after leaving office.
6 convicted, 1 acquitted.
Rich
Perhaps not totally unique in Illinois, but in Illinois corruption has been elevated to an art form!