Reader 'Fails' For The Third Time

It's a long piece, but the Cliff's Notes version is that a lot of money was made by clout heavy law firms, consultants and others. In fact, one firm, the William Blair company, actually dreamed up the idea and sold the Mayor on the lease deal.

"What we got is a new version of patronage--'pin stripe patronage'," says Dumke describing how clout heavy people are getting fat off the city. "It's (the meter deal) a telling symbol of how the (Daley) administration has done business for so long.

So, is there a 'Fail 4' or 'Fail 5' in the works? Could this deal get any worse?

Dumke laughed and then said, "I guess it could get worse. There's a lot of unanswered questions. The things that are so striking to me is, the more we look at this, the uglier it gets."

I think these guys may have an award-winning journalism series on their hands.

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