MAYOR DALEY GOT SERVED

FINALLY!
I have been waiting and waiting for someone to step up for all Chicago citizens and give Mayor Daley what he deserves. And government watchdog group Independent Voters of Illinois - Independent Precinct Organization finally made my wishes come true. They filed a lawsuit over Chicago's parking meter lease:

A citizens' advocacy group sued Chicago today in an attempt to have a court declare the city's deal to lease parking meters to a private company "illegal and void."

The suit, filed by the Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precinct Organization, claims the city did not have authority to lease its streets for an "excessive period" and that the city can't pay police to enforce parking violations for a private company. It also says the city can't ask the Illinois secretary of state to suspend driving privileges for failure to pay tickets issued at private meters.

See the complaint here or here.

More on the lawsuit:

In their lawsuit, the Independent Voters of Illinois along with Chicago resident Aviva Patt charge the parking meter privatization deal "unconstitutionally obligates the city to expend public funds in order to police, enforce and maintain the privately held and privately controlled parking meter system" -- a violation of the Illinois Constitution which states "public funds, property or credit shall only be used for public purposes." Earlier this year, the city leased some 36,000 meters to Chicago Parking Meters LLC for $1.15 billion for 75 years -- a move drawing the ire of motorists who are seeing a steep climb in rates.

At the heart of the suit is a belief that portions of the agreement are illegal, says the watchdog group's attorney Clint Krislov.

"The streets are a public way that the city is not authorized to lease to a single entity," he said, noting that the term of the contract is "excessive." "It ties up public assets and commits city council beyond the term of this future city council. To tie up a public way for an excessive period -- government doesn't have the authority to do that," Krislov said, citing case law.

The city's response so far has been predictable:

The City of Chicago Law Department had very little comment on the lawsuit but in a prepared statement, spokesperson Jennifer Hoyle said, “We have obtained a copy of the IVI-IVO’s lawsuit regarding the parking meter concession agreement. We have not been served with this lawsuit and it is not clear to us whether or not it’s actually been filed. However, based on our initial review we believe it is wholly without merit, both factually and legally. We do not believe it’s appropriate to comment in any further detail about this potential litigation, except to say that we will aggressively defend this transaction in court if the suit is filed.”

See more coverage here.

Thank you IVI-IPO. I couldn't be happier right now. I will definitely be following this suit closely, so check back for more.

Also, in case you missed it - more good news coming out of City Hall. Former City Worker Accused of Writing Herself $20,000 Check.

AS THE DALEY TURNS

Did you enjoy Monday's "reduced-service" day? It looks like some people didn't get the memo about Mayor Daley shutting down the city: :

You could not get a library book or see a doctor in a city health clinic Monday in Chicago, but you could pay a parking ticket or fight to un-boot your car, provided you'd wait in a line long enough for an amusement park ride. Cops, firemen and privatized parking meters were working, however, even if nothing else was.

From a security guard answering phones in the mayor's office at City Hall to a harried staff collecting payments of fines at one of the few city offices open Monday, confusion and frustration reigned in the City that Works, which by design wasn't officially working at all.

I love that the Department of Revenue is an "essential service" now that King Richard has run our city into the red. Gotta have the city workers out there making him some money, even as the rest of the city is completely shut down to save $8 million. I also noticed that my neighborhood is only getting one side of its streets scrubbed, since one of our street cleaning days happened to fall on Monday. I would have thought Daley would keep up with the street cleaning so he wouldn't miss out on all those parking tickets he gets from his lovely street cleaning scheme. Funny, even when those worthless street sweepers come through, my street is still covered in garbage and dirt.

And, in case you missed it, Neil Steinberg at the Sun-Times had some nice words for Mayor Daley - Maybe Games Can Skip Mondays:

Every time a pothole opens up in the street, or an L train runs late, or a piece of old chewing gum is left on the sidewalk, Chicagoans must fight off an overwhelming urge to rush up to the mayor, hold the sooty fingertip of an otherwise pristine white glove under his nose and screech, "How is Chicago supposed to put on the 2016 Olympics when you can't even take care of THIS???"

Which is wrong because we never apply that logic to our personal lives ("How are we supposed to throw Nathan a bar mitzvah party in 2014 if we can't even clean our garage now?") Also pointless because Daley is a foaming fanatic when it comes to the Olympics. This is life or death to him -- we simply must get the Olympics, in his view, we must, and if we don't, should the Olympics go to Rio, or wherever, don't be surprised if our mayor utterly snaps, and slips into some fugue state where he believes the Olympics are here anyway. Can't you just see him? A broken and pathetic figure, sitting by himself on a folding metal chair in an empty Washington Park, cheering imaginary runners as they fly by in his shattered mind.

Still, obvious though the point is, sometimes this job entails stating the obvious, and today, "reduced-service day" in Chicago, somebody has to say it: If we can't even keep the city open on a Monday in August, if we can't even allow Chicagoans to check out a book or drop by a shabby CHA senior center, then how exactly are we going to mount a world-awing spectacle that will top all those Chinese drummers? Remember, we not only want to host the Olympics, but we have to do a bang-up job of it. What's the point of going through all this and getting the Games, only to botch them? "Remember the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Chicago? That bit with the six trained dogs doing somersaults? That was swell."

The die is cast. We'll find out in October whether we will host the 2016 Olympics. Until then, The City That Works doesn't. At least not today.

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Here's my bet: If any city could attempt to save money by giving its employees a few days off -- there are others to come -- only to end up spending MORE money than it would have spent without the sabbaticals, that city is Chicago. Mark my words: By the time they tote up the overtime, doing the work that should have been done Monday, and the lawsuits from citizens who needed some service and didn't get it, plus the amount stolen because whoever normally watches the chicken coop on Monday was home watching, "Jeopardy," it'll end up costing us more. Just wait

Also, NBC Chicago reporter Steve Rhodes takes on Chicago aldermen and their expense accounts in a wonderfully titled piece - Aldermen Buy the Darndest Things (It's not Easy Being a Dolt):

Pity the poor alderman.

