Emanuel Pays More To Settle Suits vs. City — Hopes To Save In Long Run
From the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has shelled out $169 million to settle lawsuits against the city — $77.4 million of it this year alone — nearly triple the amount paid by cash-strapped Chicago during the final two years of former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration.
Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton attributed the spike at a time when the city can least afford it to two factors: Daley’s decision to “put the brakes” on settlements and Emanuel’s desire to cut the city’s losses and settle early cases taxpayers were destined to lose.
The tab under Emanuel rises to $247.4 million when you factor in the $78.4 million Chicago borrowed last year to compensate 6,000 African-American would-be firefighters bypassed by the city’s discriminatory handling of a 1995 entrance exam.
The Law Department did not include those damages in its response to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Freedom of Information request on grounds that it stemmed from “a court ruling — not a case we decided to settle” and because the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision pre-dated Emanuel.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has shelled out $169 million to settle lawsuits against the city — $77.4 million of it this year alone — nearly triple the amount paid by cash-strapped Chicago during the final two years of former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration.
Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton attributed the spike at a time when the city can least afford it to two factors: Daley’s decision to “put the brakes” on settlements and Emanuel’s desire to cut the city’s losses and settle early cases taxpayers were destined to lose.
The tab under Emanuel rises to $247.4 million when you factor in the $78.4 million Chicago borrowed last year to compensate 6,000 African-American would-be firefighters bypassed by the city’s discriminatory handling of a 1995 entrance exam.
The Law Department did not include those damages in its response to the Chicago Sun-Times’ Freedom of Information request on grounds that it stemmed from “a court ruling — not a case we decided to settle” and because the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court decision pre-dated Emanuel.
Read more in our daily News Update...