Wednesday, November 19, 2008
News / Clout City The bad-news budget
Posted by Mick Dumke on Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 10:09 PM
Aldermen did actually debate for a couple of hours before they voted on Mayor Daley's 2009 budget, but not about whether it should be approved—that was a foregone conclusion under the pressures of an imploding economy, a domineering mayor, and a shortage of alternative ideas, as the 49-1 head count eventually showed. So instead they went back and forth about what was wrong with it even though it had to be passed.
Sixth Ward alderman Freddrenna Lyle described it as a “bad-news budget” but said the council had fought for and won important revisions since the mayor introduced it last month. “We’ve done our homework,” she said. But the Fourth Ward’s Toni Preckwinkle didn’t think she and her colleagues had done enough homework. She called for an additional week of budget hearings next year. “How can we run through 40 departments in two weeks?” she asked. “I don’t think it leads to a very thoughtful process.”
And so it went on issues large and small. Ray Suarez (31st) said he still didn’t like the new fee for dumpsters, which essentially taxes businesses and multi-unit apartment dwellers, but he was grateful that a newly formed council subcommittee would discuss it further and possibly replace it in the coming months. Helen Shiller (46th) then urged Suarez and everybody else to broaden the dumpster discussions to include the city’s recycling and waste management policies. Scott Waguespack (32nd) said this budget was the best the city could do in dire times, but ripped the administration for poorly managing department mergers and not planning ahead; he was followed by George Cardenas (12th), who lauded the administration for being smart and responsible. Howard Brookins (21st) praised the atmosphere of cooperation that had led to a plan to reduce layoffs; Bob Fioretti (2nd) demanded that the administration work more collaboratively with aldermen next year. While Richard Mell (33rd) lamented the demise of the old industrial economy, Manny Flores (1st) encouraged everyone to work on building a new green one. Mary Ann Smith (48th) blamed the federal and state governments for not doing enough to stanch the economic bleeding, but to James Balcer (11th) the real problem is the country’s addiction to foreign oil.
The lone nay vote came from 26th Ward alderman Billy Ocasio. “Yes, these are hard times, but I think in this budget we haven’t been that responsible,” he said. Ocasio was angry that the city could find money for Millennium Park and the 2016 Olympics bid but not for communities like his, and he accused the administration of axing productive low-level workers instead of unnecessary middle managers. “For the reasons mentioned—the wrong people being laid off, my community being taken for granted, all the false promises, and the fact that this administration believes that everything and everyone is expendable—I vote no.”
It was, ironically, almost the exact opposite of—or, given the spirit of the times, the perfect complement to—a speech Shiller had delivered a few minutes earlier. For several years in the late 1990s she was the one who cast the lone no vote on Mayor Daley’s budgets, but this time she made a plea for collaboration and dialog during the rotten economic climate. “Often the City Council is looked as a body, that if we all vote one way or another, it’s a rubber stamp,” she said. “But that doesn’t fit the times.”
Not surprisingly, no members of the council argued that it was, in fact, a rubber stamp, and, amid the usual political rhetoric about how it might be the media's fault but it certainly wasn't theirs, they found common ground on several other critical issues. They repeatedly reminded each other that real live people across the city are losing their jobs and their homes and feeling desperate. They agreed that this is nothing short of a disaster, and they agreed that, frighteningly, next year will probably be worse.
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The city council is a joke. Why have a city council? Get rid of all 50 of these loser crooks.
Ocasio was on fire, he sounded angry and looked maybe a little nervous at what he was about to do. He said his vote was being taken for granted. Of course it was, and it's equally true for the other 49, but they all voted "aye" anyway.
Preckwinkle asked, how are we supposed to analyze a $6B budget in 2 weeks? and another alderman Shiller I think chimed in on the "process issue." Then they voted "aye", not "no - not at this time" or "no - we need more time" and told Daley loud & clear that 2 weeks was plenty of time to garner 49 votes, and next year even less time will probably work fine, too.
So just 2 budget cycles after pouring millions of their member's dues into the aldermanic elections, the unions are forced to re-open their hard-fought 10-year agreement and concede concessions, and manage to save maybe a couple of hundred jobs, and they declare victory. The unions told Daley load & clear that all he has to do next year is propose hundreds of layoffs. What will be left of their master agreement after 8 more budget cycles? Turns out tossing money into aldermanic elections is NOT a good way to send a message to Daley, he has no fear of the Chicago City Council. The agreement is revealed as fraud on the membership. The revolution is official declared over.
The Reader and Ben Joravsky broke this story in the summer!
did you catch the quote from Shiller in your notes? "Usually if I can visualize something, I can see how to make it happen."
hope Fitzgerald narrows the net throwing around Daley. I tried reporting Alderman Vi Daley to the IRS along with the where are the funds coming to pay a community group administrator and the local IRS agent called me and bullied me and told me that nothing was wrong. Hmmmm..... why no IRS auditing which would lead to questioning aldermanic budgets and again, why funds for unelected and non city employee yet gets quoted about urban planning community group administrator? Go after the alderman who are spineless weasels and get them to turn on Mayor Daley for less prison time.
Damm Coconate!! what do you want us to back to the horse and buggy,just because you lost your job screwing up. We need,an airport. I hope the runway would have extended to your home,at least you you would have gotten the fair market value,instead of eviction. If Daley wants my home for a runway ,he can have it immediately.
"If Daley wants my home for a runway ,he can have it immediately." Of course he can. After all, he's got you anus, and you have a home only because of that fact, so, if reality, you, and everything you own, belong to him anyway. Does richie at least offer you lube, every so often, to reduce the friction a bit?
Why can't they charge for the "Waste" of Chicago?????????. It would produce a LOT of needed revenue. It would keep the riff raff from maurading the shitty festival. But FINE, LEAVE it free....And see if yet another incident doesn't occur. Boy, Are they THAT fucking stupid?????????.
The city has no money huh if that were true my question is where did the money go that the city already collected? and no money, then how did our great mayor go to Turkey and try to pitch the goddamn Olympics?
The city must have and maintain the monies it takes to keep our streets clean in the winter, or else we will create more personal injury, personal property damage and unsafe streets for the elderly, young, and all other pedestrians. With that being said, we know that its going to snow every season so why not slow down the spring and other seasonal expenses and allocate more funds to safety than beauty I'd say to keep road ways cleaned and free of all debris, encumbrances, and encrochments. I think it's time for a change and someone to step out the box and vote for commonsense tactics and not what the monkey see monkey do approach.
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