Mayor Daley’s Dreams Come Crashing Down

Photo via the Trib

DALEY NEWS

Despite two years’ effort, an expenditure of $46 million by the Chicago 2016 committee, $86 million by the city, and the efforts of the first lady, the president and even Oprah-Feakin’-Winfrey, the city of Chicago didn’t even make it through the first round of IOC voting. It was a huge defeat for a mayor who is all too used to getting what he wants.

But with only 47 percent of the city supporting the bid, a reluctant  and tardy agreement from the city council to cover cost overruns, and the less-than-forthcoming way that Daley sold the Olympics, it isn’t really a surprise that Chicago didn’t land the games. However, it was a bit of a surprise to everyone that Chicago went out in the first round, a defeat that everyone is trying to explain.

By giving the games to Rio, the IOC showed it was open to a bid by an incredibly violent city. And by granting the previous games to Beijing, it showed the group was OK with an incredibly corrupt city. But Chicago’s failure showed the committee draws a line somewhere. Pick one of the two. You can’t be both and expect to win the games. The Olympic committee has standards after all.

So with our Olympic dreams dashed, Chicago is left holding an $86 million deed to the Michael Reese Hospital, a large and expensive piece of property at a time when no one is looking to build. The site is also the location of the city’s newest TIF, but with little chance of development anytime soon, it’s not likely that the city will be collecting TIF dollars in the near future. Instead, watch for a little-noticed practice called “porting,” which allows Daley to shift money in from surrounding TIFs.

Lacking an Olympic-sized excuse to pursue his development dreams, Daley is going to have to get creative in his plans to remake all that prime property awkwardly and unfortunately situated between the South Loop and Hyde Park. But worry not, I reckon the old guy has some tricks left. And to those who think this spells the end for Daley’s political future, that he might not run again, forget it.

"Wait, wait, wait,” Daley said when asked how this would affect his political career. “This was never about Rich Daley. It was about Jesse Owens and Ralph Metcalfe. Not me.
"This was not a political gamble. This was not a political adventure. It was a commitment on behalf of the city to get the Olympic and Paralympic Games."
Translation: “I’m gonna die in office like my old man.”

Then came the big question on everyone’s mind. Did Daley weep when he heard the news. “No,” he said, before admitting, “Sure, you have tears, you're disappointed. I love my job. Chicago really shined here."

Translation: “I bawled like a wee baby.”

DALEY CHATTER

The Trib tells us to buck up, The Reader tells us “I told you so,” and Crain’s tries to figure out who can still make money off this mess.

Games or no games, it’s business as usual in Chi-town. We may not be getting the  Olympics, but that doesn’t mean people in this city will stop playing games.

That’s all, folks. Have a great weekend!

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