These people are paid a paltry $110,556 salary to do everything the mayor tells them to do, and they're supplemented by a measly $73,280 expense account.

Sure, that expense account alone is more than the typical Chicagoan makes, but aldermen have a tough job.

And, in light of last week's announcement that CPS will be raising our taxes, be sure to check out this article - Whose Fault is the CPS Budget Crisis?. Seems like there is plenty of blame to go around, including Mayor Daley and his wonderful TIF scheme.

Lastly, for your viewing pleasure, check out this video featuring 1980's Chicago:

DICK DALEY HAS WORDS

And now, some words from everyone's favorite mayor, Richard "Dick" Daley.

Dick Hearts Rick - Daley defends 22nd Ward Alderman Ricardo "Rick" Munoz, who used clout to get his daughter into an elite Chicago public high school:

“As a parent, he is speaking for not only his family, but his own constitutents,” Daley said. “They don’t have to accept the child. They can refuse the child because [aldermen] have no power over the Board of Education. They don’t fund them. They don’t review their budgets or anything else.”

Sure, no one felt pressure to admit the alderman's daughter simply because the City Council doesn't control the CPS budget. Riiiiiight.

And that isn't even true anyway:

What Daley neglected to mention is that the City Council approves the Board of Education's property tax levy and ratifies the mayor's appointment of School Board members.

Daley should have just taken a cue from his father, King Daley the First, and told the reporters to kiss his ass:

The Mayor's father, Richard J. Daley, once famously sputtered that if reporters have a problem with a father helping his own kids -- think, for starters, son John and the insurance business -- they could kiss his ass. The late mayor's exact words: "If they don't like it, they can kiss my ass."

Dick Defends His Pick - Daley stands up for crony Michael Scott's deal to profit from the Olympics:

Dick Thinks He's Slick - Daley speaks about his call to shake up oversight of the city's scandalous minority business program:

"We want to make it much more transparent and much more effective for those that are applying," Daley said. "The Office of Compliance has become an expert in analyzing, tracking and monitoring processes and making them more effective."

Asked about the cases of fraud that have plagued the program, Daley said fraud also exists in the private sector, not just in government.

Well the private sector does it too! What is this, kindergarten? That still doesn't make it alright. Got it, Dick?

Meanwhile, some aldermen are still waiting for Daley & Co. to fulfill their promise to provide documents relating to the sale of Chicago's parking meters. How's that for transparency.

Sounds like a case for Reformer Man.

DICK DALEY AND HIS CORRUPT CRONIES

So on Tuesday, the Chicago 2016 people didn't have a problem with Olympic Committee Member/developer/Chicago Board of Education President Michael Scott and his real estate deal near proposed Olympic venues. But then, on Wednesday, they changed their minds:

Michael Scott’s role in helping West Side ministers develop city-owned land near a proposed Douglas Park Olympic venue raised the perception of a conflict of interest and should have been disclosed up-front, Chicago 2016 acknowledged Wednesday.

“In hindsight, given Mr. Scott’s role as agent for the group, it is understandable that a third party, without knowledge of the facts, might perceive a conflict of interest,” Chicago 2016 said in a prepared statement.

"Without knowledge of the facts" huh? Well, why don't you enlighten us. Because from what I've read, I'm definitely "perceiving" a conflict of interest. And you can keep telling us that he has no financial interest in the project, but I'm just not buying it. This is Chicago, people just don't do this kinda stuff unless there is money coming their way. It's the Daley way.

Of course, you can take Daley's word for it. Here he is again defending Scott:

Wednesday's statement was a bit of an about-face. It happened as Mayor Daley once again defended Scott, a trusted mayoral lieutenant with a 30-year history with Daley.

“He’s been on the West Side of Chicago …We have more vacant lots. ... There’s thousands of ‘em. People are trying to do something with all these vacant lots. He tried to get ministers or anybody to do something with them — not to benefit himself,” Daley said.

“No financial interest, no professional interest. Nothing whatsoever. He told everybody that. [He said], ‘I have no interest. I was trying to help the West Side of the city of Chicago.’ He hails from there. He has lived there for many, many years.”

Listen Daley, I'm not buying this "he's doing it out of the goodness of his heart" crap. This guy's got 30 years of history with you. Do I need to say more?

Also, I had totally forgotten about Michael Scott's earlier appearance in the headlines. Check it out. From Chicago Breaking News on May 2, 2009 - CPS President Urges Principals to Push 2016 Bid:

The president of the Chicago Public Schools board, who is also a member of the Chicago 2016 Olympic committee, has asked all of the city's school principals to get on board with the push to bring the Summer Games to Chicago.

In an e-mail sent April 22 to principals, Board President Michael Scott said: "I am requesting that you register your school for Olympic Week in America. Please take a few minutes to identify a staff person who can register your school. ... You must sign up by Monday, April 27."

Olympic Week in America is a promotional effort to raise the profile of Chicago's bid starting Monday.

Peterson's e-mail stated that each school's participation would be graded as "gold, silver or bronze," with the lowest level including developing an "Olympic week proclamation," raising the Chicago 2016 flag at the school, and including Olympic-themed activities in the classrooms. The e-mail also said that a person from Scott's office would be following up by phone with the principals.

Although teachers union officials said Scott's e-mail was a heavy-handed attempt to force school employees to support the bid, the board president said that's not what he intended.

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Still, the move smacked of coercion for some, including the Chicago Teachers Union, whose officials said several schools located near proposed Olympic venues have been slated for closing.

