Opinion: Ald. Moore Defends Self From Independents

" Ald. Joe Moore probably destroyed his reputation as a City Council independent Monday. Moore refused to allow his Human Relations Committee to vote on a measure that would have placed a non-binding referendum for an elected school board on the November ballot. His reason? The sponsors filed their paperwork three minutes late, missing the Open Meetings Act requirement for posting an agenda item 48 hours in advance.

(Ald. Edward Burke, that parliamentary fox, once used the same tactic to kill a City Council vote on an affordable housing measure.)

Moore is opposed to an elected school board, saying that in a “factionalized” city, special interests could exercise too much influence over the results. Of course, the same could be said of any election, in Chicago or anywhere else. That’s no reason not to hold them. On that, he agrees with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, whose spokeswoman said “we don’t need more politics in our education system.”

In fact, since Emanuel took office in May 2011, Moore has agreed with him on everything, from more stringent regulations for NATO protestors to speed cameras near schools. It has been speculated that Moore wants Gov. Pat Quinn to name him director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency. If he gets that job, Moore would like Emanuel to appoint his wife, Barbara, to replace him as 49th Ward alderman. "

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