The man who stands between Chicago pols and their casino dreams

Regulator Aaron Jaffe objects to plan for a barely regulated deal

John Kass

With taxpayers busy concentrating on the holidays, it might be the perfect time to think about what's on top of the Chicago political wish list:

Like a big fat Chicago casino, generating millions a month in cash and contracts, the management agreement shielding the names of the subcontractors from the public, and nobody to watch over the massive quivering organism but a few guys handpicked by City Hall.

How's that for a stocking stuffer? The perfect time to slip it past taxpayers would be in late November, say Nov. 29, when we chumbolones are distracted by shopping, and as news crews are busy doing toy stories with frozen smiles outside shopping malls.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they don't do it at all, and I wouldn't be surprised if they do," Illinois Gaming Commission chairman and retired Judge Aaron Jaffe told me Friday.