VOLUME 40 NUMBER 1 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2011 $5

Jobopoly The city spent nearly $1 billion to redevelop the Loop, and still residents lost out on jobs. page 8

Also inside: The truth about minority voting. page 4 Brutal unemployment rates: 33 percent. Guess who? page 5

CHICAGOREPORTER.COM INSIDE January/February

Founded in 1972, the Reporter is an investigative bimonthly that identifies, analyzes and reports on the social, eco- nomic and political issues of metropolitan Chicago with a focus on race and poverty.

It is supported by grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Ford Foundation, McCormick Foundation, Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Challenge Fund for Journalism, Woods Fund of Chicago, The Chicago Community Trust, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Foundation, The Fund for Investigative Journalism, Inc., and by subscriptions and individual contributions.

332 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 500 Chicago, 60604 (312) 427-4830 Fax: (312) 427-6130 The number of jobs in the city is up, slightly. [email protected] But many Chicagoans continue to lose out and wonder if the city’s next mayor will use public www.chicagoreporter.com money to create more jobs. Photos by Joe Gallo. FOUNDER John A. McDermott PUBLISHER On the cover Alden K. Loury EDITOR 8 Loopholes Kimbriell Kelly Nearly $1 billion has been spent in MANAGING EDITOR the name of reversing blight in the Rui Kaneya Loop. But Chicagoans are still losing Departments their jobs. PRESENTATION EDITOR Editor’s Note/News...... 3 Christine Wachter 12 What did the Spinoffs...... 4 REPORTERS candidates say? Angela Caputo Q&A...... 6 Jeff Kelly Lowenstein Mayoral candiates respond to a variety of issues from jobs to how to Parting Shot...... 20 BLOGGER/REPORTER spend public money. Megan Cottrell COVER ILLUSTRATION BY DENNIS NISHI COPY EDITOR 14 Payton’s displace James Tehrani One woman’s journey to put her In the next issue INTERNS education to work. In its March/April issue, The Chicago Louis McGill Reporter will examine city contracts Nick Moroni 14 ‘That one job’ made during much of the tenure of EDITORS & PUBLISHERS EMERITI The struggle to get a job with skills outgoing Mayor Richard M. Daley, Alysia Tate suited for a vanishing industry. paying particular attention to the Laura S. Washington experience of minority- and women- Roy Larson 15 Call waiting owned businesses. THE REPORTER READERS BUREAU With 21 years of experience, she can’t Hiranmayi Bhatt get a call back. Kristen Cox Got a news tip? Matthew Hendrickson 15 ‘Everything’s dry’ Bob Honesty The Chicago Reporter brings injustice Terri Johnson Trying to stay a step ahead in a volatile to the forefront in the areas of job market, but falling behind. David Mussatt criminal justice, labor, housing, health, Bob Yovovich immigration and government. If you 17 Creating new jobs Published by the Community Renewal Society have a tip, call (312) 427-4830 x4040 Rev. Calvin S. Morris, executive director Residents rally together to secure jobs or e-mail [email protected]. ISSN 0300-6921. for their community. Copyright 2011. All rights reserved.

2 THE CHICAGO REPORTER | January/February 2011 EDITOR’S NOTE Reporter News

Letter to A city not working the Editor The next the company’s history, wages I am a former resident of is going to have a big burden certainly won’t be top-notch. Cabrini-Green and I lived on his or her shoulders trying But, still, I’m certain there there from my birth in Au- to ensure that “the city that were many people wiping gust 1969 until March 1983. works” really works. the sweat from their brow Throughout the years, In this issue’s cover story, and looking at the plan as when I heard about Girl X, “Loopholes,” Reporter Angela an opportunity to finally get Dantrell Davis, Curtis Coo- Caputo gives us a glimpse of back into the job market, get per and the shop owner who the city’s job market. In recent health insurance, buy fresh was recently gunned down years, this story has been told produce—something many on Oak Street, my heart in Chicago from the lens of of us take for granted–and broke in two. I try not to ro- the number of people who are bust down boarded-up store- manticize Cabrini because unemployed. We all cringed fronts to make way for other when I lived there, I saw up when the unemployment rate economic development that close and personal the lives hit double digits last year. But Kimbriell Kelly, Editor would surely be spurred by that were taken and affected Caputo takes a different look. Opinions expressed by the the big-box development. by senseless violence. But I Her sobering report focuses editor are her own. But the good news was also saw programs that were on the number of jobs avail- short-lived. The store was geared toward helping resi- able in the city—particularly We welcome letters. Send them going up in the Lakeview dents. I saw my mother, who held by Chicagoans—and to [email protected] neighborhood. Of all the volunteered at St. Mathews compares that number with or 332 S. Michigan Ave., Suite communities that need eco- Head Start, being referred the cost the city has spent on 500, Chicago, IL, 60604. Please nomic development, jobs and by the head of the program economic development in the include name, address and a day- a grocer, Lakeview isn’t the to the principal of Richard Loop through Tax Increment time phone number. Letters may first one that comes to mind. E. Byrd Elementary School. Financing Districts. be edited for space and clarity. People on the South Side She then went down to the Caputo’s basic question: need jobs. They need eco- Board of Education, where “Did Chicagoans get their unemployment in the nation, nomic development. Under she worked for 37 years, en- money’s worth?” If you live and Illinois has horrific un- the current administration, abling us to eventually move south of 43rd Street, the an- employment numbers when South Siders didn’t reap the out of Cabrini. swer is: “No way.” it comes to young black men, full benefit of the nearly $1 Each time that I speak Residents in these areas— as noted in a story on page 5. billion the city spent to make with people, I try to convey especially those who are And now Caputo’s report has the Loop fancy. the message of hope. As a black and living on the South confirmed what many have The wedge between dis- resident of Cabrini, I never Side—are the ones suffering long suspected—that Chica- advantaged communities and felt hopeless. I always looked from the loss of most down- goans who need the Loop jobs advantaged ones appears to at Cabrini as a stepping town jobs. The city has spent the most aren’t getting them be widening when it comes stone, as I know thousands nearly a billion dollars to or able to hang onto them. to economic development. If of others have. make the Loop look good. But On the heels of these Chicago is truly a world-class Long after the last brick have we become a world-class abysmal statistics, I heard the city, leaders must figure out is pummeled into a million city at the expense of these news that Wal-Mart Stores how everyone can benefit. pieces, Cabrini will live on in residents? Chicago neighbor- Inc. was going to build a new Can the next mayor get the my heart. hoods have the worst chronic store in the city. Based on city that works working? n —Doreen Ambrose-Van Lee

College Center on Media, Crime The Reporter is a partner in the We Reporter News and Justice for original investigative Are Not Alone campaign, an effort The Chicago Reporter has passed the reporting on gun violence. The Reporter of black and Latino news outlets and halfway point. From Jan. 1 through Nov. is among seven Midwest news outlets community organizations to docu- 17, the Reporter generated $41,618.45 to receive the grants. ment efforts to stem the flow of youth toward its $75,000 challenge grant The Fund for Investigative Journal- violence in Chicago’s African-American goal as part of the Challenge Fund for ism has awarded the Reporter a $3,000 and Latino neighborhoods. For more in- Journalism VI, an effort of the Ford, grant for an investigative project on formation visit www.chicagoistheworld. McCormick and Ethics and Excellence government contracts. Last year, the Re- org/blogs/ethnic-media-project. in Journalism foundations. Any revenue porter was awarded one of these grants, The Reporter will publicly release from new sources or any increased which helped the magazine produce its January/February 2011 issue from revenue from existing donors and sub- “Seventeen.” The investigation, featured 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27, at scribers will be matched by the founda- in the September/October 2010 issue, M Lounge, 1520 S. Wabash Ave. in tions. The deadline is Nov. 30, 2011. showed that thousands of Cook County Chicago. Join us to meet Reporter staff The Reporter has been awarded teens are being sentenced to adult time and supporters; enjoy free appetizers a $5,000 grant from the John Jay in prison mostly for nonviolent offenses. and compete for raffle prizes.

