NO GAMES CHICAGO BOOK OF EVIDENCE FOR THE INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE Why Chicago Should NOT Be Awarded the 2016 Olympic Games GAMESNO BEITER HOSPITALS * HOUSING * SCHOOLS AND TRAINS ©[l{]I]©~@@**** GAMESNO BETTER HOSPITALS * HOUSING * SCHOOLS AND TRAINS ©[M]~~@@**** Dear Members of the International Olympic Committee: We are citizens from Chicago, Illinois who are opposed to our city hosting the 2016 Olympic games. We see four major reasons why Chicago should not be awarded the Games. (1) Lack of Finances. Our nation, state, county and city are broke and running massive deficits. There's no way to guarantee that we will have the many billions needed to complete the work needed. Chicago is famous for going way over budget on any large construction project it tackles. (2) Lack of Competence. Our state, county and city are notoriously corrupt and populated with incompetent officials who line their pockets and make choices based not on effectiveness or the public good, but rather on how much money . can be made by friends and family members. This directly translates into bloated construction projects that go massively over budget and suffer repeated delays. (Block 37 is a project that is 30 years old and still incomplete, Millennium Park was just four years late). Also, there are a number of very high-ranking corruption investigations under way and our former Governor faces trial in 2010. It's entirely possible that many of the Chicago officials the 10C has been working with may be under investigation. (3) Lack of Infrastructure. Our city is falling to pieces around us. Our roads are pitted with pot holes and our mass transit system is badly in need of repair and upgrading. Regrettably, there are no plans for improving it over the next few years and we seriously doubt whether it can do the job of moving the crowds that come with a summer Olympics. (4) Lack of Public Support. Despite what you are being told, the people of Chicago DO NOT want the games. When people realize that they will be picking up the tab for the games, they oppose the bid by an overwhelming majority. We have compiled a small collection of articles that document these concerns. We'd like to call your special attention to the April 2, 2009 column by Ben Joravasky, a prominent Chicago investigative reporter. His "Open Letter to the 10C" sums up our position. We hope you will heed our wishes and grant the 2016 Olympics to another city. No Games Chicago 312-235-2873 [email protected] www.nogameschicago.com The Works An Open Letter to the IOC Why you don't want to give Chicago the Olympics By Ben Joravsky - April 2, 2009 Dear members ofthe International Olympic Committee Evaluation Commission: Welcome to Chicago! I know you're here for the next few days to check out our lovely city to determine if we-as opposed to Madrid, Tokyo, or Rio-have the best plan for hosting the 2016 Olympics. Just so you know from the outset, I hope you don't give us the games. I've been against it from the start, and I could fIll a book with the reasons. But I'm not here to tell you how paying for the games would cripple my hometown-ifyou want that, see chicagoreader.com/2016 olympics. This letter is about your needs, not ours. I'm here to tell you some things about Chicago you'll never hear from Mayor Daley, who's acting like a used-car salesman, trying to sell you an old beater without letting you look under the hood. Here's the fundamental problem: We can't afford the games. We're broke-and I mean damn near destitute. The public school system is about $475 million in the red and the city's facing its own deficit of at least $200 million. Just a few months ago Mayor Daley said he'd balanced the budget by raising fees and fines and slashing the city payroll, but already expenses have risen and revenues have dropped faster than anticipated. His aides have warned that more cuts could be on the way. The Chicago Transit Authority, which runs our public transportation system, is busted too, in more ways than one. CTA officials are in the thick oftheir annual budget crisis, warning of fare hikes and service cuts that could affect traffic in every part oftown. They don't have enough money to replace the old buses or repair the tracks that are falling apart. I know it's not your concern if it takes ordinary Chicagoans ever more time and money to get to work, especially since the 2016 bid committee has made it clear that it won't depend on the CTA to shuttle athletes, reporters, and spectators back and forth from hotels to venues. But thousands ofpeople here are quietly stewing over these budget problems, since they're the ones who always have to fork over taxes, fees, and fmes to make up the difference. Mayor Daley has acknowledged that citizens won't stand for another property tax hike, especially with thousands of families losing their homes to foreclosure during the economic meltdown. So instead he's hiking fees that hit tourists as well as residents. It costs more than ever to park, go to a play or restaurant, or stay in a hotel. And he's selling off pieces of public property, including Midway Airport and the city's parking meters. It's starting to sink in here. A day doesn't go by when I don't get a call from an outraged resident bitching and moaning about how much it costs now to park at a meter--or to pay offparking tickets. And then there are the TIFs: $550 million a year in property taxes siphoned from the schools and parks to feed slush funds that Mayor Daley controls with virtually no oversight. At the moment, the public is conveniently in the dark about them because they're too complicated for the mainstream press to cover and our tax bills don't reflect how much we're paying to keep them funded. But every year the TIF take rises and sooner or later the public will catch on. (Ifyou'd like to bone up on the subject, see chicagoreader.com/tifarchive.) Again, I know it's not your problem ifthe city is selling offpublic assets or keeping two sets ofbooks. But I do think you'll want to keep these things in mind as you consider whether the bid committee's fmancial guarantees are worth the paper they're written on. The committee says it can put on the Olympics here for less than $5 billion, since it won't have to acquire a lot ofland or do a lot of construction. Don't believe it. London, the host for the 2012 games, is now expected to spend $16.5 billion, nearly twice what it first estimated. And Chicago has a fme track record of delays and cost overruns on public projects. The mayor may take you on a tour ofMillennium Park while he's here, but he probably won't mention that it cost $475 million to build-a mere $325 million more than originally projected. You might like to take a stroll along the Chicago River, but the latest extension of the riverwalk won't be finished until June. It's cost taxpayers $22 million-double the original estimates. Take a drive down State Street while you're here and see the enonnous construction zone between Randolph and Washington. Block 37, as it's known, has taken the city more than 20 years and tens of millions of dollars to develop, and under those newly constructed buildings is an unfmished train station that's cost $250 million so far-more than twice the initial price tag. Chicago's bid committee has told you that it'll raise the money through "public-private partnership." That is, they'll get private donors to kick in all the cash, and if somehow they don't, they'll be able to dip into various rainy day funds, insurance payoffs, and $500 million in taxpayer money authorized by the Chicago City Council and another $250 million guaranteed by the state legislature. Given our financial situation, where's that money going to come from? People around here are going to be very, very displeased ifthey're asked to cover the mayor's enormous bet. Think ofthe citizenry ofChicago as a big sleeping giant. One day that giant will be stirred from his slumber. Someday, possibly very soon, .it will dawn on Chicagoans that all the meters they've been feeding, all the taxes they've been paying, all the fines and fees they've forked over, still can't pay the teachers and the police and the fIrefighters and fill the potholes and collect the garbage and remove the snow, and wonder how it is that we can still afford two weeks ofintemational fun and games. And they will erupt. I know it sounds like a long shot. But I've seen it happen before. Back in 1979, when folks got so angry they ousted one mayor-a guy named Bilandic-in favor ofa relatively unknown out-of-work city employee named Jane Byrne. And ifit happens between now and 2016, guess who the public will blame? That's right-the Olympics will be public enemy number one around here. You might even have to hand the games off to some other city, like you did with the winter games back in 1976.