If the title didn't clue you in, this is a rant, but I will happily accept any criticism from Chicago boosters. This diary is inspired by all of the media attention Chicago has been getting as of late: I'm tired of hearing about how great Chicago is. This is all PR BS surrounding Obama's election (Yeah!!!), but mainly, it's ass-hat-supreme Mayor Daley's insane campaign to bring the 2016 Olympics to the "Second City" while helping drive it's citizens to the financial brink. Yes, there's a ton of good in Chicago--the people above all-- but our political leaders are making life here intolerable and more costly at a time when many can least afford it. However, I'm also using Chicago to pose a more general question about creating political change at the local, municipal level.
To start, this is not an attack on Chicago itself; while not a native, I've been here, in Andersonville/Uptown, since 1996. I love this city and have found it to be a wonderful place to live, even during the frigid winters that seem to be lasting longer every year. Chicago has so much to offer--it's unique neighborhoods, the lakefront, great people, architecture, theater & entertainment, parks, and food. The list goes on and on. My beef is with the city and county leadership that is sticking it to Chicago's citizens and tourists like nobody's business. During the last couple of years, it feels like city officials are almost maliciously making it more difficult to live here. Yes, I realize that there's a recession hurting the city coffers, and that services cost money to maintain. However, I also know that Daley is taxing the hell out of Chicagoans to fulfill his Olympic ambitions.
Here's are a couple of examples of the Chicago hype that I've been coming across.
Huffington Post
NYT
Green City
Home & Garden: 10 Greenest Cities
These articles are but a few cases of how Chicago is being lauded in the media. Their authors tend to view the city through a rose-colored lens and lack an in-depth analysis of how things really are in the Windy City. Yes, Chicago has a lot of open, green spaces, a decent public transportation system (with many, many qualifications), but many of these are located in areas with high-tourist traffic and don't convey the fact that significant, out-of-the-way sections of the city are victims of "benign neglect." This is usually the case when you scratch beneath the surface of municipal politics: you find a lot of unpleasant truths that are dismaying, but correctable.
Here's a general list of issues that are bugging me--it's not exhaustive, but should either bore or anger you.
Crime rate has exploded:
Uptown was a shooting gallery this summer, some of which I had the misfortune of personally witnessing. The city is woefully inadequate in its response to gangs.
Gang Violence & Police Response
Murder Rate
Meanwhile, the city is going to have 400 fewer cops on the street because of the budget crisis.
Since I moved to Chicago, low-income housing in some prime real estate has be demolished to make room for so-called mixed-income neighborhoods. In reality, this means that new condos are built, and a small percentage is designated low income. The city's "facelift" has largely been completed at the expense of its poorest residents. Public housing policy has been a disaster, with more low-income, Section 8 housing being torn down than being rebuilt. So where did all these people end up? Who really knows?
Housing Crisis
Property Taxes shooting upward, even though everybody's house is worth less now. This has been devastating to a number of small businesses that had been, until the last five years, staples of my neighborhood. Many businesses have relocated or closed because their landlords had to dramatically increase their leases to keep up with the higher tax.
Property Taxes
Misappropriating Taxpayer Money--There is little accountability for how some of Chicago's taxes are used.
TIF Abuse
Sales Tax Hike
Chicago has the nation's highest sales tax at 10.25%. This makes driving out to the suburbs an attractive option for large purchases. I now buy online or look outside Cook County whenever making expensive purchases. Dramatically increasing taxes seems short-sighted at a time when people have less money to spend, in general. Not all of this is the city, county, or state's fault--thanks to the last eight years, the federal government has been less generous in funding local government and other projects.
Privatizing City Services and Property
Midway Airport, the Chicago Skyway, and now, Parking Meters are privately operated. These are bad deals for citizens. The city reaps a quick cash boost, but loses all revenue for the terms of the agreements (50+ years in most cases). Meanwhile, the private companies that now operate these properties and services jack up the prices--see parking meter link below. Not only did taxpayers foot the bill to build these things, but now they get the privilege of paying lots more to use them.
Midway
Parking Meters
Parking Meter Geek
CTA Rate Hike & Overall Suckiness
This year and last, we were faced with "doomsday" scenarios threatening significant rate hikes and service cuts if the state legislature wasn't forthcoming with significant funding increases for public transportation. The CTA got what it wanted, for the most part, but will still be raising rates in January. While the CTA has never been properly funded, its been mismanaged for decades by mayoral-appointees who have mostly been inadequate to their jobs.
