Thursday, October 15, 2009

Ald. Shiller Goes To Springfield

Where did "Honest Helen" spend today?

She went to the capitol of the Land of Lincoln, along with several other aldermen, to ask for more funding for the CTA so fares don't go up to $3, as the latest Doomsday Threat predicts.

The Tribune says: "Ald. Helen Shiller, 46th, one of the six aldermen at the Capitol, said the first goal is to argue against PACE, the suburban bus agency, getting any of the funding now going to the CTA, as some have suggested should happen. The CTA also wants permission to use $90 million in construction money for maintenance, which is part of the CTA proposal that still requires a $3 fare, she said.

After that, discussions will focus on new revenue. "It is blood from a turnip," she conceded. "You can't get blood from a turnip."

Now, if only she were there to ask for millions and millions of tax dollars for fish farms instead of for transit. She's got a great track record in that department!

5 comments:

  1. I hope they told her she couldn't ask questions

    or once she got down there tabled taking testimony to a later date

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  2. It's okay about the turnips, we have enough bloodshed up here to last a life time. Still, I'll take this over a trip to China. This at least resembles some form of work.

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  3. The "rest of the story" as Paul Harvey would have said, is that the funding Pace is asking for would go to fund paratransit in Chicago and the suburbs, the service for people with disabilities.
    I was at the Pace Board meeting this week (I work in the suburbs and wanted to hear about their budget) and they're pushing legislation that would avoid a fare increase to as much as $5.00 for paratransit riders in Chicago. So if her goal is to stop Pace, does she realize that in doing so she'd be putting the screws to her disabled constituents?

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  4. Patrick-

    I think Helen's concern for her disabled constituents is prepresented by the amount of money in the $150MM+ TIf allocated to bringing the Willson CTA station into ADA compliance. That number would be zero. (Sorry for the long run-on sentence.)

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  5. People are still carrying infants in strollers up the stairs at the Wilson stop of the Red Line.

    People with crutches are forced to climb the stairs.

    People in wheelchairs are not yet being carried up the stairs. They are forced to call Pace and wait for their transportation. That is, of course, until...

    And we need a $54 Million Dollar Fish Farm Because????

    Thanks Alderman Shiller.

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