"The language in the memo didn't seem to leave participants much choice," said Rosemaria Genova, press secretary for the Chicago Teachers Union. "Many people favor the idea of the Olympics coming to Chicago, but it is difficult for principals, teachers and staff to participate in Olympic-themed activities when schools are closing in areas near Olympic venues."

See, this is how it works. Daley's cronies force the Olympic cause upon all us regular citizens and then Daley repays their loyalty with sweet real estate deals and contracts. Yeah, that sounds more like it.

Speaking of forcing the Olympics down our throats, what about an update from the ongoing Chicago 2016 Community Meetings? Well here we go.

These Chicago 2016 people think they are so clever with their non-binding Memo of Understanding on minority contracts, affordable housing, and local employment. Fortunately, Chicago citizens are calling them on their bullshit - Bronzeville Not Buying the Olympic Guarantee:

Apparently, Chicago 2016 thought that they had outfoxed the coalition -- and the public -- by handing them the MOU and walking away with some favorable headlines. Indeed, while appearing at one of the bid committee's community meetings in Bronzeville last night, chairman Pat Ryan attempted to trot out the document as "legally-binding" evidence that the South Side is in line for big gains. Luckily, the residents in attendance -- invited from the 3rd, 4th, and 20th Wards -- knew better.

"You're selling it like it's going to protect us," Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization's Jitu Travis told Ryan. "It's not. Where's the legally-binding document?"

...

If last night's meeting is any indication, South Siders are catching on. When Ryan attempted to prove his confidence in the Chicago 2016 plan by offering to bet each audience member $1,000 that they won't pay for any of the Olympics, he was virtually laughed off the stage.

Now we just need to laugh Daley and his goons out of town. I'm going to start laughing now. Tell me when they are gone.

DALEY. TAXES. DALEY. TAXES. DALEY. TAXES. DALEY. TAXES. DALEY. TAXES.

Surprise Surprise, there's another budget doomsday in Chicago and your property taxes are going up! Even though Mayor Daley asked them not to and said tax increases would be a last resort, Chicago Public Schools are raising our taxes:

Faced with a “tsunami” of teacher pension costs, Chicago public school officials want to raise city property taxes by $43 million, or 1.5 percent, a new budget released today indicates.

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And, [Chicago Schools CEO Ron Huberman] warned, even worse news is ahead. The next budget deficit, in fiscal year 2011, could top $900 million — a hole so big the system would have to increase class sizes and eliminate teachers unless “cost containment on the pension and wage fronts’’ is achieved, Huberman said.

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The proposed property tax hike would be the 13th time in 14 years that CPS has raised property taxes for schools since Daley’s 1995 school takeover. Last year was the only time no such increase was levied, with Daley saying at the time, “Chicago taxpayers deserve a break. People are hurting.’’

This year, residents are suffering even more, with layoffs and furlough days mounting, houses locked in foreclosure, nest eggs shrinking and anger off the charts about the steep increases in parking meter rates.

And here's Mayor Daley defending this tax hike:

“They’re not raising property taxes. We’re abating 50 percent of the property tax. ... Instead of going up to $83 [million] or $100 million, we’re abating about fifty-some million,” Daley said.

“We’re abating almost 50 percent [of what the tax increase could be]. That’s what we’re doing. Any other questions?”

Uh, I got a lot of questions. Like ARE YOU SERIOUS? And, please go away. Wait, that wasn't a question.

Mayor Daley thinks because the tax hike is only half of what it could be, that it is somehow defensible. Defending the indefensible. Only in Daleyland.

And who is he to talk?:

Over the last two years alone, Daley has raised taxes, fines and fees by a whopping $329 million, including an $83.4 million property tax increase, the largest property tax increase in Chicago history.

The City Council also approved a 40 percent increase in the city's real estate transfer tax to bail out the CTA.

The mayor’s preliminary 2010 budget has a $520 million gap that can only be closed by cutting services, raising taxes or a combination of the two.

But wait! It looks like our compliant little aldermen are not pleased with the possibility of another tax hike:

“People are despondent. They’re frustrated. They’re sitting on the sidelines waiting for this elusive recovery to appear on the horizon,” Northwest Side Ald. Tom Allen (38th) said Tuesday.

“It’s a little less … politically radioactive when you’re talking about educating our kids. ... It’s not like handing out money to developers. But, part of it goes back to all the money we have tied up in [tax-increment- financing]. If that money wasn’t siphoned off to all the TIF districts, it would be available to education.”

Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) predicted that the $43 million school property tax increase would bring long-simmering anger among his constituents to a boil.

“This is clearly another step that’s gonna force more people out of the city. People are gonna say, ‘What’s the value of our education system? Where are we going with it?’” Fioretti said.

Speaking of budgets and taxes and Mayor Daley in our pockets, check out this tremendous post at Progress Illinois - Daley's House of Cards:

It means Daley has, for years now, been building a house of cards. Rather than facing the problem head-on and developing new sources of revenue, the mayor has chased short-term fixes. He has leased valuable public assets despite evidence that the deals represent a long-term loss to taxpayers. Meanwhile, he has watched hundreds of millions in public dollars flow towards his tax increment financing (TIF) fiefdom. Apparently, he is just crossing his fingers that the Olympic bid or a rejuvenated economy will save him from this downward spiral. In the midst of all this, the mayor has asked city workers to sacrifice again and again, despite the fact that the resulting savings are negligible.

Summary: Taxes for schools are going up for the 13th time since 1995...and things look even worse for next year...and Mayor Daley's still got over $1 billion in TIF funds...and he's handing it out to corporations and developers...and people are losing their jobs and homes...and mayor Dick's got a great idea - let's get the Olympics! One house of cards, coming right up.

Enough! Let's get rid of this bum Daley! DTMFA!

