Friday, August 31, 2007
News / Clout City Thanks for nothing
Posted by Ben Joravsky on 08.31.07 at 12:04 PM
Continuing his relentless campaign to win the hearts and minds of local Chicagoans for the 2016 Olympics, Mayor Daley showed up at Wednesday's opening of the Attack Training Center, a "$15 million state-of-the-art athletic facility" at 2641 W. Harrison.
"This will be a very special place for young amateurs to come together and get the training necessary," Daley said at the opening."This is very important for our [Olympic]s bid. You need a facility like this."
According to the Sun-Times, "the center was build on city-owned industrial land sold to the developer at a bargain price."
But even though the public is subsidizing the facility, it's not a public facility--it's a private operation. Yes, its owner, noted trainer Tim Grover, promises to make it available at times to local students. And, yes, an argument can be made that it's beneficial to use tax dollars to put vacant land back on the tax rolls.
But let's not kid ourselves. As wonderful as this training center might be, it's hardly an attempt to rectify inequities that plague sports and recreation in Chicago.
Once again the city's forcing taxpayers to fund athletic facilities that will have almost no benefit for ordinary citizens. The city is planning to spend hundreds of millions (if not billions) of dollars on the games, while there is still no -- not a one -- indoor running track for its public schools. Most schools scrounge for land to play their soccer games, while the Park District is turning over prime land in Lincoln Park so the Latin School, one of the most expensive private schools in the area, can build a soccer field. (The Latin School will be guaranteed use of the field during prime hours). The proposal to build an Olympic stadium in Washington Park only means that sometime in the next few years, hundreds of local softball, baseball, and tennis players will have to find somewhere else to play as their park becomes a construction zone. And Daley is planning to use Park District money to build an aquatics center in Douglas that will have no walls, so it will be useless for at least eight months a year after the Olympics leaves.
Despite Daley's public relations campaign, the essential point regarding the Olympics remains the same: Chicagoans will get nothing from the games except the bill.
Comments (36)
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> an argument can be made that it's beneficial to use tax dollars to put vacant land back on the tax rolls maybe, but it should be pointed out that in this case this hasn't happened, yet the assessor still classifies this land as vacant but it hasn't even paying property taxes at the very low rate for vacant land (22%)! it is not technically exempt, but it's not paying any property taxes, either the developers have had an agreement with the City since 2000, and have owned the property since 2002, but they have not been paying ANY property taxes sweet!
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Thanks for nothing? You mean Daley didn't remember to thank the developers for their support in his 2002-2003 re-election around the time the deal closed? CenterPoint Properties Oak Brook, IL 60523 $1,500.00 6/11/2002 to Richard M Daley Campaign Committee > Chicagoans will get nothing from the games You cynic! Some Chicagoans will get theirs!
this is across the street from Altgeld Park? my home town donated public land to private owners to develop a private athletic facility across the street from an existing Park District park in an under served community?
"the center was build on city-owned industrial land sold to the developer at a bargain price." yeah, well, how did this land GET TO BE City-owned? this land is in the Western-Ogden INDUSTRIAL TIF, est. 2/5/1998 http://ncbg.org/tifs/tifprofile.aspx?id=119 did the TIF help "assemble" this property for a Daley campaign contributor developer? and how is an athletic facility an industrial use?
Ben (TIF) J.: You should save yourself a headache and just move, say to Detroit or Cleveland - because that is what Chicago would be without Mayor Daley
Al Capone made a lot on the World Fair. The Outfit unions and companies will make a lot with their partner Rich Daley on the Olympics. Already, DiPiazza, Reyes, and lots of others have South loop clients, lots, and development to cash in on the Olympics
Funny, I remember Chicago under Harold Washington, and it sure didn't resemble either Detroit or Cleveland. It's a pretty ludicrous statement to claim Daley deserves credit for everything going well, but no blame for things that aren't. Regardless, I have a feeling if you talked to people in some west and south side neighborhoods you might find that they aren't all that far off from parts of Detroit and Cleveland.
enoughs, enough. I am not going to complain anymore about what a bad deal the Olympics will be for Chicago. Instead, I want to figure out how I can feed at the Olympic trough. so tell me who wise Clout City readers. how can a young man get a slice of the Olympic Pie?
