Hoffman on the Warpath

But underestimating the loss we think:

• Chicago’s 36,000 parking meters were worth nearly twice as much as the $1.15 billion Mayor Daley got when he rammed through a 75-year lease in a few days without analyzing what the system was worth, the city’s inspector general has concluded.

  A steep schedule of rate hikes and operational problems ranging from over-stuffed and improperly calibrated downtown meters to broken pay-and-display boxes have turned the deal into a nightmare for motorists.
  

  But Inspector General David Hoffman says the lease was a financial disaster as well.

We recall seeing an article by financial guru Terry Savage that said the meter lease deal should have been quite a few billions more. Regardless, Daley's cronies will make out in some form or another unless the contract gets rescinded in court. Just another day in Chicago.