CHICAGO OLYMPICS BROUGHT TO YOU BY MAYOR CRAZY FACE

photo by Johnye West

As long as this Chicago Olympic nonsense is going on, there will be great(!) news coming out of City Hall.

First, as expected we have TIFs for the Olympics! City Creating TIF to Draw $100 Million to Transform Hospital into Olympic Village:

Chicago taxpayers must spend $100 million to transform the old Michael Reese Hospital site on the Near South Side into an Olympic Village.

On Wednesday, Mayor Daley's Olympic bid team confirmed the $100 million price tag to install roads, sewers and utilities, raising questions about how the Chicago 2016 committee and Daley can continually say the Games won't cost taxpayers a dime -- especially when the city is dealing with a fiscal crisis.

While Chicago won't know until October if it will win the 2016 Summer Games, the city has agreed to create a TIF district surrounding Michael Reese to generate the $100 million.

Ben Joravsky has some words about TIFs for the Olympic Village at Michael Reese Hospital. Check out his post More Magic Beans:

Look, people, if you truly believe these games are worth the fortune they will obviously cost us, or if you don't care about the public cost but think your business might somehow or other get a crumb or two from the Olympic pie, than go ahead, join the mayor's parade.

But for your own self respect, please don't be dumb enough to believe the bull.

Also in the news lately is a Daley ally - Olympic supporter, real estate developer, and Chicago Board of Education President Michael Scott. He has been subpoenaed in the ongoing federal grand jury investigation of the admissions process at elite Chicago public schools. Scott has also been exposed for his part in a deal to develop land near proposed Olympic venues:

A member of Mayor Richard Daley's team working to bring the Olympics to Chicago has quietly arranged to develop city-owned land near a park that would be transformed for the 2016 Summer Games, potentially positioning himself to cash in if the Games come here, a Tribune investigation has found.

Developer Michael Scott Sr., an early member of the mayor's Olympic committee, leads a group planning a residential and commercial project on lots kitty-corner from the proposed Douglas Park sporting venues, a location where land values could jump if the city gets the Olympics.
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Scott owns Michael Scott & Associates, a real estate development and investment firm. He also serves as president of the Chicago Board of Education, and was in the news earlier this week when he said he was subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury looking into admissions to the city's elite public schools.

Scott's designs on the public land are sure to reinforce concerns of residents that it's the mayor's friends who would benefit from Daley bringing the 2016 Olympics to the city. The story is a familiar one in Daley's administration, where City Hall insiders have personally profited from even the most civic-minded of projects, from recycling garbage to building Millennium Park.

Of course, Daley initially refused to answer questions about another one of his friends caught with his hand in the city cookie jar:

I'm sorry I can't answer questions every day. Every day, I do it enough," Daley said.

Asked by a Tribune reporter when he would be available to talk about Scott's project, Daley said the question insulted him.

"Oh, I do it everyday, you've been with me every day. Never insult me with that question," Daley said. "You're insulting me because every day I'm here, you're never here. And don't print that, so I know you'll print it."

But later, Daley gave in and offered up this wonderful explanation:

Mayor Daley denied Saturday that Michael Scott, a member of the Chicago 2016 committee, would financially benefit from a proposed West Side development near the site of a potential Olympic venue.

"He's not involved," Daley said after the Bud Billiken Parade, where he spent the morning riding a float blasting out the music of Beyonce. "He's supporting the Olympics. Everybody is supporting the Olympics."

...

"The facts are wrong. The conclusions are wrong," Daley said, later adding, "He never had any interest -- none whatsoever."

However, the Tribune's Clout Street blog calls Daley's claims into question:

Scott...is listed as the project's developer. Letters of support from Ald. Sharon Denise Dixon (24th) refer to the project as Scott's development and made no mention of the ministers. Scott said she was mistaken in both letters, though he never asked her to change the wording. Also, in state incorporation papers, only Scott is listed as the only officer of the firm, WMC-I.

Daley attempted to dismiss that. "It doesn't matter, he had no interest," he said.

The mayor also accused reporters of trying to hurt Scott and the city's bid for the 2016 Games.

Naturally, John Kass was there to comment on our beloved Mayor Chucky - Queries Unleash a Terrifying Alter Ego:

Many of you probably don't know this, but the mayor's office insists that reporters stay "on topic" at most of his public events.

"On topic" means that he'll talk about the stunt of the moment, so reporters can give oodles of coverage to the news managed out of the mayor's press office. Many days, the mayor's schedulers inform reporters he'll only accept questions "on topic." And then you see the stunt on TV, the ribbon cutting or the meet-and-greet with the children or the seniors, and you think you're actually watching the news.

But a few local reporters on Friday, including a young Tribune reporter named Dan Blake, figured they should act like reporters, not press agents. So they dared ask "off topic" questions about Michael Scott. That's when the Mayor Chucky came out.

"No," he said. "this is just gonna be on this."

Translation: Shut up and stay on topic.

"When do you think you'll be available next to talk about the deal reported about Michael Scott?"

"Oh, I do it every day," Mayor Chucky insisted. "You've been with me every day. NEVER insult me with that question! You're insulting me because every day I'm here, you're never here. And don't print that! So I know, you'll print it."

Huh? What? All Blake asked was a legitimate question about when the mayor would answer a legitimate question.

On Saturday, the mayor finally talked about Scott, but only long enough to deny, deny, deny and say reporters were making it all up just to hurt his feelings and ruin everything. "You come to conclusions, you're trying to hurt 2016. I don't know why. ...You come to conclusions!"

