Progress Illinois

Over the weekend, the Sun-Times' Fran Spielman summed up the incredible amount of work awaiting Chicago Mayor Richard Daley now that his Olympics obsession has faded:

After spending his political capital on the Olympics at the expense of higher priorities, the mayor has virtually nothing to show for it.

He comes home to face the grim reality of a $520 million city budget gap, a $300 million CTA shortfall and the continuing fallout from the horrific videotaped beating death of a Fenger High School student.

Without the extraordinary booty from a seven-year-long public works project, he'll be forced to find other ways to rebuild the South Side and reward feisty aldermen, corporate chieftains who bankrolled the bid and union leaders whose concessions helped minimize city layoffs.

She goes on to quote former alderman and University of Illinois-Chicago professor Dick Simpson surmising that Daley "may decide he doesn't want to continue as mayor under these circumstances." 

The Olympics loss taken in combination with recent polling indicates that Daley is as vulnerable as he's ever been. Even if he does choose to run for reelection in 2011, it seems likely that someone is going to take advantage of the situation and step up to challenge him.

Now that Mayor Daley's Olympic dreams have been dashed, the Chicago 2016 bid team must figure out where exactly they went wrong. Was it the absence of a federal financial guarantee? The city's proclivity for cost overruns on major construction projects? It's creaky transportation infrastructure? Or was it the lukewarm support of Chicago's own citizens?

On the latter point, it's pretty clear that the process by which Chicago 2016 developed the city's campaign -- with little transparency or community involvement -- poisoned it in the eyes of many weary taxpayers. As Mechanics' Ramsin Canon wrote last night, the top-down planning process excluded hundreds of thousands of Chicagoans "who deserved to have a voice in the process."

Amy Dean agrees. In an appearance on WGN this afternoon, the author and former South Bay AFL-CIO president expressed skepticism that the benefits of the proposed Olympic development projects would have ever reached the city's working people. Watch it:

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No one expected Chicago 2016 to get booted in the first round of Olympics bidding this morning in Copenhagen.  But that's what happened:

Chicago has been eliminated in the first round of International Olympic Committee voting, and Tokyo was eliminated in the second roud, leaving Rio de Janeiro and Madrid in the running for the 2016 Summer Games as the voting continues.

Quite a shocker, even for many of those who opposed the bid.  But now it's time to shake it off, move forward, and think creatively about how to make meaningful, long-term investments in this city.  

Here's one place to start.

UPDATE: Some responses to the news.  First, from Rep. Mike Quigley:

Chicago was a world-class city before today’s decision, and Chicago will be a world-class city tomorrow.  Although disappointment hangs in the air, this is not the time for regret, but rather to see opportunity in the incredible work that was done across Chicago over the past months.

We now have the chance to move forward, free of the demands of the IOC, but equipped with plans that can address the real problems Chicagoans face on a daily basis.  Chicago is now armed with an organizing capability never seen before, and an opportunity to continue the momentum and create better schools, more efficient transportation, and safer streets.  

And here's State Treasurer and U.S. Senate candidate Alexi Giannoulias:

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As Media Matters documented yesterday, "the conservative media have opened a new front from which to attack President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama's support of Chicago's bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics: smearing the city as unfit to host the Olympic Games, often by citing individual instances of violence."  Congressional Republicans, meanwhile, have criticized the president for leaving Washington this week for Copenhagen.  All of which led the Plum Line's Greg Sargent to contact GOP Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate Mark Kirk to see where he stands on the bid.  Here's the response his team received:

Kirk campaign aides told our reporter, Amanda Erickson, that they were uncertain of his position and would get back to us with an answer. They have yet to do so.

Kirk voted to secure the Olympics but hasn’t said where he stands on Obama’s trip abroad to make that happen, and the controversy surrounding Obama’s pitch, which the president makes this morning, would seem to put Kirk in a delicate spot.

I suppose it takes longer to reply when, like Kirk, you have to formulate two answers: one for the "narrow interests" of your congressional district and one for the statewide constituency you hope to represent in 2011.  

The Reader's Mick Dumke said all that can really be said about yesterday's Chicago City Council meeting.  In a string of glowing speeches, alderman after alderman blessed the Olympics host city agreement -- which exposes taxpayers to unlimited financial liability if the 2016 games go over budget -- and voiced their support for some modest oversight measures. As Dumke put it, "the mayor has persuaded aldermen to work together to give him the authority to determine how they will provide oversight for the Olympics." 

While we don't have much to add, we do want to quickly highlight the remarks given by Ald. Mary Ann Smith (48th Ward).  In explaining why she supports the 2016 Olympic bid, Smith chose to cite the "legacy" of the 1976 Montreal games.  Listen:

Internal mp3

SMITH: I was up in Montreal attending a meeting on behalf of the City of Chicago. And having looked at what they call the Old City, with all the old landmarks and so forth, we took a look at another part of the city. Everyone said, "Oh, you gotta go look at this part of the city."  Well, it turned out to be the part of the city that was the legacy from the Olympics.  It was the legacy from the Olympic Village. Astonishing architecture and rolling landscapes that now belong to the people of the City of Montreal.  And I want that for Chicago.  And I'm so happy to be casting a vote in support of this today.

Smith might want to read up on the financial legacy of those games before repeating the words, "I want that for Chicago."  After all, it took Montreal 30 years to pay off the debt caused by construction cost overruns.

