DALEY FACING ASSAULT OF OLYMPIC PROPORTIONS

The attacks on Daley are coming from everywhere! Inspector General David Hoffman, Aldermen, Tony Peraica, No Games Chicago, and average citizens are stepping up and piling on with questions about the true costs of the Olympics in Chicago as Daley continues to fumble his way through this IOC contract situation. I love it.

And now, Alderman Howard Brookins is again pushing for a Wal-Mart in his ward, even after that big-box minimum wage veto Daley pulled awhile back. This Wal-Mart thing certainly doesn't help Daley's dealings with the city's unions, which are facing layoffs as the prospect of the Olympics creeps ever closer.

Big-Box Measure Returns to Chicago City Council:

With the city facing a $300 million budget shortfall and unemployment among African Americans topping 20 percent, Brookins said it makes no sense to block a $64 million project that would create 600 full- and part-time jobs.

Daley has said Brookins' request "is not gonna fly" because Wal-Mart backers "don't have enough votes." The mayor is reluctant to pick a fight with organized labor before the International Olympic Committee's Oct. 2 vote on a host city for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

But Brookins said, "We can't wait for the Olympics. People are dying now. People are starving now. People are in stores now. There is no convenient time. There's never gonna be a perfect time. If we cannot stand up for the people in the worst economic downturn since the Depression, when can we stand up for people?"

Chicago Federation of Labor President Dennis Gannon told the Chicago Sun-Times last week that City Council approval of a second Chicago Wal-Mart would complicate negotiations aimed at crafting a package of union concessions needed to avert 1,504 city layoffs scheduled to take effect July 15.

"How in the world could they bring that up in the middle of what we're trying to do?" Gannon said of the union givebacks.

Besides a potential battle over Wal-Mart, Crain's is chiming in on the risks involved with Chicago's proposed Olympic Village: The Next Olympic Landmine

As aldermen prepare to debate whether to put Chicago on the hook for any operating losses from the 2016 Olympics, the construction of a $1-billion athletes village poses a far greater potential risk to city finances.

With as many as 3,000 units, the proposed South Side housing complex is the single costliest item in the $4.8-billion Olympics budget. Chicago expects private developers to pick up the construction tab, betting that they'll profit by converting the buildings to apartments and condominiums afterward.

But if Chicago is chosen to host the games, the city will have no choice but to cover any construction costs the private sector won't. That's what happened in London and Vancouver, which are slated to host the next two Olympics and had to write big checks when private funding for athletes villages collapsed.

And finally, there's an interesting post about this assault on Daley over at the Reader's blog Clout City: The Olympic Games Have Already Begun

The controversy over funding for the Olympics is hardly about funding for the Olympics anymore. It’s about whether Mayor Daley still gets to say and do whatever he wants.
...

In the past Mayor Daley has always survived his tough spots by letting his critics lose their nerve, get distracted, or simply self-destruct. The difference this time is that there are a whole lot more of them, and each day thousands are reminded of why they’re pissed off when they pull into a public parking space.

Now, if any of this will make a difference is yet to be seen. What Daley wants, Daley gets. But here's hoping that adage changes now. It started with the parking meter mess and is continuing with the Olympics. All I have to say is, I hope these constant attacks on Mayor Dick continue. Let's not lose our nerve, get distracted, or self-destruct. Daley's counting on it. Instead, let's help Mayor Daley lose his nerve, get distracted, and self-destruct. Then, maybe he will end up right where he belongs - behind bars.