Daley fanatics love to brag about how Chicago is better than Detroit and Cleveland. Wow, that's amazing!! We dominated the Midwest long before Daley assumed power. Why should we compare ourselves with Detroit and Cleveland? I thought we were aspiring to be a true international city. We should be benchmarking ourselves against New York, London, Tokyo, Paris, etc. But as long as we're better than Detroit and Cleveland mayoral suckups like Orion will pucker up on cue.
Odie--don't even apply the Olympics is already spoken for Trucking--Tadin Insurance--Aon Real Estate development--D'Angelo, Marchese, DiPiazza Ice Cream--Joyce Consulting-Joyce Cable--Joyce Construction materials--Degnan Finance--Bill Daley, Stein throw the cleaning to the Duffs maybe some other stuff to the Hanleys Lots of money to be made and you taxpayers will pay the Chicago way
Is it an inherent trait of the human being to focus on the details, the trees, if you will, while remaining oblivious to the nature of the forest? Are human beings uniquely susceptible to believing to be true what they would like to be true, regardless of all evidence to the contrary? Is it an inescapable fact that the human animal will seek to remain in a state of mental inertia, requiring immense external forces to stimulate active thinking? Are we, as human beings, naturally inclined to be so easily distracted by the minutiae of life, that we remain ignorant of the natures of the forces that surround and control us? Are we doomed to always be a dollar short and a day late?
Daleys people come to me all the time and ask, was it worth your job to complain about the mis-management of the Daley administration. After reading these post, I feel it was well worth it! The Voters of Chicago have had enough of this Elitest Government. It's only a matter of time that someone steps up to become the Opposition to Daley for 2011. Also, we the people of Chicago should send our letters of opposition to the Olympics in Chicago to the International Olympic Committee. Maybe someone at the Reader can print the contact info???
So, Frank, are you spreading the word about the HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT strategy? Are you encouraging anyone and everyone to run for elected office? To flood the ballot with challengers, all understanding that, by encouraging the voters to use the HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT protocols, they'll be spending no more money than is necessary to get on the ballot, and that their chances for being elected will be solely based on the random position of their name on the ballot? That, if applied by enough formerly unregistered, non-voters, this strategy is guaranteed to oust incumbents as easily as a hot knife cuts through butter?
> how can a young man get a slice of the Olympic Pie? Take a lesson from the Millenium park deal (which you may racll was not supposed to cost taxpayers a dime): Find out who the decision makers are on the contracts, and, if possible, impregnate them With a little planning ahead you can attach a photo of your 8 or 9 year old child to your app for a concession
So, Hugh, are you spreading the word about the HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT strategy? Are you encouraging anyone and everyone to run for elected office? To flood the ballot with challengers, all understanding that, by encouraging the voters to use the HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT protocols, they'll be spending no more money than is necessary to get on the ballot, and that their chances for being elected will be solely based on the random position of their name on the ballot? That, if applied by enough formerly unregistered, non-voters, this strategy is guaranteed to oust incumbents as easily as a hot knife cuts through butter?
Look into who gets the INSURANCE and FINANCING also Ben will be right about use of TIF dollars NO ACCOUNTABILITY and NO TRANSPARECY
Developers have open house on this city. Just like the industrial barons of old. Devlopers have ruined what could have been a great city, and made their zoning lawyers and aldermen rich. Look at who the zoning lawyers are...controlling your daily life. Developers run this city and they will ruin this city.
Listen up Hugh, you can't win....you can't expose the zoning attorneys and developers...