Oh what would we do in Chicago without a mayor who breaks into a sweaty, angry, "I'm the victim" persona whenever we dare to question his crooked ways?
























photo

TIFS. AGAIN.

photo by Chicago Reader

Progress Illinois is asking questions about Central Loop TIF expenditures with their post Corporate Welfare in Chicago's Loop:

While we're on the subject of the collective $10 million directed to MillerCoors and Willis Holdings, it's worth asking who else in the so-called Central Loop TIF district stands to receive taxpayer dollars this year?

According to the 2008 annual report recently posted by the city, an additional $29 million is scheduled to be spent on four other redevelopment projects, including $5 million to NAVTEQ, a subsidiary of cellular giant Nokia. In 2007, the Tribune reported on Daley's defense of this particular giveaway:

Daley, at a press conference Tuesday, said "there's nothing wrong with TIF assistance" for corporate relocations. Without them, companies like Navteq would leave Chicago, he said. "They'd go to Naperville or New York. New York is offering huge bonuses."

Then when a firm flees, Daley added, "there'd be a big headline, 'Why does Mayor Daley let those companies move?' "

photo via Chicago Journal

And Ben Joravsky continues his crusade against Mayor Daley and his TIF slush fund with an appropriately titled piece - Mr. Big Spender:

The Central Loop Tax Increment Financing district—the oldest and largest TIF of them all—came in with a boom and went out with a binge.

It was created more than two decades ago, to great fanfare, to try to lift what was then a struggling downtown, and it quickly amassed millions of dollars for Mayor Daley and other elected officials to play with. In 2008, at the legally mandated end of its 24-year life, the city spent about $365.5 million from the Central Loop TIF's coffers—more than the city has ever spent in a single year from any TIF fund, and more than the total expenditures from the TIF over the previous three years combined. For a little perspective, that's the equivalent of about 70 percent of the city's predicted budget shortfall for 2010.

The process for phasing out a TIF is fairly straightforward, at least according to state law. The city can either spend all the money before it's closed or hand over what it didn't spend to the schools, parks, county, and other taxing bodies.

Well, in early July, when the city finally got around to releasing the 2008 reports on its 160 TIF districts, we found out which option the mayor went with. I'll give you a hint: the schoolkids didn't win. Instead the Daley administration went on a spending spree Paris Hilton could only dream about. In fact, the city burned through so much money that it drained the Central Loop TIF account and then had to borrow a little money from neighboring TIF districts ($1.45 million each from the LaSalle Central and River South TIFs) to pay the Central Loop TIF's final bills. That's perfectly legal, by the way, since our state TIF laws are conveniently pockmarked with loopholes.

Damn. All this TIF money for Daley to throw around but he insists on crying poor, laying off city workers, slashing services, selling our assets, and pronouncing the Olympics as the city's only hope for the future. I call bullshit.

















I figured out what Daley's doing with all of our money.

MAYOR DALEY RANT: RED LIGHT CAMERAS

The Parking Ticket Geek has a great post on his superb blog The Expired Meter. If you love all of King Daley's Cameras as much as I do, give it a read - Oops! Chicago Forgets It's National Stop on Red Week:

You would have thought, a leader like Mayor Daley, who is so concerned about red light safety, would have earmarked some of the millions and millions of dollars in red light camera fines, to promote red light safety education programs like National Stop On Red Week here in Chicago.

This had to be a grievous mistake. It would be a major embarrassment. Right?

I figured, I just might not be paying attention. Perhaps I had just missed it.

So I started calling around to see what some city department were planning to promote National Stop On Red Week.

I checked with the Chicago Department of Transportation. Nope! Nada! Nothing!

I checked with the Chicago Police Department. Zip! Zero! Zilch!

Not even Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, which runs one of the largest red light camera programs in the nation, had anything planned.

What?!?

I just know this was some sort of teensy-weensy oversight of the Daley Administration. Maybe they just forgot.

Because everyone knows, red light cameras are NOT about revenue. No! Of course not!

Red light cameras are ONLY about improving safety at intersections and decreasing vehicle collisions.

Anyone who thinks different, is itching for a fight.

I’m 100% absolutely, positively, convinced, that the City of Chicago, which is so committed to the safety of its motorists, will actively participate in next year’s National Stop On Red Week.

Right Mayor?

Read the full post here. Read more of Parking Ticket Geek's posts on Red Light Cameras in Chicago here. Be sure to check out Red Light Cameras 101: Know Your Enemy.



























photo via The Expired Meter

You can see a map of Chicago red light camera locations here.

HISTORY LESSON: MAYOR DALEY - OLYMPIC ASPIRATIONS, POLICE TORTURE IGNORE-ATIONS

There are many reasons I hate Mayor Daley. One of these reasons is that when Daley was Cook County States Attorney, he ignored Chicago Police torture under Officer Jon Burge. He could have done something to stop the torture, but he didn't.

Jon Burge, the Olympics, and Torture in Chicago:

Cmdr. Burge and his midnight crew at the city's Area 2 police station tortured more than 137 African American men over a two-decade span. In many cases, Burge and his medieval sect of detectives tortured the old-fashioned way, using nightsticks, flashlights, black jacks and telephone books. At other times they went above and beyond the call of cruelty by hand cranking a telephone box that generated an electrical current, then putting it to the genitals and rectums of the black suspects they were interrogating. Other cruel and unusual practices by Burge's "A Team" included cattle prods to the bodies and plastic bags placed over the heads.
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Accusations that Lt. Burge and officers under him were torturing prisoners into confessions have been an open secret for nearly three decades throughout much of the city and county's criminal justice system. The rumors ran rampant in the early 1980s when Mayor Daley was the Cook County state's attorney.

Police Torture and Mayor Daley:

U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald finally has done what Richard M. Daley should have done 26 years ago: He has indicted retired Chicago Police Detective Jon Burge for leading a band of brutal white cops who tortured hundreds of African-American suspects in criminal cases.

