Andy Shaw, president of the Better Government Association, was even more effusive. “The mayor has not gotten along well with Joe Ferguson,” Shaw told the Sun-Times. “Yet, he understood that it’s more important to have a strong, independent watchdog than a lapdog he can control.”

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I hate to rain on anyone’s parade, but I don’t see why everyone’s so happy. I have no beef with Ferguson. As near as I can tell he’s one of the only appointees unafraid to stand up to the mayor.

Then they announced their deal. Mayor Emanuel would reappoint Ferguson, instead of making him reapply for his job, when his four-year term expires in November.

My biggest knock on Mayor Emanuel is that he’s redistributing public money from the poor and middle class to the well-to-do—for example, by spending the money he “saves” by firing teachers to buy land in the South Loop for his DePaul/hotel fiasco.

I believe it was Tom Tresser who came up with that carcass line. He’s the activist who founded the Civic Lab, a group of citizens dedicated to blowing up the TIF program as we know it.

That last reason might be incentive enough.