WWW.CHICAGOREPORTER.COM | THE CHICAGO REPORTER 3 SPINOFFS Digging Deeper

City litigation racks up fees No easy votes The news: Chicago is expected to face its largest budget deficit ever from community with a shortfall of more than $650 million. Behind the news: Litigation against the city is contributing to Chicago’s financial woes. During the first nine months of 2010, the city has settled more lawsuits filed against its departments and paid heftier fees than it did during the same period in 2009—despite a new policy that reduced the number of settlements from the Chicago Police Department. The city departments, in- cluding the police department, settled 737 lawsuits in 2010, up 26 cases from 2009, and paid $22 million in payouts, according to data from the Chicago Department of Law. The increase came at a time when the police depart- A race to succeed Mayor Richard M. Daley officially kicked off in November with 20 candidates—11 of ment’s aggressive litigation whom are minority—vying for the position. Photo by Jason Reblando. strategy has reduced the number of settlements by 33 percent, from 364 in The news: and Joe McAfee received earned 79.7 percent from 2009 to 244 in 2010. Fewer 26.6 percent and 2 percent predominantly Latino wards By the Nov. 22 deadline, 20 settlements also reduced the of the votes in these wards, in his 2007 city clerk run. people—including seven payouts by $3.2 million, a respectively. In 2007, Doro- Despite the support, del African Americans, three 17.7 percent decrease. thy Brown won 30.8 percent Valle was the only candidate Latinos and one Asian—filed Stephan Landsman, a De- in these communities, while to win any of these races. their petition to run for Paul University law professor current mayoral candidate Both Walls and Gery mayor. and an expert on the civil jury William “Dock” Walls mus- Chico performed poorly in system, said that if the city tered only 14.2 percent. their communities. Chico wants to reduce litigation fees, Behind the news: Of the 11 current minority received 27.3 percent from it should correct any behavior If voting patterns from candidates, five have run for predominantly Latino wards that produces more lawsuits recent citywide elections office with citywide voting in in the 2004 U.S. Senate while adopting a more aggres- are any guide, none of the the past; only three man- Democratic primary. sive approach to potential liti- 11 minority candidates can aged to earn more than 75 “There are [black] com- gants. And, he added, the city count on easy votes from percent of the votes from munities saying, ‘We did well should consider implementing their respective communi- their communities. with Daley, so we’ll vote for a tactic similar to what the ties, as minority voters did Carol Moseley-Braun was or Rahm Eman- insurance industry does to not always vote along racial most successful, winning uel,’” said Mark Allen, a for- anticipate future claims. and ethnic lines. 90.8 percent in predomi- mer national staff member at “You just pump right In the two mayoral nantly black wards in her Rainbow PUSH Coalition and into your instant mediation elections since 2000, none 1998 U.S. Senate bid. Roland now the associate editor of program and you try to get of the four black candi- Burris won 79.8 percent the South Street Journal. [cases] resolved as quickly as dates earned more than 31 from predominantly black “A black face does not you can without the apparatus percent of the total votes wards in the 2002 Illinois guarantee black empower- of the court,” he said. from predominantly black gubernatorial Democratic ment,” he added. —Ryan Jacobs wards. In 2003, Paul Jakes primary. —Nick Moroni

4 THE CHICAGO REPORTER | January/February 2011 New meaning to ‘empty nest’ The news: HUD research analyst Robert Renner says many factors are to blame. First, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart ended Vacant homes New York and Los Angeles have much his monthlong moratorium on mortgage tighter rental markets than Chicago, More homes and apartments sit foreclosure evictions after pressure to which has twice the rate of apartments empty in Chicago than in New York enforce judges’ orders. sitting empty. In addition, the housing and Los Angeles. These Chicago crisis may have hit Chicago with more communities have been hit hardest. Behind the news: force. “Chicago has a higher rate of Community area Vacant The rate of empty homes and apart- foreclosure—about 10 times as many as ments in the Chicago metro area is more New York City—and significantly more Riverdale 34.6% than double that of New York and Los An- abandonment,” he said. Fuller Park 18.5% geles, according to data compiled by the When you drill down to Chicago South Chicago 16.0% U.S. Department of Housing and Urban neighborhoods, many have been hit far Development and the U.S. Postal Service, worse than others. And there’s one in Englewood 15.2% which The Chicago Reporter analyzed. particular where more than one in every New City 15.0% Chicago has the sixth-highest vacancy three residential properties is empty. rate of 29 large U.S. metro areas. Which are the worst? Riverdale tops the Woodlawn 14.7% In metro Chicago, 4.2 percent of list at 34.6 percent. Hundreds of units Washington Park 14.5% homes and apartments were empty still sit empty at the Altgeld Gardens West Englewood 14.3% compared with 1.6 percent in Los An- housing project. Riverdale is followed by geles and 1.7 percent in New York as of Fuller Park, South Chicago, Englewood Grand Boulevard 12.3% September. In fact, Chicago’s vacancy and New City. Every neighborhood in the Greater Grand Crossing 12.2% rate was just slightly lower than that of top 25 for vacancy rate is located on the Sources: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Miami, one of the cities hit hardest by South or West sides. Development, U.S. Postal Service the foreclosure crisis. —Megan Cottrell

