On the eve of the Olympic games, Mayor Richard Daley flew to China to test out Beijing's state-of-the-art mass transit system. Back in Chicago, residents are using the possibility of the 2016 Olympics being held in Chicago to advocate for better services as well.
Members of Communities for an Equitable Olympics 2016, a coalition of South Side community and labor organizations, are rallying today outside the now-closed Michael Reese Hospital -- the proposed site for the Olympic Village -- to pressure the Olympic Committee to protect jobs and housing on the South Side if the city is awarded the games. WBEZ's Eight Forty-Eight caught up with Jay Travis, executive director of the Kenwood-Oakland Community Organization and one of the leaders of the new coalition, who provided some more detail about the effort:
We have a list of things that include education, public space, public finances and public services. But most importantly, community folks are concerned that our voices are heard, that we're at the table, and that we are the key people that create a benefit's agreement process.
Travis says that members of the coalition have been meeting with elected officials, officials from various city departments, and the 2016 committee for over six months to voice their concerns. They aren't the only ones: as Mischa Gaus wrote last summer, South Siders know the risks associated with the Olympics and refuse to be left out of the discussion.
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