Hmm, there was this phrase "Extensive environmental remediation in exchange for the bargain price" in the referenced article. My guess was that the industrial land that was sold to the developer was heavily contaminated. I have run into this problem before. I was helping one of the suburban libraries expand, and the only place they had to expand to was a vacant lot that was so heavily contaminated that it would cost a fortune to clean it up before the library could expand onto it. It required special tools, special expertise, and special permits just to even touch the lot. We had plenty of volunteers, but not the expertise or tools needed. There wasn't any funds available, (Superfund, etc was all used up) and the library couldn't afford the experts and tools on it's own. I did talk an expert into donating the time, but I could not get the tools As it turns out, some developers can do it much cheaper, because they have both the expertise and the tools already available in house. That is probably what happened here. As far as the "no walls" swimming area, it is easy to put prefab walls on a structure where the walls are not necessary for load bearing. But it brings up a more important point. The purpose of hosting an Olympics is NOT to make money, we obviously will lose money on the Olympics. THe purpose is to attract new businesses to the city, to show the potential of areas that are now blighted, and thus to generate jobs and tax revenues so we can lower property taxes and afford better resources for schools. It is easy enough to state that we ought to be spending the money directly on schools, and there is some merit to that argument. However, if we invest that money in a scheme that will generate lots more revenues, we could afford much more substantial resources for our children's education. Proper allocation of funds for education is a rather difficult question in general, and it is one that has been concerning me for some time. As trite as it may sound, the children concerned ARE our future, and we need to do something better than play "Read a Book" on BET to ensure they realize at least some of their full potential. I am presenting a pilot project that might help in a few days. If I can get it green lighted, sometime after that, I can approach Bia and the Easleys with a completed proof of concept that will give them the "super local" advertising they crave, the educational and community benefits I want, and still preserve the in depth articles that make the Reader such a valuable part of our city.
The pseudo journalist strikes again. Clarifications are in order. Will they be forthcoming? "My guess was that the industrial land that was sold to the developer was heavily contaminated." Anyone can make a guess, how about providing verifiable facts to support your 'guess'? "As it turns out, some developers can do it much cheaper, because they have both the expertise and the tools already available in house. That is probably what happened here." Again, 'probably' doesn't cut it, be specific, with verifiable facts, when you imply, as truth, things that you merely 'ass-ume'. "As far as the 'no walls' swimming area, it is easy to put prefab walls on a structure where the walls are not necessary for load bearing." Is it your intention to imply that "easy" is the same as inexpensive? "The purpose of hosting an Olympics is NOT to make money, we obviously will lose money on the Olympics." Is this the official position of mayor Daley? That the bid to host the 2016 Olympics is being made with the assumption that it will "obviously" lose money? How much taxpayer money is projected to be 'lost'? How much money is anticipated to be made, as in made by the many clout contractors who'll be 'earning' the taxpayers' money building the structures needed to host the 2016 Olympics, providing the materials, supplies and labor for the building and operation of the 2016 Olympics, and supplying the 'consultations','planning' and 'management' of same? "It is easy enough to state that we ought to be spending the money directly on schools, and there is some merit to that argument." Hmmmm, only "some merit"? "...if we invest that money in a scheme..." Scheme is the operative word here, isn't it, pseudo journalist, the question of interest is exactly who is to benefit from this "scheme"? "As trite as it may sound, the children concerned ARE our future, and we need to do something better than play "Read a Book" on BET to ensure they realize at least some of their full potential." Is it your intention to cast subtle criticism on the efforts of black Chicagoans to help their children? And not so subtle criticism on the capacities of said black children to "realize at least some of their full potential." "I am presenting a pilot project that might help in a few days." Why not present a synopsis of this right here and now? It couldn't be any longer a post than those you've blessed us with in the past, and would be much more interesting to read than your usual apologist spin posts.
" ... there is still no -- not a one -- indoor running track for its public schools." you can't print this too often
> how can a young man get a slice of the Olympic Pie? 2016 Olympics in Chicago How to Get Yours Tip #2 Whatever your bid, whether it be for a Chicago dog stand outside a stadium, or a fresh towel dispensary for our visiting athletes, or high-rise housing, make sure it has sod on the roof. Make sure your application package includes a top-view diagram showing trays of sod up top. No matter if the sod is dead within days, you will be a shoe-in!
