Daley to Chicagoans: You Ain't Worth Your Salt

On my way to work this morning, I watched as a snow-plow driver dropped five feet of salt for every twenty feet he drove.

Like a Cardiologist, Mayor Daley has given the word that Chicago must go easy on the salt. It is part of his official plan to cut corners with snow removal.

Last winter, we blew through $20 Million (on a $18.5 Million 2008 snow removal budget) by February 26th.

This at a time when the City just sold its parking meters to fill budget gaps.

Daley's new approach was in action (or is that inaction) on Tuesday December 17th when due to five inches of rush hour snow, Chicagoans got a sneak preview of what Armageddon might look like.

As frustrating as it was to piss in that water bottle during my four hour commute to O'hare, I know that skyrocketing rock salt prices deserve at least some of the blame of this perfect storm.

In 2008, rock salt prices are as much as three and four times what they were in 2007 when they hovered around $42 per ton.

So the Mayor is in a tight spot, and not entirely of his own doing. But there will be consequences.

In Roman times, part of soldiers' pay was an allotment of salt, hence the term, "worth your salt" and the word "salary".

Salt has helped shape history. Add Chicago's quest for the 2016 Olympic games to the list. Add lawsuits of people who got into accidents while we penny-pinch.

And if this winter is bad enough, I'm forecasting that like Michael Bilandic before him, the Mayor's job could be history too.