Unemployment rate hits 33 percent for some The news: and 15.2, respectively. The ployed than people who are rate of unemployed young white, according to a report Illinois’ unemployment rate Without jobs black people in Indiana is recently authored by Austin. of 9.8 percent as of October The rate for unemploy- 39 percent. Another part of the was worse than the national ment is far worse than There are several pos- problem may be discrimina- average of 9.6 percent, what the nation thinks sible reasons, experts say. tion. A 2004 study on labor despite recent gains. when you look at the Young workers are often the market discrimination in numbers by race. first to be fired, and white Chicago and Boston found Behind the news: Unemployment, 20-24 job seekers often live closer that resumes with white- The unemployment rate to job prospects, are more sounding names were nearly among Illinois’ young black Black 33.1% educated and have social 50 percent more likely population is the third worst Latino 15.2% networks connecting them to receive callbacks from in the nation, topped only by White 13.6% to more opportunities, said employers than people with Indiana and Massachusetts. Algernon Austin, director of black-sounding names. Aus- In Illinois, one in every Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics a program on race, ethnic- tin says other studies have three black people—or 33.1 ity and the economy for the shown similar results. percent—ages 20 to 24 is That’s more than twice Washington, D.C.-based When looking at the unemployed, according to the state average for the Economic Policy Institute. young black population, U.S. Bureau of Labor Sta- same age group. In com- But even when the edu- Austin said, unemployment tistics data from 2009, the parison, the rates for white cation levels are the same, “is going to be worse, espe- most recent year for which and Latino people within the black college graduates are cially now.” the data are available. same age range are 13.6 twice as likely to be unem- —Louis McGill

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WWW.CHICAGOREPORTER.COM | THE CHICAGO REPORTER 5 Q&A British Digby

A magazine empowers its readers to break the cycle of crime

The experience of spending years visiting incarcerated family members inspired British Digby to launch a magazine, Just Released, written specifically for current and former inmates. Photo by Jason Reblando. Writer’s block By Elizabeth Schiffman

For British Digby, June 1, 2003, holds great significance: A The magazine, in joyous day of her college graduation, capped by the presence of For more info truth, was years in the her mother and younger brother—both out of prison, watch- making. Since 2006, ing her walk across the stage to receive her diploma. To check out Just Released, a Digby had been produc- The day also served as the inspiration later for Digby to magazine for inmates, ex- ing a quarterly newsletter create Just Released, a magazine specifically written for in- offenders and their families, go for the prison ministry mates, ex-offenders and their families. to www.justreleasedmag.com. of Chicago’s Apostolic Digby is intimately familiar with the subject. She spent six Faith Church. Borrowing years shuttling across the state to visit her family members the name from the coffee at Decatur, Dwight, Lincoln, Menard, Pickneyville and Shaw- shop her mother opened to start fresh after her release, Digby nee prisons. During her visits, Digby remembers being taken took the newsletter and in March made it the full-color, glossy, aback by how few opportunities the inmates had for self- 16-page magazine it is today. improvement and how underutilized those limited resources It features service-oriented articles and advice, as well as were. That led to her realization that synthesizing necessary content produced by inmates and ex-offenders—all in an ef- information for current and former inmates could help them fort to empower her readers, Digby says. break the cycle of crime and succeed on the outside. “Visiting my mother, I started seeing inmates in the vis- The mission of Just Released is doing just that. iting room as people, not [defining them by] what they did,

6 THE CHICAGO REPORTER | January/February 2011 and it made me want to stick up for them,” she says. “Not to ready to circulate our media kits, to explain that these are people excuse what they did but to support them, so that, when they who will be consumers once they’re released. They’re going to get out, they don’t have to do things that will send them back be buying Chevys, homes, deodorant. You want to engage these to prison.” people while they’re in prison and tell them that you want them Digby sat down with The Chicago Reporter to talk about her to buy your product, but you also want them to be productive work. members of the community when they get out. That’s something we’re really counting on to keep the magazine afloat—once the Why is a publication like this important? advertising kicks in. The reason that we’re moving forward with this is because if We’ll always have crime. There will always be prisons—un- I don’t do it, I’m going to regret it. It’s radical, and I’m afraid to fortunately, they just keep popping up. Black, white, Hispanic— move forward with it because I don’t know if it’s going to work, we’re all impacted by this, and I think it’s an issue that’s not go- but I have to do it, because I lay awake at night thinking about it. ing away. We need to deal with it. [The magazine] is just one We really want to make an impact, to cause a stir with this way to address the needs of this community and look at them magazine, and let people know that people on the outside really in another light. I get letters in the mail saying, ‘Don’t stop this do want them to make it and to be successful. So I have to make magazine. Thank you so much for being an outlet for us and al- mental notes to myself like, ‘You’re not stupid to do this; this is lowing us to see people in a different light.’ If I could read you serious.’ some of those letters—that’s what makes it important. I’m afraid of failing but I’m afraid of not completing at the same time. I’m afraid of people thinking this is stupid, but I still Don’t other resources like this already exist? Why have to move forward. I love the humble beginnings [section of this format? the magazine] because I’m just in awe of where these people end up from where they started. They just started a re-entry summit in prison to help [inmates] get acclimated to society, give them resources like transitional What are the unique challenges your readers housing, give them foundations that will be helpful. But prisons face, and how does your magazine help overcome only give those summits maybe twice a year. We get a lot of let- ters from people looking for housing or work, so we try to compile them? information and resources. We try to do a lot of service articles like, ‘How to rebuild your credit after your release,’ or ‘Seven ways It’s really, really tough for them. There’s that place on the to have a productive diet in prison.’ We also have empowering ar- job application, ‘Have you ever been convicted of a felony?’ and ticles, success stories. We had a lady who was in prison for seven that’s just the beginning. [When you get out of prison,] you have years, and she opened a book publishing company. It’s important to get back into the community and find employment; you have for people in prison to see that she was once in the place where to rebuild relationships with your children and restore your fam- they are, and she’s become successful, so they can see them- ily. Some people may have lost driving privileges due to DUIs; selves reaching that point. On the outside, we take magazines for some have substance abuse problems. We get a lot of people granted, but in prison, reading is so important. They pass them who have to learn life all over again. It’s really scary for them, so around and they read them over and over again. We’re not the we need to let them know that it’ll be OK for them when they get only people who publish this information, but for some people on the outside. this is the only way they’re going to get that information. A lot of people never come to terms with the crime that they’ve committed; some people do and then they become re- How big do you expect your subscriber pool to morseful. We get a lot of letters from guys seeking legal advice. become? I have to always remind them of our mission as a magazine— they ask us to be their voice, to get them out, but our mission Because of cost restrictions and since we’re only able to is to help those who will be or were just released and empower publish four times a year, our readership is between 9,000 and those who don’t have an end in sight. We probably would get 12,000, but that’s only because that’s all we’re able to produce. way more mail than we do if we were an innocence project, but There are 45,000 inmates in Illinois. I’d like to see us be able to that’s not what we do. reach all of them. And I don’t just want this to be in Illinois; all of- For people with long-term or indefinite sentences, we try to fenders and ex-convicts need to have access to this information. give them messages of empowerment: There are people out here who want to see you turn your life around and want to see you Can your audience afford to subscribe? be successful. For people who won’t be coming home soon, we want them to turn their life around while in prison. We let them We let many of them subscribe on credit. [Many inmates] write poems and stories. They send them home to their family do work while in prison; some of these guys are able to make members and say, ‘This is what I’m doing now; I’m in a better enough money to send some home. Inmates spend money how- place.’ The family members are really excited to see a publica- ever they want. Magazines are very popular in prison, and I see tion taking them seriously enough. We cater to those who are this as being something they’d want to pay for. The goal is for coming home, those who will eventually be released and some these to be free, but it’s very difficult and right now we’re using who may never come home. my own personal money. It takes a lot of money. But those let- We also send out a lot of birthday cards and Christmas cards. ters that I get keep me going. In prison, it’s really, really very important to have mail, so we try to send out birthday cards to people on our mailing lists, and How do you expect to sustain a magazine in this I get letters like, ‘I haven’t gotten a birthday card in five years.’ economic slump? It’s so important when people are in prison for guards to call out mail, because it’s contact from the outsides—they feel like Right now, we’re trying to get advertising. We’re getting people care about them. n

WWW.CHICAGOREPORTER.COM | THE CHICAGO REPORTER 7 COVER STORY Investing in Jobs

Loopholes Nearly $1 billion has been spent in the name of reversing blight in the Loop. But Chicagoans are still losing their jobs.