It was 1982, when Daley was the state's attorney of Cook County, that he was first reliably informed -- by Chicago Police Superintendent Richard Brzeczek -- what Burge and company were doing.

What went on -- plastic bags over heads, shackling to hot radiators, gun barrels in mouths, electrical shocks to ears, nostrils and genitals, cigarette burns to arms, legs and chests -- is now well known, having been cited repeatedly in court opinions. (Even Daley, belatedly, branded the torture "a shameful episode in our history.")

A "shameful episode" but sorry, as usual, Mayor Daley doesn't know anything about it.

However, if Daley were to know something, the Chicago Reader's John Conroy posed Twenty Questions about Jon Burge and Chicago police torture that the mayor should (but won't) answer. Maybe one day, Daley will finally be forced to testify under oath about this shameful period in Chicago history. After all, he said he didn't have a problem with it:

“If they require me to be deposed, I have no problems with that,” Daley said at a news conference. But that was before the February 27 election, when one of his challengers was urging voters to “say no to the Daley/Burge team.” After the election the city’s lawyers appealed Brown’s ruling to federal judge Marvin Aspen. They argued that questioning Daley under oath was “premature and may be unnecessary”—on the grounds that busy public officials like the mayor shouldn’t be compelled to testify until all other avenues of getting the desired information have been exhausted.

...

The mayor would have the public believe that he’s already been grilled on the subject. “I answered all those questions,” Daley said in February, referring to his interview with special prosecutors Edward Egan and Robert Boyle, who were appointed in 2002 by the chief judge of the criminal court to investigate the torture

...

The 49-page transcript has the special prosecutors asking Daley 81 questions and the mayor answering with variations on “I don’t recall” 20 times. Magistrate Brown described the transcript as containing “little useful information.” For some perspective, consider that when state’s attorney Richard Devine, who served as Daley’s first assistant, was questioned by lawyers for Burge victims last year, the transcript ran 574 pages without exhibits.

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DALEY'S TIF TRAINWRECK

Progress Illinois has two great posts about Mayor Daley's TIF scheme and Chicago's estimated $520 million budget hole for next year. Check 'em out.

A Few Questions for Gene Saffold:

Since rolling out the bad-news budget for next year, there have been a lot of questions pointed at Chicago Chief Financial Officer Gene Saffold. These include whether he's exaggerated the size of the hole in the budget (pegged at $520 million) and how money from the leases of several valuable city assets -- including the $1.15 billion parking meter deal, which was supposed to help balance the budget through 2012 -- could have possibly dried up so quickly.
...

If other municipalities in Illinois can release surplus TIF funds back to local taxing bodies, why can't Chicago?

Getting Creative with Daley's TIF Network

...The property tax revenue being siphoned away from local taxing bodies through TIF has more than doubled over the past six years — from $216 million in 2002 to $570 million in 2008.

It seems ridiculous to be redirecting so much money away from the general tax base at the same time that revenues are sharply declining. Indeed, with a little creative thinking and flexibility on the part of city officials, there are several adjustments to the TIF system that could provide some relief for cash-starved taxing bodies in Chicago. In this post, we’ll examine three potential modifications: redistributing surplus funds, terminating "elderly" TIF districts, and adjusting the TIF tax base for inflation.

photo via Joe Fournier at Zanimation - check the site out for some Chicago and Mayor Daley themed cartoons

VIOLENCE IN DALEYTOPIA

There's trouble in Daleytopia!

In the month of July, more than 200 people were shot in Chicago. 42 of these people died. And, as Second City Cop points out:

31 shootings happened within a mile of Washington Park - Daley's choice for the Opening and Closing ceremonies.

Lost suburbanites can't make it home without being injured or killed when gangbangers ram their car.

Men can't walk home alone in Lincoln Park/Lakeview without being jumped, beaten, and mugged.

People's little dogs are being killed by burglars.

And we pay Chicago Police Superintendent Jody Weis $300,000 per year to run the Chicago Police Department into the ground.

When Weis was hired last November to clean up the Police Department, Daley justified his top salary by saying the former FBI agent would be wearing two hats: those of top cop and chief emergency officer.

"This man could go anyplace within the FBI," Daley said at the time. "He could go outside. I'm very responsible paying him that much money -- both for being [police superintendent] and for homeland security [chief]. . . . Yes, it's worth it."

But in July, Weis' authority to supervise response to disasters was diluted when Fire Commissioner Raymond Orozco was named to head the Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Daley said Orozco, not Weis, will be calling the shots at disaster scenes.

So I was wondering, Mayor Daley, are the Olympics going to fix all this violence too (Jody Weis obviously hasn't)? Because if they're not, I really wish we could focus Chicago's efforts on the important issues - like making our city safe. And I'm talking about the entire city - North, South, and West.

Until something is done, I know where I'll be - at Mayor Daley's house. With its round-the-clock police protection, it's the safest place in Chicago. So, citizens of Chicago, if you don't feel safe in your neighborhood, head on down to Daley's house! If you're lucky, maybe the King will let you camp on the lawn of his castle.

DALEY DOESN'T KNOW. DALEY NEVER KNOWS.

So the Feds are snooping around in Mayor Daley's business again. This time, it's Chicago Public Schools. From the Chicago Tribune:

Federal authorities have launched an investigation into the admissions practices at Chicago's selective enrollment schools, the Chicago Tribune has learned.

Federal officials recently served a grand jury subpoena on Chicago Public Schools seeking information about the admissions process, sources said. Chicago Board of Education President Michael Scott confirmed Saturday that the district recently received a federal subpoena, but declined to elaborate because of the investigation.

And here's Mayor Daley with his usual response:

Daley chafed today when asked if he thought clout had not played a role in admissions, saying the question was akin to asking, "Do you think anyone has sinned today?"