Mark my words: THE OLYMPICS WILL COST THE TAXPAYERS MONEY!!!! the TIFS will be used as Ben Joravsky said There will be COST OVERRUNS The Olympics may be a good cultural event. The Olympics may provide some good temporary revenue for hotels, restuarants, rental property, food, entertainment, hookers, t-shirts, souvenirs etc. All of which is good. I think humanity showcasing athletes and celebration can be good. But mark my word--there will be traffic, congestion, crime, parking, security, and other issues---also TAXES will be used and raised. People should KNOW and should HAVE A SAY if they want to pay. Before the election--there were no taxpayer dollars and the cost was lower--and now after the election the cost has changed. History has taught us that there is a lot of corruption and inside deals in Chicago and specifically with the administration of Richard M. Daley that have cost tax dollars, not always done a good job, and in some cases may have violated the law--that may be part of life, no big deal--but we should not have to pay to make the friends of Daley rich especially if they are not doing a good job or have no experience in their fields (like Joyce or Tadin in towing) There is also a cost AFTER the Olympics for clean up and for the potential of foreclosure, eviction and other impact from all the high end and luxury housing in the South Loop and Near South Side (that DiPiazza and Degnan and Reyes and the other conspirators are part of)that is pushing out longtime residents and low income people and also has many flaws in construction as well as Chicago having the highest levels of evictions and foreclosures in the Midwest. Too many bubble loans and arms and too much high end (but not necessarily quality) residential development with now a slow down in the purchasing end of the real estate market and a questionable large enough market to make purchases. The real estate market is an artificial bubble (downtown and Gold Coast vacancies of residential housing is 20% with a lot of desire for rental which is slow and speculation and flips) Look at the Snitzer law suit (although he did bad work too but that didn't matter until he didn't take care of mob and Degnan bagman Tommy DiPiazza whose son Josephina DiPiazza worked for Victor Reyes, Sorich, Slattery and all the stand up guys in the patronage er.. intergovernmental affairs department. Lots of free and discounted condos, and town homes for Degnan nephews and politically connected.
"...Chicago having the highest levels of evictions and foreclosures in the Midwest. Too many bubble loans and arms..." Don't ya just love it, when a plan comes together? Loan people way more than they could normally afford to borrow, by enticing them with 'below market' rates, so they can pay more for the home of their dreams then they thought they could, sucker them into taking on what will soon be much higher payments per month than they can handle, when these 'bargain loans' come due for 'adjustment', DON'T, God forbid, carry over the same below market terms you suckered them with, NO, give them 3 lousy months to try to keep up with the new, higher payments, then drop the hammer of foreclosure on them, take their property and resell it to recoup the initial loan amount, while having profited from the previous period of 90%+ interest payments. What a scheme. The only problem is, apparently, nobody figured on the real estate market dropping out from under them, causing many of those pieces of property to be worth much less than the loan balance, IF they can be sold at all. The obvious solution, rolling over those below market loans at the same or slightly higher rate, to allow those homeowners to continue to have a home and to continue to pay those monthly payments, still being 90%+ interest, to keep the cash flowing and the housing markets stable, seems to have been too much to expect from these greedy money-grubbers. They made their own beds, let them suffer, like the people they conned are suffering.
> how can a young man get a slice of the Olympic Pie? 2016 Olympics in Chicago How to Get Yours Tip #3 Hey guys! The burden of maleness keeping you from realizing your true potential? Don't be silly and put YOUR name on your proposal! Take a lesson from the airport concessionaires: Put down YOUR WIFE'S name! POOF! You're Women-owned Business Enterprise!
> how can a young man get a slice of the Olympic Pie? 2016 Olympics in Chicago How to Get Yours Tip #4 Hey pink guys! Want to cash in on the 2016 Olympics, but worried that your pale complexion rules you out? NO PROB! This is CHICAGO! Our specialty is kicking cash to pink guys. Take a lesson from our City Dept. of Procurement: just find a friend! (You DO have at least one black friend, don't you?) Sign him up! POOF! You're a Minority-owned Business Enterprise, a wholesaler-broker!