By Angela Caputo

While Chicagoans accounted for 94 percent of Loop job losses, commuters from outside of the city managed to keep a strong foothold in the downtown job market during the better part of the decade. Photo by Joe Gallo.

8 THE CHICAGO REPORTER | January/February 2011 Loopholes

f there’s one thing that even Mayor Richard M. Daley’s harshest critics give him credit for, it’s pulling Chicago back from the brink of economic decline. While other Rust Belt cities are struggling to redefine themselves, Chicago’s downtown is bustling. New high-profile corporate headquarters—from United Airlines to Boeing Co. to MillerCoors—are perched atop a growing skyline. Decaying theaters thatI not long ago teetered on the brink of closing now draw decked-out patrons. Trendy new shoe stores, high-end cosmetic shops and clothiers lure a steady stream of shoppers to State Street. Massive public spending through Daley’s go-to economic development program— Tax Increment Financing—has played no small part in fueling the downtown growth. It has been a major source of public investment and promoted by city officials as a key to bringing jobs and resources to reverse blight.

WWW.CHICAGOREPORTER.COM | THE CHICAGO REPORTER 9 COVER STORY Investing in Jobs

Power Points The Chicago Reporter investigated how the city spent taxpayer money for economic development and found that despite shelling out more than $1 billion in and around the Loop, Chicagoans—particularly those from black communities— lost out on Loop jobs. The Reporter also found: „„ Chicago residents accounted for 94 percent of all Loop job losses between 2002 and 2008, despite helping foot the bill for Loop investment. „„ Residents living south of 43rd Street bore the brunt, accounting for 86 percent of all Loop job losses during the same time period. Their communities received only a small fraction of the economic development money that went to the Loop, though these South Side communities are more blighted.

For more information about the people and organizations we write about, go to www.chicagoreporter.com.

Job supply The number of jobs available in Chicago dropped precipitously or not at all depending on where you lived in Chicago. Black communities had far fewer jobs to begin with and lost the most.

Jobs by race of community area Mixed White Black Latino

54% 27% 9% 9%

Community Area # Jobs in 2008 Change since 2002 ritics, though, have questioned whether the Loop Mixed 601,873 No change is really rundown, and they’ve pointed out the White 298,451 + 5% strain that the designation puts on the rest of the Black 104,938 - 5% city. When a TIF district is created, the bulk of the Cproperty tax revenues in that area are withheld from public Latino 96,599 - 2% agencies, such as schools, and reserved for spending only in that one small taxing district. The challenge is that while the Loop has become a major economic engine, most of the new property tax revenue generated there stays there. Under nor- Pay gap mal circumstances, that money would have been thrown back into the city’s budget for economic development, public safety, For the jobs that do exist in Chicago, there’s consistent education and other needs throughout neighborhoods. growth in the ones that pay more than $40,000 each year. From 2004 through 2008 alone, $1.2 billion in property But the rate of growth in the highest-earning jobs has been tax dollars has been siphoned from the city’s budget, parks, the smallest in black communities. schools and other local taxing bodies to exclusively prime the Loop and the Near South Side community to which it abuts. Growth in jobs paying more than $40k The small piece of land comprises only two of Chicago’s 77 community areas but accounted for 55 percent of all TIF mon- 36% ey spent in those five years, according to an analysis by The Chicago Reporter. 23% Under state law, TIF districts can last up to 24 years. But 19% even before the Central Loop TIF expired in 2008—collect- 11% ing more property tax than any other special taxing districts across the city—city officials decided to capture even more downtown property tax revenue with two new TIF districts. The spending has helped put Chicago on the map as an in- White Mixed Latino Black ternational city. The downside, however, is that the city has actually lost big under the strategy when it comes to jobs, ac- Source: U.S. Census Bureau cording to the Reporter’s review of federal employment data.

10 THE CHICAGO REPORTER | January/February 2011 Downtown or bust The City of Chicago has captured and spent the lion’s share of Tax Increment Financing revenue in its central business district. Nearly $1.56 billion of the $2.45 billion in TIF dollars spent from 2004 through 2008 went to projects in the Loop, Near North Side, Near South Side and Near West Side communities. That pales in comparison to the meager $4.8 million spent collectively in the Pullman, Riverdale, Roseland and West Pullman communities on the Far South Side where blight is prevalent and economic development is scarce.

TIF revenue < $10 million $10 - $50 million $50 - $100 million $100 - $150 million $1 billion or more

Booker Vance, the pastor of St. Stephen’s Evangelical Church in Chatham, has fought for better wages for Chicago residents. Photo by Joe Gallo.

Creating jobs isn’t the sole purpose of TIF; however, it’s a key component. Job creation in the Loop is critical consider- ing that 29 percent of all jobs in the city are located within the 15-block stretch, bounded by Roosevelt Road to the south, the to the west and Kinzie Street to the north. Despite the billion-dollar investment, the Loop lost 12,296 jobs during the better part of the past decade and virtually all—94 percent—of the job losses affected Chicago residents Methodology compared with 6 percent by those living elsewhere. From 2002 The Chicago Reporter analyzed the U.S. Census Bureau’s to 2008, the bulk of those losses came from people living in Local Employment Dynamics data to tally the number of jobs predominately African-American communities. Those liv- that existed within each Chicago community area and the ing across the South and Southwest sides took 84 percent of communities from which those employees traveled. The data those losses during that time. reflect employees’ primary jobs. The years 2002 and 2008 While job pay has improved from 2002 to 2008 with the were the earliest and most recent data sets available. The number of jobs paying more than $40,000 a year growing, Reporter analyzed Tax Increment Financing District records commuters and residents from a handful of white and racially from 2004 through 2008 compiled by the Chicago Depart- mixed, gentrifying neighborhoods on the North Side have slid ment of Community Development as well as property tax into most of those jobs. That has created a double whammy records from the ’s office. The Reporter for job-starved communities across the South and Southwest aligned TIF district boundaries with a U.S. Census Bureau sides, which in addition to losing ground in the downtown job community area map to determine tax increment financing market, have realized just 30 percent—or $270 million—of the spending by community area. The Reporter also analyzed TIF dollars invested in their neighborhoods from 2004 through sales tax revenue for 2005 and 2009 supplied by the Illinois 2008, the most recent years that the data are available. Department of Revenue. The same methodology was used Residents from communities that converge in the 6th in determining how much sales tax revenue was generated ward—which includes parts of Chatham, Greater Grand within each community area. In instances where TIF districts Crossing, Roseland and Englewood—along with a handful of or ZIP codes overlapped between community areas, a neighboring South Side communities account for 52 percent computer-generated analysis divided the spending equally.

