WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011 | CHICAGO SUN-TIMES | 27

CHICAGO

JACK HIGGINS OPINION

John Barron Publisher Tom McNamee Editorial Page Editor

WE THINK

A N I N D E P E N D E N T N E W S PA P E R

Don Hayner Editor in Chief Andrew Herrmann Managing Editor

ahm Emanuel was elected to clean up the citys fiscal mess, and so we backed him up earlier this month when he announced his intention to lay off 625 city workers. But we hope hell take a good hard and fast look first at alternative ways to save money, as laid out Tuesday by the Chicago Federation of Labor. And, for that matter, he had better get real about the only fair and legal process to make changes in union work rules: at the negotiating table with the individual unions. The CFL, the unions umbrella group, cant just make that happen. On July 14, Emanuel said he wanted a series of work-rule changes to help save money in the 2011 budget and beyond. He acknowledged he couldnt impose the changes unilaterally, but he said he would proceed with layoffs if the unions didnt play ball. In a union town, which Chicago still is, its hard to imagine Emanuel was eager to threaten layoffs unless he felt drastic action was absolutely necessary. At the same time, were sympathetic to the CFL, which on Tues-

Labors budget plan is worth careful look

day released a report outlining ways to save $242 million, far more than the $10 million to $12 million Emanuel says he would achieve with work-rule changes or layoffs. Labor leaders insist they have been willing partners in trying to save money while Emanuel has turned too quickly to confrontation. The report identifies three areas where the city can save money: Replacing privatized services with city workers; eliminating unneeded middle managers, and using flexible schedules to deploy workers more efficiently. Were highly skeptical theres really $242 million in savings in this. The CFL had a strong motivation to claim any possible savings, and the consultant who wrote the report was forced to whip it out in just three weeks, That said, we trust Emanuel will prove to be a genuine partner, carefully examining the report and adopting any measures that will save real money and jobs. Emanuel said he already has made some of the recommended cuts. He owes that much to city workers, the unions and to the taxpayers.

Wheres justice for David Koschman?

CAROL MARIN
Just found it? Exactly where? CPD wont say. Amazingly, that isnt the only file to go missing. Not one scrap of paper, not one log entry, not one computer file can be found at the Cook County states attorneys office to reflect that its head of Felony Review consulted with police back in 2004 on whether charges should have been filed against Vanecko. How exactly do case files and computer logs disappear in a heater case? Not just in one agency of law enforcement but two? No, in an abundance of solicitude, they gave Vaneckos attorney a full week to deliver him. R.J. Vanecko, whom Koschmans friends couldnt identify in a lineup, has never spoken to police. Yes, Chicago Inspector General Joseph Ferguson is now investigating the investigation itself. But legally he can look at only the conduct of the cops and can question only current, not former, city employees. He has no grand jury. Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez, however, does. Alvarez, who was chief of staff to then-states attorney Dick Devine when that office looked at the Koschman case in 2004, automatically has a conflict of interest, though she disputes that. Because the conduct of her office also is open to question, she should recuse herself and ask the chief judge of the Circuit Court to appoint a special prosecutor to probe how this investigation was handled. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who is now the ultimate boss of CPD, should add his own voice to such a request. Surely, he cannot be happy with a cop shop that misplaces its own homicide files. But the best, most powerful option would be for U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald to get involved and to seek accountability from those whose sworn oath was to deliver justice. The death of David Koschman deserves, no, demands, an independent grand jury.

cmarin@suntimes.com

Loud voice, but nothing to say

president of lying. In a democratic republic, where people will disagree and nobody can dictate anything, compromise is the only path forward. Yet this is a fellow would rather lose a mile than give an inch. If reasonable Americans wonder why House Republicans would rather pass on an opportunity to cut trillions in federal spending than agree to raise taxes by a penny on millionaires, look no further than Walsh. I came here figuratively to scream from the mountaintop, he told the Chicago Sun-Times Lynn Sweet last week. There is no figuratively about it.

oe Walsh is whats wrong with Washington. The Republican freshman congressman from Chicagos northwest suburbs is the poster child for the uncompromising and vitriolic style of politics thats about to send our nation over a cliff. This is a fellow who could not manage his own finances in the past, even failing to pay his income taxes, yet he lectures the nation on any cable TV show that will have him about the unassailable rightness of his extreme stand on the debt ceiling crisis. This is a fellow who likens President Barack Obama to a 10-yearold over his head. This is a fellow who accuses the

e need a special grand jury. And either Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez or U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald needs to call for it. The 2004 homicide of 21-year-old David Koschman cries out for it. Koschman died after a single punch was thrown by Richard R. J. Vanecko, nephew of then-Mayor Richard M. Daley, during a drunken altercation on Division Street seven years ago. If youve read any of the more than four dozen Chicago Sun-Times stories, editorials and columns on this subject, you know the many reasons why. This was, by any standard, a heater case given who was involved. And yet, shockingly, we learned from Sun-Times reporters Tim Novak and Chris Fusco just this week that the Chicago Police Department, which has now investigated this case not once but twice and closed it with no charges on the grounds of selfdefense, did so without examining the whole case file. Part of that file, CPD admitted this week, was missing. CPD says it just found it within the last month.

The 2004 homicide of 21-year-old David Koschman cries out for a grand jury.
Remember what the cops did in the very beginning. Hardly anything. Though they initially questioned witnesses on the scene that night, their investigation screeched to a halt after less than 24 hours. David Koschman was dead within 12 days. But not until the 15th day, after the medical examiner called it homicide, did CPD resume investigating. Daley family friends, who were with Vanecko that night, initially lied to the cops about being with him. But on the 18th day, one finally gave police his name. Yet even then, CPD did not pick Vanecko up for questioning.