The City Council's Finance Committee signed off on an ordinance today that would provide the 2016 Olympic Bid Committee with a taxpayer-funded blank check if Chicago indeed lands the 2016 games and exceeds its privately-funded budget. In what Ald. Manny Flores (1st Ward) tells us was "a fight until the end," a compromise ultimately emerged between his and the Daley administration's dueling proposals.  The ordinance attaches some strings -- albeit loose ones -- to the unlimited taxpayer guarantee.

In typical fashion, while they agreed to certain provisions -- such as quarterly financial disclosure requirements -- City Hall was only willing to allow so much scrutiny. Most notably the administration rejected Flores' proposal to require the Inspector General to conduct an independent analysis of Olympic spending. Prior to the vote on the watered-down bill, Flores insisted that the Council show that "we are serious about oversight and that we are not just simply looking for window dressing to get us to the point where we think we can win the bid." Watch his remarks:

Nonetheless, a majority of Finance Committee members approved the compromise ordinance.

After months of media appearances calling for transparency and accountability to shield taxpayers from unfettered spending, Flores deserves credit for pushing the Daley administration in the right direction. But as certain local watchdogs have repeatedly noted, it's going to take more than this before taxpayers can rest assured they won't get taken for another ride.

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will pick the host of the 2016 Olympics in less than a month. With the bid process now entering the home stretch, it's been a busy week in Olympics-related news.

Flores' Oversight Ordinance

Back in June, Ald. Manny Flores tried to pass an ordinance that prohibited the use of additional taxpayer dollars to pay for Olympics operating overruns beyond the $500 million guarantee that had already been approved. Mayor Daley effectively put the kibosh on that plan -- saying it would put the city out of the running for the games -- and Flores backed off. Now, the 1st Ward alderman has turned his attention to oversight, unveiling a measure Tuesday that would empower the city's inspector general to monitor the Olympic committee if Chicago hosts the games. Citing a Civic Federation report that concluded "a professional level of oversight ... is necessary" to ensure the city does not squander resources, Flores also wants to mandate comprehensive quarterly financial reporting from Chicago's Olympic Organizing Committee. Read the full bill here.

The ordinance will be introduced at the hearing of the Finance Committee next Tuesday. If it gets voted down, Flores told The Provocateur he would revive his $500 million caps plan. 

Daley's Counter-Measure

Not to be outdone, Mayor Daley released his own Olympic ordinance Tuesday that would allow two aldermen to sit on the organizing committee if Chicago wins the bid. It also would require regular financial and operations reports to the finance committee. But it's far less comprehensive than even Flores' ordinance, which some critics of the bid see as a compromise at best. Check out this side-by-side comparison prepared by the alderman's office (click the button in the upper righthand corner to expand):

Disconcerting to say the least.  The Reader's Ben Joravksy concludes that Daley just wants to railroad Flores' proposal. We'll have to see how hard the city council's independents push back next week.  In the meantime, here's an ABC 7 report on the oversight debate:

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This month, Tribune business columnist David Greising has written two pieces urging more disclosure on the part of Chicago's Olympic bid committee and, in doing so, spurred a lengthy editorial from his paper on the topic.  On Friday, he appeared on Chicago Tonight's "Week in Review" show to discuss the games and continued to push back against the committee's assurances that they are being "open and transparent."  Watch it (full video here):

GRIESING: It's interesting. I've talked to people at the Olympic committee -- Chicago 2016 -- and they all believe that they've been the most open and transparent group that has ever been seen in the face of the Olympic movement. 

And yet, a few weeks away, 40-some days away from the October 2 vote, we still don't know who these insurance companies are that are supposed to be backing -- guaranteeing the bid.  We have no idea who any of the developers are of the Olympic Village.  The guarantee they're looking for -- the unlimited guarantee from the city -- we don't know much about.  We've had a little bit of corruption -- not corruption, conflicts of interest pop up with this Michael Scott -- this Olympic committee member who is involved in a development near the village.

It's just all kind of stirring around and it doesn't smell very good to longtime Chicagoans.

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In recent weeks, we've watched Tribune business columnist David Greising wake up to the idea that, if Chicago wins the 2016 Olympic bid, it could become just the latest venue for closed-door cronyism, corruption, and mismanagement.  More specifically, Greising has urged Mayor Daley and the bid committee to commit to a fully transparent process and subject the process to the Freedom of Information Act. Now the Tribune editorial board has joined the chorus:

Aldermen and citizens need to be confident that the Games will come off without the city taking a bath. Because if and when Daley signs an agreement in Copenhagen guaranteeing that Chicago will deliver the Olympics -- no matter the cost -- those aldermen and citizens will be sitting in the tub.

Our advice to Chicago 2016 head Pat Ryan as he tries to sell an Olympics to Chicago: Be candid. Be specific. Don't sugarcoat risk.

Read their entire list of suggestions for Ryan.

In today's paper, Tribune business columnist David Griesing whacks the Chicago 2016 bid committee for being so discreet about their Olympic fundraising and explains to the public why they don't have to accept the shroud of secrecy. A choice excerpt:

Now, [bid committee chair Pat] Ryan is a phenomenally successful insurance executive. He knows a deal breaker when he sees it, and he knows he needs the city's financial guarantee for the Games or there is no Chicago Olympics.

Ryan and Mayor Richard Daley, who want the Olympics so badly, will do about anything to get that guarantee. And that is why -- in exchange for a government guarantee in a city and state with a corruption-riddled track record -- citizens must insist on access to the Olympic committee's records.

This is called negotiating leverage, and taxpayers and citizens, in those rare moments when they have leverage, are fools if they do not use it.

Access to the Olympic committee's records is within the reach of the people who are being asked to guarantee the Games. All the City Council has to do -- at hearings next month -- is ask.

Go read the whole thing here.