Governance in Chicago: When Inmates Run the Asylum

[Hungary Jack]

As I sit in my office perch that overlooks the north courtyard of the Art Institute, I can only ponder with wonderment at how such a large well-regarded city receives such incompetent governance.

First we have our mumbling, brown suit-wearing Mayor. The Little Engine That Could. And although his influence in local government stops abruptly at the city line, he has found a mechanism to fulfill his wildest dreams of urban renewal: Tax Increment Financing. Now the Mayor never met a TIF he did not like, and Chicago is now full of them. Even such horribly blighted areas as Michigan Avenue and the Loop have TIFS.

Yes. I can look out my window and see packs of wild dogs and naked savages running through the wilds of Grant Park.

But TIFs siphon off funds from the city tax base for basic operating purposes, such as schools, parks, streets, and police service, for use in special renewal projects. Such as tearing down low-end commercial space that houses discount stores for lower class shoppers to replace them with shiny new condos that can generate much higher real estate taxes.

Last year, Mr Mumbles found himself $270M short on his city budget. At the same time, the County Clerk issued a report showing that Chicago TIFs had diverted roughly $500M in taxes from the city's revenue base. Mr. Mumbers solution? Increase taxes.

Outside my window, little birdies twitter by.

And then we have our Cook County government and its hand-picked leader, Todd Stroger. Todd is son of the political machine, a product of racial politics, and probably the last person any sane individual would put in charge of a $2 Billion county budget. Thanks to Mr. Stroger, Cook County now boasts the highest sales tax in the nation, a health system whose employee-per-hospital-bed ratio is nearly triple that of industry averages, and a payroll that reads like a Stroger Friends and Family plan bill from the cell provider.

Ah yes. The beauty of spring in my fair city. The city of stooped shoulders.

Oh! But there is more to the bounty of good leadership that have been bestowed upon us! Our illustrious Governor has a plan to save our iconic but crumbling baseball stadium from....from...from...remaining a crumbling icon in the hands of a private owner. The State will buy Wrigley Field. Our Governor, praying nightly that he will not face federal corruption charges, will prove that he is a man of the people by saving Wrigley Field. L'Etat, c'est Blagojevich.

And it won't cost anything, because they will create an uber-TIF within the park to finance the renovation of the cracking concrete and stained urinals. The argument goes that a nicer stadium will induce thousands to buy more beverages, kosher dogs, and Cubs' hats. Forget the fact that the stadium sells out every game and already has high concessions. The sheeple will simply consume more.

And so goes life in my Fair City. And the birds twitter by.

[Hungary Jack]

What is this? No love for my rant? Screw you people.

[StatmanCrothers]

I feel your pain.

[StatmanCrothers]

My favorite county commissioner

more recently:

and in his younger days:

[Popeye_Card]

What is this? No love for my rant? Screw you people.

Sorry. No love for Chicago. Alright to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there in a million years.

[mikechamp]

Sorry. No love for Chicago. Alright to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there in a million years.

Funny. I feel the same way.

(Oh, wait.....)

But to your rant Jack, I know Mayor Quimby is supposed to be a satire on JFK, but I always think of King Daley II when I see Diamond Joe on my TV screen.

And I wouldn't be surprised if someday, Chicago is ruled by King Daley III. He's already got his MBA from U of C, and was going to enroll in the reserves to be able to check the military off his checklist. (I think he followed through with that.) He also used to party just about as hard as our current President. Combine that with his lineage, and I see a developing situation.

[G. Keenan]

A lot of stuff does work well in this city though. I'm not sure Chicago is much worse about these inefficiencies than anywhere else.

[Hungary Jack]

A lot of stuff does work well in this city though. I'm not sure Chicago is much worse about these inefficiencies than anywhere else.

My big beef with Daley is his abuse of TIFs. By diverting tax revenues from operating use to capital investment, he is guaranteeing future tax hikes to cover the operating fund. This problem is not just beginning to manifest, and will compound as TIF's divert more funds over their lifetime of 22 years.

But the city works OK, so I agree with you.

What is going on in our county government is borderline criminal, IMO. As for our governor, well he's just a joke.

[G. Keenan]

A lot of stuff does work well in this city though. I'm not sure Chicago is much worse about these inefficiencies than anywhere else.

My big beef with Daley is his abuse of TIFs. By diverting tax revenues from operating use to capital investment, he is guaranteeing future tax hikes to cover the operating fund. This problem is not just beginning to manifest, and will compound as TIF's divert more funds over their lifetime of 22 years.

But the city works OK, so I agree with you.

What is going on in our county government is borderline criminal, IMO. As for our governor, well he's just a joke.

I have to be honest, I pay almost no attention to local government here, especially Cook County politics. I'm not a property owner, and I don't have a car anymore, so that might have a lot to do with it.

But I do get the impression that local politics here are more or less a farce. The Daley machine is absurdly entrenched.