Aldermen aren’t soapboxing about the contracts now because those costs are already cooked into the 2018 budget, shrugged off as untouchable. Why bring them up now? Because the costs of the new contracts will be cooked into future budgets. If aldermen are ever going to take ownership of city spending, they have to become advocates for leaner contracts — before they’re signed, not after. That means speaking up and setting priorities while negotiations are going on, instead of waiting for a deal to be presented to them for an up-or-down vote. That’s much harder than railing against rats in the alleys. And much more important.