. . . and put the arm on the taxpayer. Like Mayor Harold Washington says, money`s very tight-even for things like teachers` salaries. What`s a man supposed to do, ask city officials to use pay phones or something? INC. hears one city department (out of dozens) managed to spend $40,000 in one year just for charges to the telephones in cars driven by department honchos. But that`s a small price to pay for efficiency in government, right? And you`ve noticed how efficient city services have become since the dawn of the costly mobile telephone, right?
YEAH, THAT`S THE TICKET . . .
So former Cook County Chairman Ed Vrdolyak is finally a Republican, and aren`t local GOPers acting like it`s the greatest news to hit the face of the Earth? So how come EV`s party flip always has to be couched (privately, natch) in terms of what real politicians Eddie can bring with him from the Dem to the Republican fold? Of late, Republicans can`t keep themselves from fantasizing about how EV`s defection has paved the way for a few state senators-just the number needed for a Republican majority-to also hop the party fence. But except for State Sen. Jeremiah Joyce (D., Chicago), who`s always blithering about leaving the Dems, others being named say a party defection is hogwash. Sounds like a spoonful of rationalization is what GOPers are using to swallow all the political liabilities that EV`s also bringing with him, doesn`t it?
THE CATTLE CALL . . .
What happens when you jam 535 stage-hogging members of Congress into a room with two microphones? Last time, they called it the Koppel Debacle, as in Ted Koppel`s ABC ”Nightline” show last year when all of Congress was invited to participate in a discussion about the Soviet Union. The invites went out again this week for Tuesday`s first of three satellite television exchanges with the Soviets-moderated by ABC`s Peter Jennings in the U.S. and Leonid Zolotarevsky in the USSR. But INC.`s sources are saying that a number of congressmen-cheated out of mike time last time-are taking a pass.
”Congressmen aren`t very good serving as background,” one congressional aide observed.
TREATED (SOMEWHAT) ROYALLY . . .
Locals in Greenwich, Conn., may be all agog over hosting this weekend`s visit of the Duke and Duchess of York, Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. But Chicago`s chi-chi at the Oak Brook Polo Club are being thrown a party Wednesday night by Maj. Ronald Ferguson-Fergie`s pop who also happens to be Prince Charles` polo manager. The major`s throwing the bash for all the friends he`s made since he started visiting Oak Brook in 1962. He`s in town for Sunday`s England vs. U.S.A. polo match.
FACE LIFTS . . .
One of the raffle prizes at that Sunday polo match, a benefit for Chicago Easter Seals, will be a gift certificate for $2,500 in cosmetic surgery. . . . Watch for an announcement that Marshall Field`s State Street store is about to undergo a top-to-bottom multimillion-dollar restoration and renovation.
STAR TRACKS . . .
What a sweet and funny guy that Bronson Pinchot is, don`t you think? As his Belke character on ”Perfect Strangers” would say, don`t be ridiculous. When Pinchot and costar Marc-Linn Baker were in town last weekend to film footage for the show`s opening credits, Pinchot rated an ”F” for fan appreciation, routinely and rudely turning his back and walking away from autograph seekers. A carful of teen fans who went by honking and yelling, ”We love you, Belke!” prompted Pinchot to mutter, ”That`s how I like `em; locked in their cars.” Baker, on the other hand, was pleasant, friendly and cooperative. . . . Let Kim Driscoll be a shining example to all you young girls trying to figure out how to snag a celebrity boyfriend. Tall blond Kim has been Joe Piscopo`s main squeeze (but is not surgically attached to him, as has been suggested) ever since he separated from his wife. Anyway, the way Kim met Joe was, well, she was, like, okay, she was the baby-sitter for little Joey Piscopo, okay? . . . When Mick Jagger was in town last week to promote his ”Primitive Cool” album, he took time to audition some local guitarists. Jagger`s tour band has a big hole where Jeff Beck used to be.
NO BIZ LIKE SHOW BIZ . . .
Auditions for 4- to 15-year-old ballet students to play roles in the Chicago City Ballet`s annual production of ”Cinderella” will be held Sunday at CCB`s School, 223 W. Erie St. Get your ladybug and firefly stars of tomorrow there at 1 p.m. P.S. Some tickets still are left for CCB`s
”Chicago” ballet, which premieres Sept. 25 at a black tie benefit performance at the Chicago Theatre. . .. There`ll be a definite show biz twist when the new Theatre District self-park lot opens Monday at Dearborn and Lake Streets. A giant caricature of Carol Channing will greet patrons at the entrance, and each level features the name of a different show tune to help patrons remember where they parked, as in ”No, Lloyd, I`m sure we were on the `Gigi` level.”
INC.LINGS . . .
Wednesday birthdays: Lauren Bacall, 63; Peter Falk, 60; Anne Francis, 55; B.B. King, 62; Allen Funt, 73. . . . The Claridge Hotel at 1244 N. Dearborn St. will celebrate its grand opening by offering free overnight accommodations (between now and March, 1988) to the first 50 people who call 787-8006 after 10 a.m. Wednesday.