WWW.CHICAGOREPORTER.COM | THE CHICAGO REPORTER 11 COVER STORY Investing in Jobs What did the candidates say? We questioned the mayoral candiates on a variety of issues from jobs to spending public money. Here’s what they had to say:

Moseley QUESTION Chico Davis De Jesus del Valle Emanuel Braun Watkins Should private sector companies be required Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes to set aside jobs for Chicago residents when receiving local public money or tax breaks exceeding $250,000?

If public money is committed for private No Answer Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes development, should companies that benefit be held to higher wage standards set by the city?

Should those same companies be required to No Answer Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes pay service workers (janitors, landscapers, etc.) higher than minimum wages as well?

Should the city set up apprenticeship programs Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes to put the unemployed, underemployed to work on publicly subsidized, commercial or industrial construction projects?

Should city officials set expectations on job No Yes Yes Yes No Answer Yes Yes retention or career mobility for companies that benefit from local public subsidies or tax breaks?

Should there be an expectation that TIF-funded Yes Yes Yes Yes No Answer Yes Yes projects in the Loop translate into jobs for Chicagoans across the city?

Note: Candidates’ responses on opposite page have been edited for space. Not all candidates responded to the survey Source: Chicago Reporter questionnaire

of those who lost Loop jobs from 2002 through 2008. And TIF money to bolster city services, including increasing po- residents of Will County—Chicago’s far south and southwest lice presence in high-crime neighborhoods, there’s been little suburbs—alone gained 840 more Loop jobs paying upward of mention of whether candidates would cut off the downtown $40,000 a year during that same period than the combined spigot and begin pumping money back into neighborhoods. number of residents from 23 predominantly black communi- Critics point out that the Daley administration’s narrow ties on the South and Southwest sides of the city. focus on building up the downtown area has exacerbated un- The whole point of TIF is to spur development in blighted employment in neighborhoods by stifling new economic de- neighborhoods. But the Reporter has found that many of the velopment in other parts of the city. areas needing economic development money the most aren’t By law, TIF money is supposed to be reserved for spending getting much; their sales tax revenue is shrinking, and the in dilapidated areas. But neighborhoods riddled with blight, number of Loop jobs they hold are dwindling. At the same such as Woodlawn, Roseland and Chicago Lawn, received just time, elected officials have failed to force businesses to set lo- 11 percent of all TIF spending during the latter half of the de- cal hiring or wage standards, though many of these businesses cade, a Reporter review of city data found. are benefitting from millions of local tax incentives to move TIF funds were “supposed to be in areas that cannot develop to the Loop. private capital,” said Cook County Clerk at a fall news If Chicago’s next mayor and follow conference where he reported that the special taxing districts Daley’s lead, the Loop and its neighbor to the South are slated had diverted $520 million from the tax rolls in 2009 alone. “All to continue diverting more public money from the tax rolls of a sudden you have them in burgeoning areas,” he added. during the next year than any other part of the city. And while Five new TIF districts were created last year; one of which those stumping for Daley’s job have talked about leveraging is downtown. The four TIF districts already capturing prop-

12 THE CHICAGO REPORTER | January/February 2011 How would you create local jobs using Tax Increment Financing or other local economic development money?

GERY CHICO: TIFs are one of the few economic development and job creation tools available to the city. That being said, the city should focus much more on job creation with TIFs than we have in the past. We must have mechanisms in place to ensure that jobs promised are jobs delivered. I am committed to expanding upon the TIF sunshine proposal adopted in 2009 to make sure all TIFs are put online in real time, including TIF agreements with private companies. We also must regularly monitor TIF agreements to ensure that private companies are hiring locally, paying fair wages and providing adequate health care benefits.

DANNY DAVIS: Chicago has a broad economic base with a significant work force in many sec- tors. The plan to expand O’Hare airport must proceed in a timely and efficient manner. We must make Chicago the Midwest hub for a high-speed rail and redouble our efforts to develop affordable, accessible and efficient public transportation. Chicago remains a major diversified manufacturing center: from auto to confection. Many of our factories have been recognized as some of the best places to work in America. We must continue to create the infrastructure necessary for manufactur- ing and promote the use of locally built goods.

WILFREDO DE JESUS: I would ensure that any TIF or public funds utilized would require the hiring of local residents as well as W/MBE [Women and Minority Business Enterprise] participation; too often waivers are granted which allow companies and/or organizations utilizing TIF or other local develop- ment funds to bypass the minimum local hiring requirements. In addition, we need to look at green, renewable and sustainable energies as a source of job growth and sustainable development. This is a field where we have a real opportunity to generate jobs as well as create immediate savings for the city budget and Chicagoans; it’s just good policy.

MIGUEL DEL VALLE: Chicago’s use of TIFs needs to be refocused on their original intent—to encourage development in blighted communities where there would be no development “but for” the TIF. We should phase out TIFs in areas where the private market is creating development on its own. Chicago also needs to enforce recapture provisions (“clawbacks”) in subsidy agreements that require a company to return all or part of the value of a subsidy if the company doesn’t meet the goals they agreed to.

RAHM EMANUEL: My TIF reform proposal is about bringing greater transparency, accountability and flexibility to the program. The plan starts by shining a light on the TIF decision-making process by putting all financial and spending information online in an easy-to-use format and integrating the TIF budget into the formal city budgeting process. It then creates a time-limited panel of economic development and financial experts to establish best practices and return-on-investment goals for each TIF to accelerate job creation, and will shutter TIFs that have met their goals or are ineffective. The goal is simple: ensure that any taxpayer money diverted to the TIF program is spent equitably and efficiently.

CAROL MOSELEY BRAUN: As mayor, I will focus economic development activities on innovation, entrepreneurship and global engagement. We can and will connect our extraordinary resources, linking academic researchers with businesses, manufacturers with new technology, financial resources with new ventures, and our region with the international community. The TIF program needs to be reformed, in that it is too often misdirected as a development tool and too often fails to create local jobs. In addition to redirecting our economic development efforts to the neighbor- hoods, we should direct those efforts toward promoting technological innovation, including financial technologies, green technologies and high-growth businesses.

PATRICIA WATKINS: As the former CEO of Target Area DevCorp, that led successful efforts to de- velop the 79th Street Corridor between Halsted and Ashland, my experience has led me to believe that we must apply the following components to the TIF investment process: 1) Secure a stable and safe environment that is conducive to attracting both businesses and consumers; 2) Target invest- ments to existing infrastructure or building the necessary infrastructure to facilitate business devel- opment, while also leveraging existing community assets; 3) Create innovative incentives for busi- nesses to establish in high-need areas; and 4) Set standards to invest those limited public dollars in businesses that are good corporate citizens, pay strong wages and give back to their communities.

