Chicago Cloutmeisters Sing Out
Posted by Joseph P McCaffery at 8/22/2009 8:47 PM 
Categories: In the News
Tags: Pat McDonough Chicago Park District City of Chicago Shakman Decree Richard M. Daley politcal patronage machine politics Chicago Emery Joseph Yost clout
Categories: In the News
Tags: Pat McDonough Chicago Park District City of Chicago Shakman Decree Richard M. Daley politcal patronage machine politics Chicago Emery Joseph Yost clout
In 1969 one man, Michael Shakman, took a stand against political patronage in Chicago. Shakman's efforts resulted in the Shakman Decrees but 40 years after his initial efforts, Chicago still suffers the effects of political clout.
A couple of city employees - Emery Joe Yost who is a longtime JPMA client, and Pat McDonough - have brought many of the issues raised by Shakman back into the spotlight garnering a great deal of media attention with the release of a song about Chicago Clout.
Here, in the first of many interviews and media stories about the pair, who've dubbed themselves The CloutMeisters, CBS-2 news anchors point out that the Shakman Decrees should protect them from political retaliation on the job. And if it doesn't, well that's what we're here for.
To read more about Chicago Clout and Mayor Richard M. Daley, who we like to call King Richard II, visit McDonough's blog, Chicago Clout, or read some of our previous posts:
Will History Repeat Itself for Chicago Monarch Richard Daley?
Chicago Mayor Lacks Credibility in Opposing Supreme Court Ruling...and Just About Everything Else
Democracy or Dictatorship? What Will King Richard II Do Next?
Chicago May Beef Up Cops' Weapons, but Citizens Still Left Unarmed
Will US Supreme Court Put a Stop to One Chicago Ban?
Shiller Effort to Sandbag Bag Ban
Something (or Someone) That's Not Banned in Chicago
Tribune Editors Share POV on Chicago's Bag Ban
Banned in Chicago
A couple of city employees - Emery Joe Yost who is a longtime JPMA client, and Pat McDonough - have brought many of the issues raised by Shakman back into the spotlight garnering a great deal of media attention with the release of a song about Chicago Clout.
Here, in the first of many interviews and media stories about the pair, who've dubbed themselves The CloutMeisters, CBS-2 news anchors point out that the Shakman Decrees should protect them from political retaliation on the job. And if it doesn't, well that's what we're here for.
To read more about Chicago Clout and Mayor Richard M. Daley, who we like to call King Richard II, visit McDonough's blog, Chicago Clout, or read some of our previous posts:
Will History Repeat Itself for Chicago Monarch Richard Daley?
Chicago Mayor Lacks Credibility in Opposing Supreme Court Ruling...and Just About Everything Else
Democracy or Dictatorship? What Will King Richard II Do Next?
Chicago May Beef Up Cops' Weapons, but Citizens Still Left Unarmed
Will US Supreme Court Put a Stop to One Chicago Ban?
Shiller Effort to Sandbag Bag Ban
Something (or Someone) That's Not Banned in Chicago
Tribune Editors Share POV on Chicago's Bag Ban
Banned in Chicago
Thank you for the mention. I am glad to hear Emery Joe Yost is protected by your law firm. It is a shame that City workers need lawyers to keep their job. Maybe we can fix the system by bringing attention to it. City workers have an uphill battle when you attempt to fix the system. Thank you Patrick McDonough.
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Pat, It is a shame. While we've never met, it was 15 years ago when I first worked with Joe Yost @ the CPD and he was making music and his amazing project, Special Music by Special People, was in its infancy. I lasted as a city employee (or as I sometimes say, a Fool for the City) only 15 months and I just couldn't take what I saw all around me. It makes no sense to me still that a man like Joe Yost - creative, innovative and dedicated - receives so little recognition or support for being the brains and braun behind one of the CPD's stellar offerings, SMSP. The CPD should have given that man a medal for his "above and beyond" efforts a decade ago.
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