ChicagoNow News & Opinion

Andy Shaw, executive director of the BGA

Ed. note: The following post was graciously provided by Andy Shaw, a veteran newscaster turned government watchdog.

The Olympic smackdown was a body blow that took our collective
breath away. A shiv in the side of our civic consciousness. Whether you
wanted the games in Chicago. Or not. And now the experts are pointing
their fingers at the likely culprits in an endless series of
hand-wringing debriefings since the "Collapse in Copenhagen" was
announced last Friday. But no one is suggesting that Chicago didn't
have historical synergy on its side. This, after all, is the 100th
anniversary of Daniel Burnham's visionary plan to protect Chicago's
lakefront and adjacent parks from an invasion of business leaders who
were salivating at the prospect of turning our pristine waterfront into
a cargo-laden shoreline cash cow worthy of a Marlon Brando movie. And
Burnham gave us the famous line that to some extent underscores Mayor
Daley's quest for the Olympics: "Make no small plans for they have no
magic to stir men's souls."

The Olympic bid definitely passed the
Burnham test of grand scope. And as someone who's watched the mayor
almost every day of his public life, I can tell you that Burnham was a
big part of the muse for his Olympic dream. Along with the more
practical pursuit of jobs, economic development and a headline for his
epitaph that doesn't include the word "corruption."

And that's
a key to the problem here. The Olympic bid was indeed a big plan that
stirred a lot of souls. But it also stirred a lot of stomachs at the
same time. Producing a major case of civic indigestion. Because the
promise of an urban revival, an influx of free-spending tourists from
around the world, and a chance to shed the "Second City" inferiority
complex once and for all, was tempered by too many visions of the
"Chicago Way" leading the way---jobs and contracts going to the usual
suspects, the connected insiders who reap the benefits of all the
mega-projects, while the unconnected citizens and companies out in the
neighborhoods suffer though the disruptions and dislocations and
gridlock of the Olympic buildup, and the games themselves, without
being able to afford a ticket or see the tangible benefits of a plan
that stirred more migraines than magic. And could've left taxpayers
holding the bag for a big bill if games lost money.

One
prominent alderman told anyone who'd listen that if city residents had
seen the expense reports from the 2016 committee members who prepared
and tried to sell the bid, they would have risen up in a revolt
powerful enough to derail the bid long before the train wreck in
Copenhagen. Daley and the 2016 team also refused to endorse a real
oversight plan proposed by Alderman Manny Flores, who wanted to empower
the city's Inspector General and a civic group like the Better
Government Association to monitor the flow of jobs and contracts and
neighborhood incursions on a daily basis. That might've allayed fears
the games were little more than a final payout to Daley's friends and
political allies before Richard II exits Chicago's political stage once
and for all.

In addition, the timing of the bid couldn't have
been worse from a civic standpoint. Chicago and Illinois have become a
national laughingstock in the months that followed the release of the
undercover FBI audio tapes of former Governor Rod Blagojevich playing
"Let's Make a Deal" with the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President
Barack Obama. The laughter only increased, everywhere but back home, as
Blagojevich took his circus act---"I'm an innocent man unjustly
accused"--- on the road to media outlets around the country desperate
for ratings hyped by voyeuristic viewers and listeners who can only be
compared to the crowds at the public hangings and beheadings that still
take place in the squares of backward societies. The apparent suicide
of Blago lieutenant Christopher Kelly on the eve of a prison term
should have brought the show to a screeching halt, like a slap in the
face or a splash of ice-cold water, but the sobering effect only lasted
a few days and the tone deaf ex-governor was back on the road again.

L'affair
Blagojevich might've been regarded as an aberration had we not already
suffered through the sad spectacle of our previous governor, George
Ryan, fitted for an orange jump suit after his corruption conviction.
And the ineptitude of County Board President Todd Stroger. And the
pay-to-play culture of a dysfunctional state government in Springfield.
And the worst two years of Daley's tenure, with a combination of record
tax increases, endless inner city violence, a demoralized police force
that doesn't like working without a contract under the direction of an
unpopular former FBI agent, a succession of corruption scandals, a
plague of car-eating giant potholes, and a parking privatization fiasco
that eviscerated the last vestiges of the mayor's Teflon coating and
aura of invincibility.

Is it any surprise the run-up to the
clocking in Copenhagen was rife with enough demonstrations,
mini-political revolts and expressions of citizen panic to convince any
wavering IOC member that "Chicago ain't ready for da game?" A majority
of city residents had simply lost faith in the power structure's
ability to handle a major undertaking in a way that's actually good for
the city as a whole. Sure it would've been exciting. And maybe even
fun. But worth the cost? And the hassle? Most Chicagoans were dubious.
And that, in at least one way, makes our first round knockout a good
thing. Because now, after we get over the shock of ignominious
rejection, we're back to the reality of massive budget deficits, a
school system in crisis, neighborhoods besieged with the deadly gunfire
of gang wars over drug turf, and ineffectual partners at the state and
federal level.

This is the ultimate test of Rich Daley's
ability to "make no little plans" because little plans won't get much
done. It's time, in the interest of his legacy and our future, to
partner with civic groups like the Better Government Association, to
get rid of the "corruption tax" we pay when government is run for the
benefit of the politicians and not the public. The corruption tax is
estimated at 10-15% of the cost of government, and since the public
sector in Illinois spends about $100 billion a year, that's $10-15
billion in waste, fraud and corruption. The best economic development
tool for keeping and attracting businesses and jobs is to attack the
corruption tax.

And to restore FAITH in government, which
means Fairness, Accountability, Integrity, Transparency and Honestly.
That won't get us the Olympic games but it will go a long way toward
restoring a sense of civic pride that's been missing in recent years.

I'm
not an expert on the Byzantine politics of the IOC, which supposedly
cost us a chance to win the games or even survive the opening round.
But I know we play the political game here in Chicago as well as anyone
on the planet. And I can't help but think we could've played it a lot
better than we did on the world stage in pursuit of the 2016 games.

But
I'm glad we didn't. Because it means we still have a huge reservoir of
political energy and moxie---and maybe even private sector cash--- to
invest in the real time challenges of 2009. And 2010. And all of the
other years that eventually lead to 2016.

Because, with or
without Rich Daley at the helm, it's time to make some other big plans
that have the power to stir all of our souls. To reform government,
improve the schools, develop the neighborhoods, protect the kids from
violence, provide more affordable housing and harness green technology.

That, more than the illusory benefits of an Olympic build-out
with few lasting benefits, represents the best tribute to Burnhan on
the 100th anniversary of his incomparable gift to Chicago---our
magnificent lakefront, which can't be sold or bartered in any
pay-to-play scheme or inside deal.

The "I will" spirit of
Chicago has been sorely tested in recent years. And kicked in the teeth
by the IOC. But now it's time to rebuild our city, literally and
figuratively, day by day, brick by brick, plan by plan. And that
challenge has the power to stir all of our souls in the way Burnham
imagined a century ago. First with the World's Fair of 1893. And then
with the Chicago Plan in 1909.

So let's go for a civic gold
standard that's more valuable than any Olympic medal. And redefine the
meaning of the "Chicago Way" once and for all.