"I mean, I'm the mayor -- I wouldn't know whether or not," he said.

The mayor frequently likes to recall his decision to take control of the public school system in 1995 as an example of his decisive leadership.

Mayor Daley's playing his favorite game. Anything good coming out of City Hall is all because of his efforts. But when scandal after scandal pops up, it's the same line, time and time again: "I'm just the mayor, I wouldn't know about that."

Yes Dick, of course. What would you know about the management of the city? You're only the mayor.

Here's something else I bet Mayor Daley knows nothing about - more city contracts for Daley friends and campaign contributors. Laid-Off City Drivers Protest Chicago's Shift to Private Firms:

About 60 recently laid-off Chicago truck drivers picketed Friday at a city facility on the South Side, protesting that politically connected private companies are now doing work public employees performed for Mayor Richard Daley's administration.

The protesters were among 141 drivers fired last month in a cost-cutting move after their union refused to accept unpaid furlough days and a reduction in overtime pay.

Under a deal that went into effect July 1, the city hired private contractors to haul construction debris from city work sites for the Water Management Department. Among the companies chosen was Reliable Asphalt Corp., which received a $158 million, three-year contract.

Reliable owner Michael Vondra has donated tens of thousands of dollars to local politicians, including Daley, the Democratic organization in the mayor's 11th Ward power base and the pro-Daley Hispanic Democratic Organization. City records show Reliable's lobbyists on the deal are Victor Reyes, a former Hispanic Democratic Organization chairman and top mayoral aide, and David Bonoma, son of Daley's longtime secretary.

"This is the second phase of Hired Truck," said laid-off driver Alex Kantrowitz, referring to the City Hall program that was disbanded amid federal bribery charges.

PREPARE THE TAR AND FEATHERS

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OH BOY! Did you hear how the city of Chicago's budget sounds for next year? $520 Million in the hole. And you thought this year's $300 million budget gap was bad. Yikes. From the Sun-Times:

Even after wringing concessions from organized labor and drying up a "rainy day" fund created by privatizing parking meters, Chicago has a $519.7 million budget shortfall in 2010 that can only be filled with tax increases and spending cuts.

"There are no obvious sources of revenue that have not already been tapped," said Civic Federation President Laurence Msall.

"You have to make very severe and structural cuts in the city's operating budget. City government is going to be forced to re-invent itself in the way it delivers services and eliminates services not critical."

Msall was also quoted as saying:

"You have to look at personnel and personnel reductions because they represent 80 to 85 percent of the operating costs," said Laurence Msall, executive director of the Civic Federation.

Significant new taxes are unlikely, Msall added. "There is little that comes to mind that the city isn't already taxing or would be a new revenue source," he said.

Will Daley hold the line on taxes and fees? Are more layoffs coming? I'm not holding my breath. Daley cutting the fat from the city payroll is something I have to see to believe. I really won't be surprised to see Daley raising our taxes and fees. AGAIN. Seems pretty inevitable, right?

Chief Financial Officer Gene Saffold said nothing is ruled out. But, the mayor has instructed his staff to avoid a property tax increase at all costs.

"We understand people are hurting out there. ... The last thing we want to do ... is to further burden the citizens of Chicago. That's why that is a last resort -- the last thing that we'll turn to," he said.

Last resort? Do you believe him? I don't. Is he really going to cut $520 million from city employees alone? There is just no way that happens. He can call a tax increase a last resort if he wants. I'll just call it another day in Daleyland. After all, we've heard this before: Only One Choice - Raise Taxes.























photo by Johnye West

Some people think there's nothing left for Daley to tax. But not me. King Daley always finds a way to get more money out of his lowly subjects. So prepare your bank accounts for further assault in 2010.

I'm definitely on the look out for the city to step up its creative revenue game. Like parking tickets, towing, and red light cameras. Check out this great rant:

So beyond this, we got to talking about other ridiculous revenue streams in her area. She said she was always curious about why they did so much street sweeping in her area. One would think it would be expensive to always have the street sweeper out there, right? Nope. They tried to cut back on street sweeping, but it didn't work; THEY NEEDED THE REVENUE they get from giving out parking tickets.

Look, I never took an economics class in my life, but even I know that if your budget relies on FUCKING YOUR TAX-PAYING CITIZENS WITH BULLSHIT TICKETS to survive, something is FUCKING WRONG WITH YOUR BUDGET. No matter what social programs and bullshit spending you WANT the government to do, the money for it HAS TO COME FROM SOMEWHERE. If that somewhere is "cops give out more tickets for people who commit non-dangerous and piddly offenses", like parking in a street sweeping area or jaywalking or all this other bullshit that people insist is for "safety" but is really just a revenue stream, something has to change. I can't believe people don't see this. Especially the people in positions of power, people who get paid a significant amount to come up with a budget that makes sense and is feasible. When that budget includes something like "have a street sweeper out there (which, for what it's worth, is probably burning more fuel per mile than a Hummer does in a month, considering how slow they go) twice a week so we can ticket people who park on the street", no one looks at it and says "hey, maybe that's not the best way to get revenue?" NO ONE?!

Fuck is the system broken.

CHICAGO IS BROKE BUT MAYOR DALEY'S GOT $1.4 BILLION

What's so funny Mayor Daley?

Oh, right. You're having your way with the citizens of Chicago. And the gettin's good. You raised our taxes and fees. You laid off city workers and forced countless others to take unpaid days off. Your police department is insanely understaffed. You claim the city of Chicago has no money. But you're still tenaciously pursuing the Olympics. And somewhere, someplace sits a whole lot of money - OUR money, NOT yours - from the leases of the Skyway, the parking garages under Grant/Millennium Park, and the parking meters. You claim you're saving this money for a rainy day. I'm not sure how much more stormy it can get. Didn't you hear?...This is the worst economy since the Great Depression.

