Look in the Mirror

Ah, Chicago aldercreatures. Paragons of virtue and bravery:

• Aldermen have been feeling the heat from residents since the city turned over its parking meters to a private company this year, so today’s City Council hearing was a chance for the politicians to share the blame with company officials.

  And share they did, railing about the rollout of widespread changes that boosted meter prices and questioning whether the company violated its new contract by not keeping the council informed about problems they encountered.

  “We’re talking about a $1.15 billion deal here. This is not something you enter into without a lot of due diligence and study here," Ald. Manuel Flores (1st) said during the joint hearing of the council’s Finance Committee and License and Consumer Protection Committee.

Flores...Flores...how did he vote again?

• Flores was among the aldermen who voted in December to take a massive, upfront payment from a consortium doing business as Chicago Parking Meters LLC in order to help address the city’s budget deficit. Though many council members complained Mayor Richard Daley gave them only two days to review the deal, the vote was 40-5.

Ah yes, one of "the spineless" as we recalled. The time for questions was back in December 2008 Manny. But not wanting to rock the boat, you voted for the big early payout.