clipped from www.bloomberg.com

Chicago CFO Taking Orders From Daley Increases Taxpayers’ Costs

May 4 (Bloomberg) -- Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley hired JPMorgan Chase & Co. investment banker Gene Saffold and gave him a simple order: protect the taxpayer.

“During these tough times, when people are hurting, this is more important than ever,” Daley said in introducing the city’s new chief financial officer in March 2009. “We must be creative and bold in our thinking as we better manage government.”

Not much has changed. Saffold is sticking with the city’s more than two-decade tradition of shunning open bidding for Chicago’s long-term debt, selling $2 billion in bonds through private negotiations with banks. Arranging competitive auctions instead would save taxpayers millions of dollars, according to internal documents and a review of bond sales by the country’s third-largest municipality.