WWW.CHICAGOREPORTER.COM | THE CHICAGO REPORTER 13 COVER STORY Investing in Jobs Payton’s displace ‘That one job’ hen Deana herever Marvin Payton graduated Newsome goes Wfrom the Univer- Wthese days, he sity of Illinois at Urbana- carries a tinge of regret. Champaign with an MBA in As a young man, he 2001, the Roseland native once entertained the idea of thought her days of working becoming “a suit,” study- two jobs to keep up with her ing business administration bills were over. at Malcolm X College on “I really thought I was Chicago’s Near West Side. going to make some money, But he quickly traded in that this would be the ticket Deana Payton his college textbooks for a Marvin Newsome that I would not just make steady paycheck. ends meet but also exceed,” days off, she has filled in Now, at age 57, News- steady work have quickly Payton said. as a substitute teacher for ome’s resume consists of a turned into months and Nine years later, she’s to string of manufacturing jobs years. earning less than what she make some extra money. at once high-profile Chicago The Arkansas native who made before entering gradu- Most recently, she worked companies including Tootsie has lived in Chicago since ate school and is still strug- at an AT&T call center. That Roll Industries, Campbell’s 1971 has scraped by on a gling to find a full-time job. helped tide her and her Soup Co. and Masterfoods series of odd jobs since. He When she turned 35, 7-year-old son over, but USA, which have either has done telemarketing at Payton thought she was she continued to look for a downsized or pulled out of a call center and picked up finally on her way up the higher-paying job. She’s still the city all together. temporary custodial assign- corporate ladder when she looking. Payton lost her job Newsome’s skill set is ments. None have come landed a job as an assis- at AT&T in April and has not exactly in demand these close to paying the wage he tant media planner for a been collecting unemploy- days. When it comes to job last made in the manufac- downtown advertising firm. ment benefits since. losses, no Chicago industry turing industry. Then one of the company’s “I did my homework. I did cluster has taken a bigger “Since I don’t have that biggest clients pulled out what I was supposed to do,” beating than those that much skill and manufactur- when the economy got the 40-year-old said from produce goods, a Chicago ing jobs are [scarce], I’m shaky in 2007. That cost an employment support Reporter review of federal here,” Newsome said from Payton—and most of her program at the not-for-profit employment data found. a job preparation program colleagues—her job. National Able Network. She Since being laid off his operating out of the Chicago Since then, the Julian spends her days there trying job at a Northwest Side Urban League. “Even though High School graduate has to beef up her resume. plant in 2004 where he I’m not working, I know it’s picked up other jobs in the “It’s to the point now worked as a forklift opera- there. … All I need is one Loop, mostly doing tem- where I’m just trying to get a tor and custodian, the days job and that one job is out porary office work. On her job,” Payton said. that Newsome went without there.”

erty tax dollars in the Loop and Near South areas accounted for other national-chain stores and restaurants. roughly one-fifth, or $96.4 million, of all of the special taxing Chicago residents had more jobs on the Near South Side district money collected last year. Like other areas that are more where there was an overall 18 percent growth in the job mar- successful in raising money in the special taxing districts, city ket from 2002 to 2008. Citywide, the number of jobs grew by officials have been able to go on a TIF spending spree in city less than 1 percent, or 6,239, during that time. Those residents neighborhoods with some of the highest property tax wealth. didn’t do as well, though, when it came to getting in on rising One example is the Near South Side, the community sec- wages. The number of jobs paying $15,000 a year or less grew ond only to the Loop when it came to TIF spending since 2004. by 35 percent in the Near South TIF District between 2002 and It also happens to be Daley’s neighborhood. The bumper-to- 2008, federal data show. Citywide, those making $15,000 or bumper traffic along the stretch that picks up at the south end less fell by 14 percent during that time. of the Loop is a testament to how leveraging taxpayer money Alderman Freddrenna Lyle of the 6th Ward, a native of can help lure new businesses, shoppers and residents. Chatham, a solidly middle-class South Side community, says A hulking retail corridor anchored by Roosevelt Road is the businesses receiving public subsidies need to agree to hire a most obvious example of how public money can be used to certain number of Chicago workers and set higher-wage stan- lure new business. There, taxpayers quietly helped developers dards before their projects get approved. and corporations assemble property, and lay sewers, pavement She said that city officials often court companies with and roadways to lure two new grocery stores and a Home De- ready-made workforces. Taxpayers put up more than $15 pot, which helped attract a Target store and more than a dozen million—a $5.5 million TIF subsidy along with a $10 mil-

14 THE CHICAGO REPORTER | January/February 2011 Call waiting ‘Everything’s dry’ ll it takes is one sharp arol Walker lives by glance to bring the one simple rule: Al- Achildren in a cool, Cways try to stay a step gray basement of St. Ste- ahead of the competition. phen’s Lutheran Church to a When computer pro- standstill. At 5-feet-2-inches gramming looked like a hot tall, Sharron Mack isn’t industry in the 1980s, she exactly a towering presence. made it her major. Then But after raising five children when HTML emerged as on her own, she knows how the Web standard, she had to control a crowd—without already built a reputation saying a word. Sharron Mack as “the guru” of the new Carol Walker Since her temporary Cen- programming language sus job ran out earlier this to Old Navy to Target to among her peers at CNA, looking for permanent work fall, the 45-year-old spends Home Depot. With discour- the Chicago-based insurer, since. most afternoons helping aging results, she hit up the where she worked for more It has been an exhaustive with the after-school pro- local Burger King, McDon- than 16 years. search; she has submitted gram at the church, which ald’s and White Castle for “I have all the hottest dozens of resumes through- sits on a quiet residential work. skills,” the Far South Side out the city as well as the corner in Chatham. Mack’s “I don’t know if it’s be- native said. And she has southern and western sub- full-time job these days is cause of my age, but I have the credentials to prove it. urbs. “I’m not getting a lot of looking for work. the experience,” Mack said. In 2007, Walker earned a calls though,” she said. “It’s Given that jobs have Even 21 years of steady master’s degree in computer dry. Everything’s dry.” been disappearing around work on her resume at the science from DePaul Univer- In the meantime, the her South Shore neighbor- U.S. Postal Service, where sity. She’s in the process of mother of four grown chil- hood, it’s not surprising that she worked as an extended finishing up a second gradu- dren has cobbled together Mack’s having a tough time temporary employee, hasn’t ate degree in online teaching an income by teaching finding work in her own back helped her job hunt. She has from the University of classes at Kennedy-King yard. But what has really dis- sent her resume to a handful Illinois at Springfield. What College. She has also done couraged her is how she has of mailrooms throughout the she doesn’t have is a job. some programming work on had equally bad luck in land- Loop without success. In the Walker is a casualty of a contractual basis. Her kids ing a position in the growing meantime, she’s enrolled at the volatile job market. CNA are picking up a bill here and job market around the city’s Olive-Harvey College where laid her off in 2002. She there to help out. center or in the Loop. she’s studying child develop- landed on her feet the next “The last time I was laid This fall, Mack applied ment. Eventually, she hopes month when AT&T hired her. off, I only had one set of for jobs at five grocery store to open a daycare center. When the economy took a skills: IT. Now I have IT and chains, a dozen national In the meantime, she nose dive in 2008, she was teaching,” she says. “I don’t chain stores—from Staples keeps waiting for a call back. laid off again. She has been give up hope.”

