It was less than a month ago that the City’s ethics ordinance – which was enacted to prevent (or at least deter) unscrupulous public officials from cashing in on their public officeholding – received a unanimous and unceremonious stab in the back from the City Council when the it voted not to prosecute former mayor Howard “Let’s Make A Deal” Frimark.

Of course, we never expected that Frimark would actually be prosecuted for what the City Attorney correctly found to be an ethics violation: Frimark’s effort to rake in the commissions from selling insurance for the Uptown condominium development to which the City is obligated to contribute some of the premium.  With a Council majority composed of five of Frimark’s former Alderpuppets who contributed a total of almost $4,000 to Frimark’s unsuccessful re-election campaign, we figured that was five votes against prosecution right there.

But we were surprised to see the ethics ordinance kicked to the curb by Mayor Dave Schmidt who, after instigating the City Attorney’s investigation and prosecution recommendation, subjected Frimark to a 2-hour “show trial” – and even argued in support of the City Attorney’s findings of a violation – before stating that he would not vote for prosecution. 

And at last night’s Committee of the Whole (“COW”) meeting Frimark’s lap-dog and principal ethics-probe defender, Alderpuppet Jim Allegretti (4th Ward), did his best to get the Council to support a nuking of the ethics ordinance’s 2-year restriction on former public officials representing parties in doing business with the City, along with making it easier for the Council to quash future ethics investigations.    

Allegretti went so far as to have the City Attorney – without prior Council approval – draft revisions to the ethics ordinance [pdf] according to Allegretti’s dictates, which ran him afoul of fellow Alderpuppet Rich DiPietro (2nd Ward), albeit only on procedural grounds because Richie D didn’t like Allegretti’s chewing up City Attorney time.

Whether Allegretti’s attempt to neuter the ethics ordinance are as successful as his efforts to neuter the Planning & Zoning Commission (“P&Z”) remain to be seen.  In addition to DiPietro’s procedural objection, only Ald. Frank Wsol (7th Ward) and Ald. Robert Ryan (5th Ward) spoke against changing the 2-year restriction, so we have no idea where Ald. Don Bach (3rd Ward) and Ald. Tom Carey (6th Ward) – or the missing Ald. Joe Sweeney – are on the issue.

Given all the ethically-challenged public officials who inhabit the governments of the City of Daley, the County of Crook, and the State of Corruption, there is no reason to think that Park Ridge government possesses some unique kind of immunity from grafters and schemers.   So the last thing the honest and decent residents of this community need is to see its already modest ethical restrictions watered down.

But Allegretti can be a determined guy, as we saw with the way he was able to get his Council allies to stiff-arm P&Z in favor of the billboard people.  And with the Alderpuppets still dominating the Council it’s not like getting a simple majority is all that tough for Jimmy A. 

We can’t help but wonder, however, whether the guy who can’t seem to stop whining about how much work it is to be an alderman for that measly $100/month stipend is already making moves in preparation for life after his Council term is up in 2011.