* Fran Spielman’s story on Mayor Brandon Johnson’s resistance to firing Dorval Carter at the CTA contained this state-related segment…

[Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago] is one of the prime movers behind a proposal to consolidate the four Chicago-area mass transit agencies — the RTA, CTA, Metra and Pace — into one super-agency with beefed-up powers.

“There either needs to be a leadership change or a change in leadership philosophy at CTA,” Buckner said Tuesday.

“The CTA doesn’t have a whole lot more time to get things right. … When you hear the state legislature say what you’re doing isn’t working and you hear the CTA respond by saying, ‘Just give us more money,’ that’s problematic. When you hear the City Council say, ‘What you’re doing is not working’ and you hear CTA respond by saying, ‘It is working. You don’t know what you’re talking about,’ there’s no accountability. The folks who are suffering are the people of Chicago.”

With federal stimulus funds drying up and a combined $730 million fiscal cliff looming, Buckner said: “There will be no new revenue without reform.”