Well well, you know all's smells in the New 3rd Ward. Alder"looks like a"man Dowell is planning on bulldozing the planned park on 47th and King after it 90 percent completions. What a waste of tax money. Over a million dollars already spent.
The subprime crisis is actually quite interesting, mainly in the fact that it is not a crisis, just a panic. If you lopk at page 9, column 3 of the August 20th issue of Barrons, you will find for the past four years, All those sub prime loans have been packaged up as CDO's and sold to China in exchange for their trade surplus, as well as to other non America buyers. Basically, what that meant is that Chinese trade surplus due to jobs and sales going to China went to give homes to Americans that could not otherwise afford them. And, as an added bonus, all those low cost Chinese goods went to lower the cost of living in America. Over the next two years, however, as the economic war with China enters it's final phase, the jobs will be coming back here to America, and the trade deficit will be coming way down, as will the cost of a home. As far as I know, the plan is for those who own a primary home (as opposed to those who bought houses on speculation) are in no danger of foreclosure. Even without the government bailout, there simply isn't enough market for a significant number of homes, so the banks are simply going to refinance at the new, lower value after the housing prices collapse. Those mortgage rates should be competitive with rental costs, the end result being a lot of Americans will emerge owning homes that they would not have had before all this started. The panic you see on Wall Street is due to lack of transparency...this whole operation was conducted so that noone knows how much exposure to subprime loans was dumped on non American buyers and hence how much the international companies are going to take a hit. AS a general rule, when dealing with sharpies like Wall Street and the American businesses, if you think you are getting the better of them, check your wallet, your relatives, and your major organs, cause its almost a certainty you have just lost one or more of them. A couple of other points. Wall Street is thoroughly integrated, for example, A black man is head of Merrill Lynch, as is many executives and high paid financiers in most companies; Wall Street sees only gold and green, it could care less about skin color; after all, it deals daily with the rest of the world. And secondly, I am not a pseudo journalist, or any kind of journalist. I am a former research analyst (among many other things in a long career) with an interest in and an appreciation of the role that journalism still has to play in the evolution of society. Let me explain. In the last hundred years, journalism has evolved a number of times, originally a way for the rich to exert power in a democracy, that period ended when the cost of media purchases allowed the rich to exert direct control over political power, instead of manipulating the masses. When the inheritance tax breaks for newspaper heirs also ended, control of media passed to a few large corporations, which had little need to exert political influence via publications, media being primarily a merchandising mechanism. With the advent of the Internet, even that role has faded away, replaced by direct marketing, reputation based websites like Angies list, and walled garden blogs for disseminating propaganda. On the other hand, if you understand the concept of an institution, the laws and social norms that make up the fabric of our society, you see that all these changes are superficial; journalism as an institution has not changed at all over the span of human history, and it still has a role to play. The failure to realize that was why the Reader was sold. Bia Digital/Creative Loafing obviously intends to roll up all it's alternative newspaper properties, and resell the package as a way of marketing to the alternative market segment. Personally, I think they are missing a chance to exploit a major part of the value of newspapers like the Reader. The key is to understand that walled garden blogs are being replaced by social networking, and even virtual worlds like Second Life. The Reader, and the other alternative newspapers are also social networking sites, albeit a bit disguised. More importantly, unlike the mainstream newspapers, they contains the seeds of "super local" social networking, with the accompanying "super local" advertising, something not achievable by the normal local newspapers, such as those still owned by the Sun Times Media group. That is, if Bia and Creative Loafing have the creativity to see a less plebian vision for the Reader and their other properties. I am not at all certain they do. One of my other goals in posting here is to see if I can spark some thought as to what hidden value they may be leaving on the table by not fully thinking through the potential of the Reader.
