We're not the only one who thinks scheduling a 'hearing' about high school sports on a Friday late afternoon during football season 'stinks' of bad government. Mike Clark at the Sun-Times points out how this is a ruse that was set up to restrict dissent from interested parties:
Chapa LaVia promised two more hearings, one in Chicago and another downstate. The former was scheduled for July 8 downtown, but then postponed. It is finally going to be held at 4 p.m. Oct. 3 at South Shore International High School on the Southeast Side.
The timing and location are curious. In politics, this is called a “news dump,” when someone in government schedules a press conference or releases information at the end of the work week in the hope no one pays attention.
Holding the hearing a few hours before football games kick off around the state — and while some are actually going on in Chicago — guarantees there won’t be as many IHSA-backing principals and athletic directors on hand as last time. The location, at a neighborhood school not close to any expressways, also discourages attendance.
