But the districts in general have seen their reputations swing dramatically from innovative inner-city rejuvenator to budget sham of the political machine, thanks largely to the reporting of Ben Joravsky of the Chicago Reader.

FORBES: Value Capture and the Future of Financing Cities

But do keep this in mind: before Emanuel handpicked her, the city CFO ran Scott Balice Strategies, a financial advising firm that, as the Chicago Reader spotted, gained some notoriety for pushing strapped localities to take their public assets and put them on the auction block.

FORBES: Infrastructure Trust Falls With Emanuel