/ Cost

Chicago Closed Today – Saving for 2016

ClosedAs reported by CBS News Chicago:

If  you planned to check out a library book, visit a city clinic or have your garbage picked up on Monday, you’re out of luck.

The City of Chicago is basically closed for business on Aug. 17, a reduced-service day in which most city employees are off without pay. City Hall, public libraries, health clinics and most city offices will be closed.

Emergency service providers including police, firefighters and paramedics are working at full strength, but most services not directly related to public safety, including street sweeping, will not be provided.  That also includes garbage pickup. Residents who receive regular collection on Mondays should expect trash to be picked up on Tuesday. Some other customers may experience a one-day delay as collectors catch up.

The city is forecasting a $400 million deficit for 2010. What about the $1.4 billion in property taxes that the Mayor had stashed away at the end od 2008? Chicago, this Nero is fiddling while Rome is burning.

/ Chicago 2016

Tribune Says “Hold 2016 Feet to Flame” – But They’re Fireproof

David Greising, the business reporter for the Chicago Tribune, made some excellent points today: “This is a good thing for our bid,” Pat Ryan was saying the other night, after Bronzeville neighborhood citizens grilled Olympics officials for nearly three hours about costs and risks of staging a Chicago Olympics. A root-canal look on his face, …

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/ Civil rights abuse

UN Asked to Monitor Vancouver Rights Abuse

As reported online by Yahoo News Canada:

An Olympic watchdog group is asking the United Nations to send human rights observers to the 2010 Winter Games.

The Impact on Communities Coalition haVGs also filed two new complaints to the UN over civil rights and housing in the hopes of finding a way to hold organizers accountable for the way the Olympics affect those two areas.

While the complaints won’t be heard until after the Games, group spokesperson Am Johal says they could be used to open up a much-needed international dialogue.

And Chicago has SUCH a great record with civil rights to START with, right?

/ Cost

Vancouver Security Costs Past $900 Million

As reported in the British Columbia Globe & Mail:

When the world descends on Vancouver in six months for the 2010 Winter Olympics, another kind of convergence will quietly be taking place. A cross-Canada security force will gather to keep those crowds under control, and disaster at bay.

“It’s the largest security operation, ever, in Canadian history,” said Staff Sergeant Mike Côté of the RCMP unit in charge of security for the Games. The co-ordination of a $900-million security plan is a gigantic nationwide human-resources effort, pulling personnel from coast to coast to keep things safe.

$900 million and counting. Can you imagine the cost of security at the summer games here seven years from now – a bigger city, larger games, more venues…

Read the full story.

/ Chicago 2016

2016 OK with Insider Deal – Business as Usual

As reported from the Chicago Tribune’s online blog “Clout Street” –

Mayor Daley’s Chicago 2016 panel has no problem with committee member Michael Scott’s role developing a for-profit real estate project near a planned Olympic venue, according to a statement the organization released Tuesday night.

Scott met with Olympic bid officials Tuesday to explain his plan to develop residential and commercial units on city-owned land kitty-corner from the proposed Douglas Park cycling venue. Scott has said he was working on behalf of a group of West Side ministers, although his name alone appears on the venture’s incorporation papers. After the Tribune published an investigation Friday, Scott said he would take no profits or fees from the development.

“Chicago 2016 officials, including its Chief Ethics and Governance Officer, met today with Mr. Scott to understand Mr. Scott’s role,” the statement said. “As a result of that meeting, Chicago 2016 has concluded that Mr. Scott had no conflict of interest between his volunteer role with Chicago 2016 and his efforts on behalf of the religious leaders seeking to improve the community surrounding Douglas Park. Mr. Scott has had no role in the determination of venue locations, and was not involved in the decision to utilize Douglas Park for certain venues.”The Olympic committee’s conflict-of-interest policy requires officials to declare any interest in any project that could benefit from decisions made by Chicago 2016. Experts have said that the property in Scott’s project would increase in value if the cycling venue is built in Douglas Park.

Scott’s politically connected team of ministers, which includes Rev. Charles Robinson, a Daley-appointed member of the Chicago Transit Authority board, is planning to develop several pieces of property on the West Side in addition to the lots near Douglas Park.

While Scott said he had no financial interest in the venture, he acknowledged last week that he had used his own money to pay fees to incorporate WMC-I. Scott alone is listed as an officer of the firm. Also, two crucial letters of support from Ald. Sharon Denise Dixon (24th), which effectively set aside the city-owned lots for the development, name only Scott as the developer of the project.

(more…)

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/ Chicago 2016

Chicago Building Inspector Accused of Taking Bribes

As reported by the Chicago Tribune online: A veteran City of Chicago building inspector was arrested today on a charge of pocketing $1,000 from a contractor who was cooperating with authorities in an ongoing bribery probe. Jose Hernandez approved electrical wiring, plumbing and ventilation work at a single-family residence on South Throop Street even though …

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