lion fuel tax rebate—to entice United Airlines to relocate it’s professor who has closely studied economic development un- headquarters to the Loop in 2007. In exchange, company ex- der TIF, calls the ongoing unwillingness by many aldermen to ecutives agreed to bring 350 jobs to its namesake building at look at the quality of the jobs they’ve helped create during the 77 W. Wacker Dr. The only local hiring requirement was that past decade “the hidden elephant in the room.” Chicago workers fill half of the labor hours to rehab the air- Weber said elected officials were captivated by the “edifice line’s six-story office space. complex”—or a desire to see new construction projects. At It’s not clear how many employees currently work at Unit- the same time, city officials exhibited little will to set local ed’s headquarters. In all, the number of jobs in the census hiring or wage expectations. block where United is located, which is shared by Microsoft City officials have been criticized for voting in lock step Corp.’s Chicago office and a handful of other firms, actually with the redevelopment strategy. And little opportunity has shrank by 537 between 2002 and 2008. And, in keeping with trickled down to workers in the Loop, particularly those earn- the trend of city residents bearing the bulk of the job losses, ing $15,000 to $40,000 annually. Those jobs—which fall Chicagoans accounted for 72 percent, or 388, of those losses, closest to the pay rate that anti-poverty advocates describe as federal data show. a living wage—have been vanishing at the fastest rate. Like other corners of the city, there are few job require- In early November, the Chicago Community Development ments in the heavily subsidized Loop redevelopment agree- Commission, the board that gives the initial nod to public ments drafted at City Hall, a Reporter review of public con- spending on TIF projects, signed off on what city officials call tracts found. Rachel Weber, a University of Illinois at Chicago the “largest single TIF commitment for human capital develop-

WWW.CHICAGOREPORTER.COM | THE CHICAGO REPORTER 15 COVER STORY Investing in Jobs

By the numbers ment to date.” Under the deal, Accretive Health will “make its best efforts” to hire 51 percent of its workforce within the Chi- 12,296 cago city limits in the next 10 years in exchange for a $6 million The number of jobs lost in the Loop between 2002 and 2008. The subsidy to consolidate its headquarters and training center on bulk of those losses were felt by people living in predominately the fifth floor of 231 S. LaSalle St. African-American communities. Last spring, fifth-floor tenants put up fierce resistance to Lyle when she sought to add some accountability by introduc- 94% ing a measure that would have set higher pay standards—an The percentage of Loop jobs that were lost by Chicagoans. $11.03 minimum wage—for people working in commercial developments that received $250,000 or more in public sub- $40,000 sidies. That proposal was spurred by a proposed Wal-Mart Stores Inc. expansion, which labor and living-wage activists Suburban commuters from Will County outpaced residents from have been pushing back against for years. They say it is a 23 predominantly black Chicago communities combined when it threat to depress wages. Lyle’s ordinance was shelved in the came to snagging Loop jobs paying more than $40,000 a year. City Council’s Finance Committee after Wal-Mart agreed to pay its workers in Chicago $8.75 an hour, which is 50 cents 52% above Illinois’ minimum wage. The percentage of Loop jobs lost by residents living in the 6th ward “That agreement was never put in writing,” points out Book- and a handful of neighboring South Side communities. er Vance, the pastor of Chatham’s St. Stephen’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, and one of the city’s most outspoken living- $1.2 billion wage activists. He has spent the past year pressuring elected Property tax dollars diverted from the city’s budget, parks, schools officials to require that companies receiving public subsidies and other local taxing bodies to prime economic development in guarantee higher wages and commit to hiring local residents. the Loop and the Near South Side from 2004 through 2008. Community organizations and labor groups have launched a new community organizing campaign, New Chicago 2011, 2 that’s calling on incoming city officials to spread the economic The number of Chicago’s 77 community areas that accounted for development money around to neighborhoods desperate for 55 percent of all TIF money spent from 2002 through 2008. living-wage jobs and industry. The group is calling for more public investment in communities that are truly blighted. It 0 wants mayoral candidates to commit to leveraging public in- The number of jobs gained in 44 of the city’s 77 community areas vestment to help stabilize wages and, ultimately, communities between 2002 and 2008. by supporting new living-wage and local-hiring standards. “We want officials to answer the question: ‘What responsi- bilities do [publicly subsidized] businesses have?’” said Diane 11% Doherty, executive director of the Illinois Hunger Coalition, a The percentage of TIF money spent in neighborhoods riddled with member of the campaign. “If there’s going to be economic de- blight—including Chicago Lawn, Roseland and Woodlawn— velopment, how much are people from the community going during the latter half of the decade. to benefit from the jobs or the job training.” New investment in truly depressed areas would also come 20% at a critical time for communities with some of the highest One-fifth of the $520 million collected in TIF accounts last year unemployment rates in the country. It’s those same areas that was generated from just four downtown-area TIF districts. There are also swollen with low-wage workers. In places like Auburn are 158 TIF districts citywide. Gresham, Englewood and West Englewood, 29 percent of all full-time workers received food stamps in 2008, according to 35% census data. The growth rate of jobs paying less than $15,000 on the Near To help balance his final budget as mayor, Daley plans South Side in 2008 compared with six years earlier. Citywide, the to tap downtown TIF accounts. Even after withdrawing number of lowest-paying jobs fell by 14 percent. $90.5 million, the Loop and Near South Side will still have the largest TIF accounts to play with. $11.03 “Yes, the city has dodged a bullet from becoming a Detroit,” 6th Ward Alderman Freddrenna Lyle proposed an ordinance said Alderman Ricardo Munoz. His Southwest Side 22nd Ward requiring businesses that receive more than $250,000 in public and a handful of predominately Latino communities that sur- subsidies to pay their workers at least $11.03 an hour. The Chicago round it have sustained some of the city’s most severe job City Council shelved the initiative after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. losses, particularly in manufacturing, during the better part agreed to pay its workers $8.75 an hour, 50 cents above Illinois’ of the past decade. In South Lawndale, fewer than 16 residents held Loop jobs for every 1,000 residents in the community— minimum wage. the lowest rate among the city’s 77 community areas. South Lawndale also pulled in less than 0.2 percent, or $4 million, in 29% TIF investment from 2004 through 2008. The percentage of full-time workers living in Englewood, West “We still have a long way to go,” Munoz said. Englewood and Auburn Gresham who received food stamps in 2008. Contributing: Jeff Kelly Lowenstein. Ryan Jacobs, Louis McGill and Nick Moroni helped research this article. Sources: U.S. Census, Chicago Department of Community Development, Cook County Clerk, Illinois Department of Revenue; analyzed by The Chicago Reporter [email protected]

