Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Friday, October 2, 2009
The greatest week ever !
Gun ban going to the Supreme Court and the Olympics are not coming to Chicago ! I am a very happy man !
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Shortshank's Waterloo ????
August 25, 2009
Daley hears critics on Olympics, budget, parking
Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 11:01 p.m.
Mayor Richard Daley fielded complaints about crime, the city’s Olympics bid and the parking-meter controversy Tuesday night during a packed public hearing on the South Side, but he offered little direct response to his critics.
In a short speech that was received with a mixture of cheers and jeers, Daley defended his oft-criticized deal to lease the city’s parking meters to a private company. He called it a financial bonanza for the city but said “the implementation was not good at all from the city’s side.”
“I know that, you know that,” Daley said.
The mayor stopped short of an apology—a point noted by some critics in the audience. He also skipped over harsher language that was in the prepared remarks his staff gave to reporters—in that script he was to say “we screwed up the way it was implemented.”
Parking rates went up as a result of the switch, which also was plagued with widespread technical problems for motorists.
The meeting was the first of three hearings that are held annually by the mayor in the run-up to the release of his budget plan. While Daley warned participants to “respect one another,” the session was at times turbulent.
Daley did not directly respond as several critical speakers unloaded, but mayoral aides later approached them quietly to discuss their concerns.
Some in the crowd expressed concerns the mayor places a higher priority on the bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics than on problems in neighborhoods.
“The crime rate is so high, we would be an embarrassment for the United States,” said South Side resident Michelle Dixon-Holmes. “People will be gentrified away from their homes for a two-week event.”
Daley smiled but did not answer when she noted that Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis has makes a higher salary than the president and asked if Weis would continue to work at that pay rate if the city’s 2016 bid fails.
Carol Smith, an activist for the mentally ill, blasted the mayor for closing the decision to close mental health centers.
“Why should people who have mental health problems suffer because the administration screwed up?” she asked Daley. “I want an answer right now.”
Daley sat stone-faced for several seconds as many in the audience yelled for him to reply. Finally, the city budget director said the health commissioner, who sat at the front table with other members of Daley’s Cabinet, would address the question. But he did not immediately answer, and Smith walked from the microphone.
Melvin Slater, one of dozens who signed up to speak, pressed for financial details that the city has not released as part of the preliminary budget, such as the amount paid by the administration to settle lawsuits against police.
The crowd jeered and laughed when budget director Eugene Munin replied, “We’ll have somebody talk to you.”
A mayoral aide approached Slater as he left the room at the South Shore Cultural Center and spoke with him for several minutes. But Slater said he was disappointed that there were fewer details available at the time of the hearing. Without more information, he said, “Then it’s just for show.”
In some cases, the speakers seemed more intent on making a comment than getting an answer.
"The words 'I'm sorry' never came out of the mayor's mouth regarding the parking fiasco," said Ted Seals, a member of the Grand Crossing Park Neighborhood Network who left the room after making his comment.
As he walked away, Seals added, "I was told we were going to have a great apology tonight. I didn't hear anything like that. It was more of a vindication."
Many of the comments centered on the Olympics, including a plea for funding from Queen Sister, who heads a community group in the predominantly black Roseland neighborhood called It Takes A Village.
She suggested that Daley places higher priority on the Olympic bid than on the problems of her neighborhood.
"You talk about bringing forth the Olympics, a multi-cultural event, when in the city African culture and black pride is being denied," she said, with 30 young men from her group standing behind her in bright yellow shirts.
"I am so damn tired of hearing about the Olympics," added Judith Rodgers, who lives near the proposed Olympic stadium at Washington Park.
She said venue construction is "going to tear up Washington Park, which is a black park."
Sharon Payne of the Woodlawn neighborhood said only "big wigs" want the games in Chicago.
"We can't afford it, sir," she told Daley. "Please think this over again."
The mayor smiled tightly and said nothing but "thank you" at the end of her remarks.
The last word went to an Olympic backer.
"Our community is in full support of 2016," said Leonard McGee, president of The Gap Community Organization on the Near South Side and the last speaker of the night. "2016 - bring it on.'
The mayor will do it all again on Wednesday and Thursday. The schedule is below.
Wednesday: Central West Regional Center, 2102 W. Ogden Ave.
Thursday: Laughlin Falconer Elementary School, 3020 N. Lamon Ave.
Hearings begin at 7:00 p.m. Those wishing to speak should be there early for registration from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
dmihalopoulos@tribune.com
Posted at 11:02:40 PM in Chicago politics, Mayor of Chicago, Olympics
Daley hears critics on Olympics, budget, parking
Posted by Dan Mihalopoulos at 11:01 p.m.
