In the interest of getting to know other folks interested in the general topic of government transparency and efficiency, this month's OGC will feature Andy Shaw of the Better Government Association
Focus: The Better Government Association
Founded in 1923 to fight Al Capone's ironclad grip on Chicago City Hall, the BGA is a Chicago‐based, nonpartisan organization that combats waste, fraud, and corruption in city, county, suburban and state government. Capone may be long gone but Illinois is still plagued by the same problems. One Illinois governor is in prison and another may be on the way. Pay‐to‐play is still the coin of the realm and nothing up to now has changed the puerile polity.
The new Executive Director of the BGA, Andy Shaw, has ambitious plans to change that. As political reporter for 26 years at ABC-7 news, Shaw knows what it will take to clean up Chicago. At the Open-Gov meet-up, Shaw will discuss the two-fold mission of the Better Government Association: Eliminating the Corruption Tax and Restoring FAITH in government and how he intends to get there.
Also speaking will be Mark LaMet, an award-winning investigative journalist who worked with Shaw on the Licenses for Bribes scandal that eventually put former Governor George Ryan and 80 others in prison. As an investigative producer, LaMet has written and produced for local and network programs too numerous to mention here and won awards for his investigations. LaMet will discuss what he does as an investigative journalist and explain the tools, skills and perspectives he employs to find a story in a data set.
OGC members who would like to have some time on the agenda, please contact Joe Germuska at [email protected]
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