Tuesday, October 7, 2008
News / Clout City Full steam ahead
Posted by Mick Dumke on Tue, Oct 7, 2008 at 4:48 PM
On more than one occasion during Tuesday’s hearings on the plan to lease Midway, an alderman walked out of City Council chambers shaking his head. “Somewhere in this deal we’re getting screwed,” one of them muttered. “I just can’t figure out where yet.”
The sentiment appeared to be shared by quite a few of his colleagues, who pelted city officials with questions about the deal, expressing annoyance that its terms were so complicated and the explanations offered so incomplete. Privately many were distressed that they were going to have to choose between supporting a cash windfall—and the mayor—or holding out for answers that obviously weren't coming.
Under federal law all revenue currently generated at Midway goes back into the airport, but by turning over its operations to a private manager for 99 years the city would collect $2.5 billion. Much of those funds would go toward debt payments, leaving the city with about $900 million to spend on pension obligations and infrastructure needs and another $100 million to use at its own discretion.
As they had on day one of the hearing, aldermen had lots of questions—about the wisdom of leasing public assets (it’s amazingly prudent in this case, they were told), minority contracting (well, the lessors are—um, how should we put it?—white), the cost of police and fire coverage (essentially, it would come out of the $2.5 billion), and the pay rate for the lawyers who negotiated the lease ($295 per hour over the last two years of negotiations, climbing to $540 an hour if the deal goes through).
When aldermen Manny Flores, who’d said he wanted to support the deal, and Tom Allen, who’d admitted skepticism, asked for guarantees that the infrastructure and discretionary funds would be distributed around the city, chief financial officer Paul Volpe tried to dodge by promising that the administration would consult aldermen about those decisions later.
“You know, here’s what we’re worried about," Allen said. "We’re worried about $225 million being plucked out here, and another $100 million being put in another corner, and we get the crumbs. We’re voting on this and we’re giving away our leverage, whatever leverage we had, when we vote on this, in terms of our ability to increase capital projects in our wards. . . . Why can’t we codify this and put it into the ordinance right now?”“I don’t see how you’re giving up your leverage,” Volpe said. “We realize that those discussions need to occur, and through this legislation we are giving you that authority to pass a separate, more thoughtful ordinance [at a later date] on how we spend those proceeds.”
“I think those discussions should happen contemporaneously,” Allen said.
But they didn’t. Without adding any language specifying how the funds will be used, the finance and aviation committees went on to approve the deal unanimously. It will almost certainly pass the full council at Wednesday’s meeting, less than a week after terms of the deal were provided to aldermen.
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" ... the finance and aviation committees went on to approve the deal unanimously. It will almost certainly pass the full council at Wednesday’s meeting ... " sorry, boys, that's too fast that's ILLEGALLY too fast full City Council can't take it up unless it is on an agenda posted yesterday at 10 AM how does an item fresh out of committee late Tuesday get on an agenda posted Monday morning?
When the elected, Legislative Representatives of any government fail to honestly, vigorously and sincerely represent the best interests of their constituents, those individuals are no longer worthy of the offices to which they have be elected to and entrusted with. Period. Our city council is our city government's Legislative Branch. Our city's Legislative Branch is NOT supposed to be the Executive Branch's lapdog. Our city's Legislative Branch exists solely to provide a check on the city's Executive Branch, with our city's Judicial Branch being the interpretor and adjudicator of both the laws created by the Legislative Branch and the policies and actions of the Executive Branch. When the Legislative Branch, the executive Branch and the Judicial Branch all act in collusion, we, in this city, have effectively lost our Democracy and are living under a default dictatorship/aristocracy. Is this what the citizens of this city really want, that Chicago be a dictator's playground? Every election each citizen has the opportunity to answer the above question. My answer is: HAVE NO DOUBT, VOTE INCUMBENTS OUT What will your's be?
We will drown in this deal. Mayor Daley has destoyed this deal and made all the lawyers rich. It is theft.
That's an incredible amount of money ... all of Chicago's crooked politicians are drooling over this one. How much is going to be skimmed off the top? What's King Daley's slice? This whole deal is a travesty.
How can this Mayor sell public assets,and not be challenged but by a rubber stamped city council.I assumed the Mayor of Chicago and the city council were stewards of the public trust,and not ownwers. Why can't anybody raise a public interest law suit to prevent this miscreant from plundering the public treasury. Daley calls himself a Manager. What other city must sell public assets to balance their budget?
I believe we need to audit Midway Airport. I still think it's sad that we are selling off all our assets. Also, Who's leasing it anyway? The Chinese?
a 99 year lease...doesn't anyone else think that 99 years is an absurd amount of time for the publci to be dealing with what will most certainly be rising costs/prices when utilizing Midway? Our grandchildren will ask what the hell we were smoking to allow this to occur. 99 years...why isn't the length of the lease causing more outrage/questions???
More Chicago City workers will be fired for the same thing Coconate did. If you have a city job work, period.
Your right Frank Coconate. When City Workers stand up, they get fired by Mayor Ding Dong.It's time to start breaking the Daley OC's heads!
From the comments section of an article posted on: http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/ "The lack of parking tickets written by police officers is being covered by Dept. of Revenue folks and privatized other units. Your so-called not doing it is still being done. They actually do a better job of it. 10/08/2008 12:07:00 AM That's nice... they can keep doing a better job of it and the citizens can hate them for it instead of us. While their at it why not just give every city employee a fucking ticket book and everyone can write each other bullshit tickets so that the alderman can give themselves another raise. 10/08/2008 11:53:00 AM"
I am really supporting the incumbents-shhhh!
I just got one question?Richard M. Daley says the city has reached a landmark agreement to privatize Midway Airport for $2.52 billion.The deal will net the city more than $1 billion, the mayor said, after paying off the airport’s debt ok so the city gets to keep that money and the assholes who control that money is the same bunch that is putting that fucking ridiculous budget together right? My question is where are they keeping that 1 billion dollars, in Daleys basement? has anybody thought what interest is on a fucking billion dollars? The city is broke only because of the fucking Idiots who are running it or ruining it.
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