Mayor Richard Daley fielded complaints about crime, the city’s Olympics bid and the parking-meter controversy Tuesday night during a packed public hearing on the South Side, but he offered little direct response to his critics.
In a short speech that was received with a mixture of cheers and jeers, Daley defended his oft-criticized deal to lease the city’s parking meters to a private company. He called it a financial bonanza for the city but said “the implementation was not good at all from the city’s side.”
“I know that, you know that,” Daley said.
The mayor stopped short of an apology—a point noted by some critics in the audience. He also skipped over harsher language that was in the prepared remarks his staff gave to reporters—in that script he was to say “we screwed up the way it was implemented.”
Parking rates went up as a result of the switch, which also was plagued with widespread technical problems for motorists.
The meeting was the first of three hearings that are held annually by the mayor in the run-up to the release of his budget plan. While Daley warned participants to “respect one another,” the session was at times turbulent.
Daley did not directly respond as several critical speakers unloaded, but mayoral aides later approached them quietly to discuss their concerns.
Some in the crowd expressed concerns the mayor places a higher priority on the bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics than on problems in neighborhoods.
“The crime rate is so high, we would be an embarrassment for the United States,” said South Side resident Michelle Dixon-Holmes. “People will be gentrified away from their homes for a two-week event.”
Daley smiled but did not answer when she noted that Chicago Police Supt. Jody Weis has makes a higher salary than the president and asked if Weis would continue to work at that pay rate if the city’s 2016 bid fails.
Carol Smith, an activist for the mentally ill, blasted the mayor for closing the decision to close mental health centers.
“Why should people who have mental health problems suffer because the administration screwed up?” she asked Daley. “I want an answer right now.”
Daley sat stone-faced for several seconds as many in the audience yelled for him to reply. Finally, the city budget director said the health commissioner, who sat at the front table with other members of Daley’s Cabinet, would address the question. But he did not immediately answer, and Smith walked from the microphone.
Melvin Slater, one of dozens who signed up to speak, pressed for financial details that the city has not released as part of the preliminary budget, such as the amount paid by the administration to settle lawsuits against police.
The crowd jeered and laughed when budget director Eugene Munin replied, “We’ll have somebody talk to you.”
A mayoral aide approached Slater as he left the room at the South Shore Cultural Center and spoke with him for several minutes. But Slater said he was disappointed that there were fewer details available at the time of the hearing. Without more information, he said, “Then it’s just for show.”
In some cases, the speakers seemed more intent on making a comment than getting an answer.
"The words 'I'm sorry' never came out of the mayor's mouth regarding the parking fiasco," said Ted Seals, a member of the Grand Crossing Park Neighborhood Network who left the room after making his comment.
As he walked away, Seals added, "I was told we were going to have a great apology tonight. I didn't hear anything like that. It was more of a vindication."
Many of the comments centered on the Olympics, including a plea for funding from Queen Sister, who heads a community group in the predominantly black Roseland neighborhood called It Takes A Village.
She suggested that Daley places higher priority on the Olympic bid than on the problems of her neighborhood.
"You talk about bringing forth the Olympics, a multi-cultural event, when in the city African culture and black pride is being denied," she said, with 30 young men from her group standing behind her in bright yellow shirts.
"I am so damn tired of hearing about the Olympics," added Judith Rodgers, who lives near the proposed Olympic stadium at Washington Park.
She said venue construction is "going to tear up Washington Park, which is a black park."
Sharon Payne of the Woodlawn neighborhood said only "big wigs" want the games in Chicago.
"We can't afford it, sir," she told Daley. "Please think this over again."
The mayor smiled tightly and said nothing but "thank you" at the end of her remarks.
The last word went to an Olympic backer.
"Our community is in full support of 2016," said Leonard McGee, president of The Gap Community Organization on the Near South Side and the last speaker of the night. "2016 - bring it on.'
The mayor will do it all again on Wednesday and Thursday. The schedule is below.
Wednesday: Central West Regional Center, 2102 W. Ogden Ave.
Thursday: Laughlin Falconer Elementary School, 3020 N. Lamon Ave.
Hearings begin at 7:00 p.m. Those wishing to speak should be there early for registration from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
dmihalopoulos@tribune.com
Posted at 11:02:40 PM in Chicago politics, Mayor of Chicago, Olympics
Friday, June 26, 2009
The felonius fifty actually taking some initiative ?
Chicago aldermen demand Olympics money details after private meetings
Posted by Hal Dardick at 2:23 p.m.
