WHO WOULD WANT TO BE ON THE METRA BOARD? WELL…

8/4/13

Having been away for awhile (See what has already become one of my most read posts, 8/2/13’s CLARK GRISWOLD, MR. PEABODY, AND ME.), I have had the chance to neither read nor comment on local news.  As much as anything, in an effort to get back up to speed, I have come up with the following hopefully short observations on the situation at Metra, the subject about which I last wrote before our departure (See 7/18/13’s post “METRA…THE WAY TO REALLY (MAKE PEOPLE WANT TO) FLY” and the posts to which it will refer you.)

The resignations of Metra Chairman Brad O’Halloran, vice-chairman Larry Huggins (to call Mr. Huggins’ resignation a resignation is laughable; he was told to go by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and, like the rest of the petrified lap dogs around this town, dutifully obeyed the Mayor’s orders, but I digress.), and board members Paul Darley and Mike McCoy, the latter of whom seemingly had little to do with the immediate problems at Metra, seem to confirm yours truly’s characterization of the Metra Board back on 4/21/13 (THE METRA BOARD:   PARADISE FOR POLTROONS,POPINJAYS, AND PATRONAGE PARASITES), before this latest episode surfaced, to wit

“…what you hear is true; the Metra board is a repository for hacks, hangers-on, suck-ups, toadies, lackeys, and other virtually unemployables.”

These guys are among the worst of the hacks that putrefy the politics of the Chicagoland area, indeed, the entire state of Illinois.  All of them, even those who try to portray themselves as heroes in what is only this latest debacle at Metra, have to go.

But what is the solution?  Some have proposed electing the Metra board.  But such an answer is laughable.   Even those of us who pay close attention to politics don’t have the time to follow the qualifications of those who would aspire to such an office as Metra Board member.  Getting nominated for such a position would require proving fealty to the people who control ballot access, i.e., the politicians.  Those citizens who for some reason feel compelled to vote for offices and/or people about whom they know nothing will just be checking the boxes put in place by the pols.  So electing the Metra board would be tantamount to the current system of political appointment.  Those on an elected board would be the same as those on an appointed board, to wit…

“…hacks, hangers-on, suck-ups, toadies, lackeys, and other virtually unemployables.”

I don’t know what the solution is.  There are many people who would serve honorably and effectively as Metra Board members (Yours truly comes immediately to mind.) but who stand no chance of getting either appointed or elected to a reconstituted Metra board; we don’t know the right people.  Further, we are not in a position, through owning (fronting for, really) or working for businesses that would benefit from our board membership, to gain monetarily from board membership; our motivations would stem nearly solely from an interest in public service.   While the pols around here pay lip service to such motivation, in practice pure public service is an almost unheard of reason for seeking office in these parts.

So Metra’s problems will continue; they come with the territory in the Land of Lincoln.   This is really a shame; Metra used to be the country’s premier rail line, providing, for the most part, efficient, timely, and relatively inexpensive transportation downtown from virtually anywhere in the six county area.   Other commuter systems, such as the Long Island Railroad, which I know from personal experience, couldn’t match it.   The problems at the top of Metra have to be affecting the level of service for the average commuter, providing yet another reason for those who pay the bills around here to look for other states in which to live.

See my two books, The Chairman, A Novel of Big City Politics and The Chairman’s Challenge, A Continuing Novel of Big City Politics, for further illumination on how things work in Chicago and Illinois politics.