RAHM ONTHE HOOK

Some aldermen outraged at mayor’s lack of outrage, want Emanuel to ‘own’ his role in CPS scandal City Hall Reporter

Mayor Rahm Emanuel has proposed a seemingly endless string of ethics reforms to erase the bitter memory of the Hired Truck, city hiring and minority contracting scandals that cast a giant cloud over former Mayor Richard M. Daley’s 22-year reign.

Emanuel campaigned for re-election, in part, on his ability to accomplish what Daley could not: persuade a federal judge to release Chicago from the 42-year-old Shakman decree and the costly constraints of a federal hiring monitor.

All of that good will— and more— was washed away in a single, 43-page indictment expected to culminate in a guilty plea.

Barbara Byrd-Bennett— Emanuel’s second permanent choice to run a Chicago Public Schools system drowning in red ink— was accused of engineering a scheme to get a 10 percent kickback on all CPS contracts she could steer to her former employer.

The plotting was outlined in emails remarkable for their detailed audacity, even in the annals of a city that has grown almost immune to political corruption.

The scheming began even before Byrd-Bennett replaced her predecessor, Jean-Claude Brizard, at the bargaining table and helped negotiate an end to the 2012 teachers strike that was Chicago’s first in 25 years.

Emanuel has responded to the long-awaited indictment by telling reporters he was “disappointed” and “saddened by the details” of the scheme. The mayor accused Byrd-Bennett of violating the sacred bond government officials have to uphold the public trust. But, he argued that the scandal “doesn’t take away from all the advances” in public education on his watch.

Ald. John Arena (45th) was outraged by the mayor’s tepid response.

“I am appalled that aman who has a reputation for using four-letter words is not using them in this situation. He is only ‘saddened’ by this. [Newly appointed Schools CEO] Forrest Claypool is saying, ‘This was yesterday,’ ” Arena said Friday.

“Where are the heads? Where are the firings of anybody who was associated with the SUPES contract? I don’t know the names. He does. This is his school board. This is his CPS. Every dollar that was used erroneously is on his head. He needs to show us that he is going to take serious action in the face of these very serious charges.”

Arena said he is not about to let Emanuel off the hook politically.

Not when Catalyst Magazine started raising questions more than two years ago about the SUPES contract, the conflict of interest posed by Byrd-Bennett’s past employment and about the poor quality of principal training.

Not when Arena’s Northwest Side ward has two schools with special-needs kids forced to endure larger classes and fewer support personnel because of budget cuts that may not have been necessary without the no-bid