Several aldermen are demanding complete details about the city’s proposed financial guarantee for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games so they can have them evaluated by outside financial analysts before signing off.
Those demands were made during private aldermanic briefings given yesterday and today by the 2016 Committee, a group appointed by Mayor Daley to make the city's bid for the Games, aldermen said. Committee Chairman Patrick Ryan said he would provide those details in late July or early August, aldermen added.
"They say the taxpayers are not going to be on the hook for the guarantee, but we haven’t seen the documents yet," said Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), referring to Daley's surprise commitment last week that he would sign “as is” the standard host-city agreement with the International Olympic Committee.
Aldermen have voted to cover cost overruns of up to $500 million and also set up a Bronzeville neighborhood tax increment finance district to pay for infrastructure, but the Olympics contract does not include limits on cost overruns.
To attempt to remedy that, 2016 Committee officials say they plan to obtain two private insurance contracts that would cover a total of $1 billion in overruns and contend it’s improbable that the city could have to come up with more than aldermen have already committed.
Some aldermen, though, suggest those declarations aren’t sufficient protection for taxpayers and nearly all say they need to know more about the insurance.
“We need to do a thorough independent review,” said Dowell, echoing the comments of many of her colleagues. Many aldermen have noted the backlash against the city’s $1.15 billion, 75-year lease of its parking meters after the council approved the deal just days after receiving details.
“We don’t want to be caught like we were with the parking meter fiasco,” said Ald. Willie Cochran (20th). “We are waiting for the supporting documentation."
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), one of only five aldermen to vote against the parking-meter lease, said Ryan and his team would not even reveal the names of the lawyers and insurers working on the guarantee. “Insurance isn’t going to cover everything,” Waguespack added.
Both he and Ald. Manuel Flores (1st) said they really learned nothing new during the briefing sessions, held in part because aldermen demanded further information in the face of constituent outrage over Daley’s surprise commitment.
“The information we received today is basically the information we received before, and I remain a supporter of the Olympics under the original conditions,” Flores said.
Flores said he remains committed to introducing an ordinance next week that will limit the city’s full liability to a maximum of $500 million and the amount yet to be determined that will be covered by the TIF district.
The state also has a $250 million guarantee on the Games.
Posted by Hal Dardick at 2:23 p.m.
Several aldermen are demanding complete details about the city’s proposed financial guarantee for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games so they can have them evaluated by outside financial analysts before signing off.
Those demands were made during private aldermanic briefings given yesterday and today by the 2016 Committee, a group appointed by Mayor Daley to make the city's bid for the Games, aldermen said. Committee Chairman Patrick Ryan said he would provide those details in late July or early August, aldermen added.
"They say the taxpayers are not going to be on the hook for the guarantee, but we haven’t seen the documents yet," said Ald. Pat Dowell (3rd), referring to Daley's surprise commitment last week that he would sign “as is” the standard host-city agreement with the International Olympic Committee.
Aldermen have voted to cover cost overruns of up to $500 million and also set up a Bronzeville neighborhood tax increment finance district to pay for infrastructure, but the Olympics contract does not include limits on cost overruns.
To attempt to remedy that, 2016 Committee officials say they plan to obtain two private insurance contracts that would cover a total of $1 billion in overruns and contend it’s improbable that the city could have to come up with more than aldermen have already committed.
Some aldermen, though, suggest those declarations aren’t sufficient protection for taxpayers and nearly all say they need to know more about the insurance.
“We need to do a thorough independent review,” said Dowell, echoing the comments of many of her colleagues. Many aldermen have noted the backlash against the city’s $1.15 billion, 75-year lease of its parking meters after the council approved the deal just days after receiving details.
“We don’t want to be caught like we were with the parking meter fiasco,” said Ald. Willie Cochran (20th). “We are waiting for the supporting documentation."
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), one of only five aldermen to vote against the parking-meter lease, said Ryan and his team would not even reveal the names of the lawyers and insurers working on the guarantee. “Insurance isn’t going to cover everything,” Waguespack added.
Both he and Ald. Manuel Flores (1st) said they really learned nothing new during the briefing sessions, held in part because aldermen demanded further information in the face of constituent outrage over Daley’s surprise commitment.
“The information we received today is basically the information we received before, and I remain a supporter of the Olympics under the original conditions,” Flores said.
Flores said he remains committed to introducing an ordinance next week that will limit the city’s full liability to a maximum of $500 million and the amount yet to be determined that will be covered by the TIF district.
The state also has a $250 million guarantee on the Games.
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