It's Good To Be A Public Servant...

An article in today's Sun-Times talks about campaign contributions and how they can be converted to personal funds when certain grandfathered-in public servants leave office.  (That's in addition to, as a reader puts it, "those bloated pensions which are helping to destroy our city's economy.")

We wonder how all those struggling small businesses who donated campaign funds feel today?  And outside-the-ward fat cats?

• "Ald. Helen Shiller (46th) could have kept up to $54,501 as her going-away present. But as of June 30 reporting date, Shiller -- who accepted nearly $36,000 in campaign contributions in the past year -- had spent down her campaign fund to $18,951, records show. So that's how much she can walk away with when she leaves office.
• Ald. Mary Ann Smith (47th), Shiller's neighbor to the north, was eligible to keep up to $48,573. But Smith -- who took $54,000 in contributions in the past year -- had only $19,000 in the bank as of June 30. So that's how much she can keep."

You'll have to read the article to find out how much Mayor Daley can walk away with... and how Gov. Edgar handled it.