"As far as I know, the plan is for those who own a primary home (as opposed to those who bought houses on speculation) are in no danger of foreclosure. Even without the government bailout, there simply isn't enough market for a significant number of homes, so the banks are simply going to refinance at the new, lower value after the housing prices collapse." Are you saying that those who purchased a home for, say, $300,00, will be allowed to refinance their home for the "new, lower value" of, say, $200,000, be forgiven the debt amount of $100,000, and will continue to live in their, now, $200,000 home? Are you also saying that this whole sub-prime 'crisis' is really a well-planned strategy to defraud those 'Chinese' investors who, you claim, hold the majority of sub-prime paper? What, specifically, do you mean by "Personally, I think they are missing a chance to exploit a major part of the value of newspapers like the Reader."? And, "...to see if I can spark some thought as to what hidden value they may be leaving on the table by not fully thinking through the potential of the Reader."? And, finally, one wonders why you post multiple assertions as if they are facts, yet, consistently omit posting the basis for said assertions. Is it because you lack said basis? Or that you believe the readers of this blog are incapable of comprehending said basis? Or, ??????
> how can a young man get a slice of the Olympic Pie? 2016 Olympics in Chicago How to Get Yours Tip #5 Has contemplating your own Chicago Olympics 2016 Dash for the Cash got you feeling all warm & fuzzy about Mayor Daley, perhaps warmer & fuzzier than you are allowed to express under current executive orders? Think those greedy Hired Truck fools messed things up for everyone? Guess again! Take a tip from WalMart, the Official Retailer of the 2016 Chicago Olympics (R): DON'T write that check to the Richard J. Daley Campaign Committee. He'll just have to return it when you get your contract! DO write it out to the First Congressional District Political Action Committee. Daley's good friends at the 1st CD PAC will make sure your generous contribution gets to the right place.
What an opportunity Hugh is offering, to all those inexperienced folks who'd like just a small piece of the pie made of swag! This is some golden advice here. Keep up the good work, Hugh, and the leprechaun king may slip you a 'finders fee', for all the ambitious fellows who'll be flocking to his door, cash in hand, asking the 'right' question, ie., "who do I give this to?"
> how can a young man get a slice of the Olympic Pie? 2016 Olympics in Chicago How to Get Yours Tip #6 Afraid nobody nobody sent will get a slice? Well, you can BE SOMEBODY! You have 9 years! Start now! Join the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, the Official Special Interest Group of the Daley Administration (R). http://www.chicagolandchamber.org/pdf/membership_application07.pdf What will it cost me, you ask? If you have to ask, you don't belong. You have to fill out a 4-page application, describe yourself and your company, give references, AND a credit card number, and they will get back to you with a customized quote for your access to power.
> how can a young man get a slice of the Olympic Pie? 2016 Olympics in Chicago How to Get Yours Tip #7 Don't be greedy. Share your business. A carefully chosen minority partner can work wonders. Ceding a small portion of the ownership of your company could be the key to your success. Daley has a cadre of pals who serve as sort of "venture capitalists" for City contracts. Pitch your Olympics concession idea to Tim Degnan, or Jerry Joyce, or Mike Tadin, or ... But do your homework - these guys hear a LOT of pitches, and can afford to pick just the cream of the crop!
> how can a young man get a slice of the Olympic Pie? 2016 Olympics in Chicago How to Get Yours Tip #8 Your Olympics cash cow will need insurance. But not just ANY insurance. The City has special requirements on the insurance coverage of City contractors. So why take a chance? You don't want to be disqualified over missing some arcane rider. Get your insurance from an insurance company that SPECIALIZES in getting companies covered, ready to do business with the City. I don't want to tell you what to do, but I hear tell Mayor Daley has a brother in the insurance biz.
> how can a young man get a slice of the Olympic Pie? 2016 Olympics in Chicago How to Get Yours Tip #9 A black partner is good, so is a woman partner, but nothing beats a BLACK WOMAN partner! Richard the Father didn't raise no fools to raise no fools! Mayor's nephew cashing in http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/570056,CST-NWS-vanecko23.article
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