Sample Articles
Anti-Homeless
Fewer City Services
Budget cuts mean less city workers and less being done for residents.
Non-Responsive Local Politicians & Ass-Hat Appointees
Personal example: when I and some of my fellow Uptown residents attend aldermanic meetings, the Alderman, Mary Ann Smith, can't even be bothered to show up. She has her staff give the same old canned responses about dealing with the rising level of violence in our neighborhood. They don't care and are neither serious nor innovative about the issue of gang violence. My state representative and senator have been way more involved than the alderman, and that is because our aldermen are tied to the mayor and his corrupt, sycophantic way of running the city.
The latest case of political appointee falling short. Usually, Daley fires his appointees if they get caught in their incompetence because Daley hates to be embarrassed.
Budget Director Bails
Greenwashing, Not Real Eco-Leadership
Yes, Daley has done a lot to expand bike lanes (which I use), he offers financial incentives for green building projects, and he has earnestly promoted a number of other eco-friendly measures during his tenure. But do you ever get the feeling you're being cheated?, to quote Johnny Rotten? The mayor has hired some great PR people to sell the world on Chicago's supposed "greenness." But it ain't so, and most people I talk to here know it. If Chicago is so green they why is there No City-Wide Recycling? Only a pilot program exists, and it's only sporadically utilized. Daley has show little urgency in pushing for more far-reaching programs or expanding the existing program, and now the city lacks the revenue for this anyhow. The city does, in fairness, offer tax incentives for green architecture and eco-friendly building upgrades.
Green Chicago
All of these measures are largely undertaken without the consent of citizens. In fact, the city's leaders take pains to minimize Chicagoans' say in how the city operates. The net result is that, at the worst possible time, the city is squeezing ever greater amounts of money out of its residents, making life in the city more difficult and aggravating.
Oh yeah, some Chicago cops will now be carrying M4 Carbines. WTF!
Daley favors business and real-estate interests over the citizens. The most blatant example was when the mayor vetoed the "Big Box Store" legislation that was intended to force warehouse-type stores, such as Walmart and Target, to pay their workers a livable wage. Daley vetoed this piece of legislation and got enough aldermen to go along with him when it came to overriding his veto in the city council (a rare moment with most of the city council opposed the mayor). Daley's main care is increasing the city's revenue. I recognize that Daley is popular to some Chicagoans; I'll even admit that he has his good points. But his negatives far outweigh his positives, in my opinion.
This issue, in particular, is the most damning and unforgivable, although the city's overall war against the poor certainly gives police torture a run for its money: As State's Attorney, Daley knew about the police torture ring around Det. Burges, yet did nothing. This is still costing the city's taxpayers millions in civil-suit damages.
My question is of a rather general nature, even though I'm writing about Chicago specifically. When faced with a very entrenched political establishment that is largely unresponsive to many of its constituents, what can we do? In this case, there is almost never a credible challenge to Mayor Daley during elections (he was reelected in February 2007 with 70% of the vote, though turnout was ca. 30%), so it does not appear that he will leave office involuntarily--unless caught in one of the corruption scandals that pop up from time to time. Politicians, individuals, and organizations that run against the "Daley Machine" rarely succeed.
I've considered grass-roots organizations to hold our aldermen accountable in their wards, but it's hard to envision this going anywhere. My ward, the 48th (I'm right on the boundary of the 46th), is one of the most demographically diverse in the city--something like 300 languages are spoken here. There is no one ethnic majority, and economically, it is very low income. Based on my interaction with the local block organizations, it seems that there is a strong class divide between better-off condominium and home owners against low-income residents. This certainly shapes each groups' political views. The main problem in attempting grass-roots activism is simply that it's easy to divide and conquer--much harder to unite around common causes. However, it is possible for a small, dedicated group to achieve great things.
That being said, I'm searching for ideas from anyone who has had success in changing the shape of their local political scene in the face of such well-established opposition. While I would love an inspirational figure like the late Harold Washington to come along again to sweep all of my woes away, I'm not hopeful--I simply don't see that figure emerging from Chicago's current crop of civic leaders. Therefore, I'm more interested in engaging my fellow Chicagoans in some political activism that helps improve the city for its inhabitants--not just the wealthiest who have ties to Daley, or for some future event like the Olympics. This city needs major reforms, as it is drowning in its leaders' incompetence and corruption.
PS If your suggestion is that I leave Chicago and live elsewhere, you should move to a different diary. I love Chicago and I want to do things to make it better. This is my home, but it needs some serious tidying up.