16 THE CHICAGO REPORTER | January/February 2011 COVER STORY Best Practices

Longtime Lathrop Homes resident Pecola Doggett (left) held a string of temporary and seasonal jobs until she got hired at Costco at Clybourn and Damen avenues. Photo by Ryan Jacobs. Creating new jobs Residents rally together to secure jobs for their community

By Ryan Jacobs Park when former 32nd Ward Alderman ployment Council, Beukema decided to and real estate developer take an alternative route and schedule a Ron Shipka Sr. announced a plan for a meeting with the head of Vienna Beef. hen Costco finally agreed community that would require rezon- The longtime Chicago manufacturer was to move into a vacant ing the former commercial site to build a located directly across the river from the property site between lavish 500-unit condominium complex. condo site. Damen and Clybourn av- Liala Beukema, pastor at the Church Vienna Beef CEO Jim Bodman ac- Wenues in 2000, it meant much more than of Good News, was working with the cepted the meeting and agreed that low warehouse prices for local shoppers. Logan Square Neighborhood Associa- complaints about noise and smells from The decision marked the end of a tion to organize a group of congregants upscale condo residents would create six-year battle between low-income and residents to lobby the city to aban- problems for his factory. As a steward of residents of the adjacent Lathrop Homes don the project. The group met with the employee-friendly company, Bod- and the City of Chicago. city representatives for months but man also saw merit in Beukema’s goals. The process began in the mid-1990s made little headway. At the suggestion Following their meeting, he notified at a community meeting near Hamlin of allies at the Local Economic and Em- Mayor Richard M. Daley that Vienna

WWW.CHICAGOREPORTER.COM | THE CHICAGO REPORTER 17 COVER STORY Best Practices

would leave the city if the plans for the jobs and the company’s attitude toward condominium building were approved. Job growth employees impressed them, according Daley quickly rejected the project. to Beukema. Beukema said that the community Costco brought new jobs and Longtime Lathrop Homes resident began learning about other proposals slightly higher wages to the region Pecola Doggett, a member of Beukema’s for the site, including one for a movie when it opened its doors on North church, was juggling a series of tempo- theater complex and another for a pub- Clybourn Avenue. rary and seasonal jobs to support her lic storage facility. But, she said, those family. “I felt real good because at that proposals seemed to focus on filling the Workers on Costco’s block time I was looking for something per- empty land rather than generating long- manent. I was looking for something Suburban workers 289 term, quality jobs. From Chicago concrete,” Doggett said in response to “One of the things that we critiqued Costco’s plan. about [the public storage] project is 55% In 2000, Costco agreed to build a store there are really only about five jobs con- on the property and provide job training nected to public storage,” Beukema said. to local residents. Between the time the “And half of those go to dogs.” 48 deal was settled and when Costco start- Laura Dresser, a labor economist with 17% ed hiring, several community groups the Center on Wisconsin Strategy, said 2002 2008 provided an eight-week job preparation cities are often reactive when it comes program to prepare local residents for to economic development, waiting to be What people earn interviews with the company. contacted by businesses to avoid being Doggett completed the course suc- accused of “picking winners.” The prob- < $15K $15K to $39, 996 > $39, 996 cessfully and landed an interview. lem with this free-market approach, She received an offer to work for the 2002 Dresser added, is that the companies 17% 69% 15% membership department, and she im- most likely to have the resources to call mediately accepted. Thirty other people are the same ones that offer high num- 2008 9% 72% 20% who went through the training program bers of low-wage, part-time jobs. were hired, and 80 percent of them were As the planning department moved Note: Costco opened prior to 2002, but reported still employed at the end of the first year, forward in its search for a developer, employment numbers may not reflect all new hires. according to store manager Brian Thom- residents soon realized that the com- The block-level data also includes employment figures as and the Logan Square Neighborhood from other small business also located on the block. munity’s interests were being ignored. Association. The full-time, $10-an-hour In response, community leaders drafted Source: U.S. Census Bureau position allowed Doggett more discre- a concrete set of criteria they expected tionary income to travel and enjoy con- potential employers to satisfy. The doc- certs and art galleries. She has received ument demanded the creation of 400 nity in the decision-making process. “I pay raises since she was hired, and this manufacturing jobs, a job training pro- don’t really recall a time where anyone February marks her 10th year with the gram, living wage and benefits for its thoughtfully or willingly sent us a plan,” company. Five others from the original workers, local hiring and environmen- Beukema said. “We really tried to stay group still work there, too. tally sound business practices. on top of it because we had a sense that The owner is a “very blessed individ- The numbers seemed attainable based people now were irritated with us.” ual, and I thank God for him ’cause he on the Local Economic and Employment The lack of communication did not [is] blessing all of us,” Doggett said. Development Council’s analysis of the discourage the community organizing ef- According to 2008 federal employ- site. The community’s demands were fort. During five of those years, organiz- ment data, more than 90 percent of the closely aligned with the guiding prin- ers visited City Hall every three months 159 Chicago residents working on Cost- ciples behind an economic development to speak with planning officials and to co’s block earned more than $15,000 a theory known as “high road” job creation, request a meeting with Daley. Their dog- year. The location also hires locally, with a term coined in the labor movement of gedness landed them one meeting with 75 percent of its staffers living within five the 1990s. The strategy revolves around the mayor’s assistant, where they offi- miles of the store, according to Thomas. communities identifying available in- cially reiterated their expectations about “Wherever we open, we want to em- frastructure, workers and resources and the development project. ploy from that community and we want communicating with local government After six years of campaigning, the to give back to that community,” Thomas and businesses to ensure the training of Logan Square Neighborhood Association said. low-wage residents for specific perma- heard rumors that the city was consider- Both Doggett and Beukema are un- nent jobs in high demand. In the end, ing a Costco Wholesale warehouse. Af- sure why the city has not taken their communities avoid low-paying part- ter researching the corporation—which case as an exemplar and courted more time jobs that promote economic stag- made headlines at the time for paying socially responsible companies else- nation, and businesses spend less time entry-level workers $10 an hour, provid- where in the city. recruiting, reduce turnover and employ ing health coverage and creating as many “It just boggles my mind that we productive workers. full-time positions as possible—the or- would be willing to reward big-box cor- The groups spent six years distribut- ganization informed the city that it was porations that really have no real good ing thousands of pamphlets with their onboard as long as Costco provided job ‘trickle down’ structure,” Beukema said. demands in Hamlin Park, Logan Square training, Beukema said. “TIF money is public money, and we for- and City Hall. Representatives from the The proposal offered fewer jobs— get. This is not the aldermen’s money. planning department still made little ef- between 100 to 150—than the commu- This is not the mayor’s money. It’s our fort to engage the Logan Square commu- nity had hoped for, but the quality of the money, and we should have a say.” n

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PARTING SHOT Remembering Ron Santo

December 2010 Fans of Ron Santo, the former Cubs third baseman and WGN radio color commentator who passed away in December, leave flowers, beer and other memorabilia outside Wrigley Field in honor of a Cubs legend. Photo by Jason Reblando.