Garbage Ethics Reform in Chicago Sets an Example
Garbage is the principal regular point of contact between
individuals and their local government. If people are happy with
their garbage pickup, they are likely to be happy with their local
government. For this reason, smart high-level local government
officials make sure that garbage pickup is done well.<br>
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In Chicago, the members of the board of aldermen wanted to be given
credit for garbage pickup. They also wanted to use it as a way to
provide their supporters with jobs. To do this meant ward control over garbage collection and a garbage
collection map based on wards, not on what was most efficient.
This meant more trucks and more employees, more votes for incumbents, and more costs for
taxpayers.<br>
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According to <a href="http://www.wbez.org/news/new-garbage-grid-mayor-emanuel-trashes-symbol-…; target="_blank">a
WBEZ Radio article last year</a>, Mayor Emanuel shifted the
garbage collection map to one based on a grid designed for
efficiency. The new map has 33 zones instead of 50 wards. The savings in money, as well as in alderman control of city services and jobs, is large. The
article provides an interesting history of garbage pickup in
Chicago.<br>
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This is not a new story, but it's worth considering because too
often government ethics reform is seen as limited to changes to the ethics
code or enforcement process. Changes to garbage collection, like
changes to procurement, grant, and land use processes, can be
equally important.<br>
<br>
This is why it is valuable for ethics
commissions to study, hold public hearings on, and make recommendations
about these processes. They should not wear blinders that make them
think that their responsibility for government ethics is limited to
the program they oversee.<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
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