And now, comes word of the 2008 TIF report. No Games Chicago reports you are sitting on $1.4 billion dollars:

TIFs have sucked $3.1 billion out of the city’s budget from 1986 through 2007. They have been used, abused and mis-construed. The Mayor demands them from Aldermen in order to get any improvements in the communities. They are like money-draining zombies that can’t be killed and continue draining property taxes out of a neighborhood for decades, no mater why they were started and regardless if they help or hurt local improvements.

So. Mayor Daley and your assorted minions, can you please stop threatening us with your lack of alternate plans for economic development. Stop telling us “It’s the Olympics or nothing.” Release the $1.4 billion from your TIF slush fund and fix our schools, expand CTA service, re-open the shuttered public health clinics and create real, sustainable and equitable community economic development!

So forgive me, Mayor Daley, while I continue not to believe you when you speak about the financial state of this city and say that the Olympics are our only hope.

Thanks to your parking meter debacle and your Olympic nonsense, people are finally catching on. They don't trust you and your henchmen. They are fed up with your corruption and greed. And they can't wait to see your house of cards tumble to the ground.

But don't take my word for it.

The Provocateur: Mayor Daley + Olympics = Gasoline + Fire

The 2016 Olympics will guarantee billions, if not, tens of billions in contracts that the city will have to dole out for construction, security, street cleaning, etc. There is already a standard operating procedure for how these sorts of contracts get doled out now. They go to Daley's friends, admirers, and allies. Only now the budget is infinitesimal compared to what it will be if the Olympics comes here.

Bringing the Olympics to Chicago will allow a corrupt mayor to run the city in the same corrupt manner only with an exponential new sets of resources, responsibilities, and powers. Is that really what the city wants? That seems to me to be pouring gasoline on top of a fire.

Mayor Daley AKA Little Lord Fauntleroy, brought to you by my favorite YouTuber.

I hope Richie Daley is realizing that he could get hauled away in handcuffs too. You know, this guy's got a thick skull. And I don't know if anything can penetrate this guy's thick skull. But I hope for his sake he's realizing it. Judging by his actions, I don't think he is.

photo by Johnye West

Little Daley Fauntleroy. What an accurate description. Just in case you don't know, Wikipedia says:

Little Lord Fauntleroy is most often used as a term of derision. It describes a pompous spoiled brat, usually a young male, who takes his wealth and privilege for granted.

DALEY IS FOR REALS ABOUT FURLOUGHS

Mayor Daley is apparently aware that we all know how cushy those government jobs are. From the Sun-Times:

Referring to the furlough frenzy sweeping the public and private sectors, he said, “Everybody should do it. It’s incumbent on government because taxpayers pay for your salary, pension and health care. They pay a lot. ... They’re saying, ‘You don’t pay anything for your health care? I have to pay for your pension?’ People are really focussing on this — more so in government than anything else.”

And so, Daley is ordering all sorts of city employees to take unpaid days off. Just look at that bloated city payroll:

*1,440 CPS employees in the administrative and central office group will be required to take six unpaid holidays.

*312 CTA employees who are managers or above, and other employees who earn more than $90,000, will be required to take three unpaid holidays. Twenty-six vice presidents also will take three additional furlough days.

*14 top officials at City Colleges of Chicago will take three unpaid holidays and three furlough days and 369 City Colleges employees will forego raises.

*46 Chicago Park District managers making $90,000 or more will be required to take five unpaid holidays and three days when city government shuts down.

*84 CHA directors and above earning more than $90,000 will take six unpaid holidays.

*10 Public Building Commission senior staff members will take five unpaid holidays.

MAYOR DALEY'S DALEYTOPIA

A great post over at the blog In the Loop. For anyone that thinks Mayor Daley has made Chicago all flowery beautiful, please put down the kool-aid, leave your pretty little neighborhood, and go see the rest of the city for yourself. Or, check out the video Mayor Daley's Chicago for a glimpse.

Mayor Daley's Chicago

SAY GOODBYE TO ALDERMAN THAT "BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF THE MAYOR"

You may remember, Alderman Billy Ocasio wanted his wife to fill his seat. But Mayor Daley had other ideas. So he broke the Aldermanic Succession Tradition. Why? Well, I think Fran Spielman of the Sun-Times has nailed the answer - Daley appoints Maldonado as 26th Ward Alderman:

Thirty-two times in the last 20 years, Mayor Daley has appointed aldermen to fill City Council vacancies.

Unless the outgoing alderman was convicted and headed off to prison, the mayor followed the departing alderman’s recommendation on a successor.

Today, Daley broke the mold — by appointing 57-year-old Cook County Commissioner Roberto Maldonado to replace Billy Ocasio as 26th Ward alderman.

...

Sources said Daley was not about to wear the jacket for continuing the Chicago tradition of hand-me-down politics — especially not for Billy Ocasio, who emerged as the mayor’s most outspoken City Council critic.

Billy Ocasio cast the lone vote against Daley’s 2009 budget while ranting against a mayor he claimed, “believes everything and everyone is expendable.” He also emptied a piggybank full of quarters onto his desk to protest a 75-year, $1.2 billion parking meter lease tied to steep increases in meter rates.

Veronica Ocasio “probably would have followed in her husband’s —and [former Ald.] Luis [Gutierrez] footsteps and beat the crap out of the mayor,” said a source who asked to remain anonymous.

Little Richie Daley doesn't like it when his aldermen disagree with him, so he took this opportunity to get rid of one independent minded voice on the City Council. Good for Daley. Awful for us. Thanks Dick!

And how the hell does Daley get to appoint aldermen anyway? What kind of democracy is this? Oh right. This is Chicago. We do things our own way - King Daley's way.