His Honor takes the day off and we here at the Daily Daley want to stop taking them

DALEY NEWS

First of all, the mayor had no scheduled events today which probably suited him just fine. When there are events, there are obnoxious reporters asking questions and that can get very tiresome. Aurely this is not an example of absenteeism on Daley's part?

But what's this? The Tribune apparently seems to have some conflicting information on Daley's whereabouts today.

Second, no, your eyes are not deceiving you. This is the first post here since last Thursday. Our staffing issues remain so once again, please contact us at dailydaley@gmail.com if you're interested in writing for us or know someone else who is.

DALEY CHATTER

• The aldermen are accusing Daley of endangering Chicago's future by depleting the city's cash reserves. Come again, aldermen? Where was this concern for Chicago's future when the mayor was leasing everything that's not nailed down?
• Bensenville gives in to Daley on the O'Hare expansion, but receives no information from the mayor on the details. Hey, get used to it. We receive no information all the time.
• State Senator (and Reverend) James Meeks unabashedly lets loose on the issue of youth violence in Chicago. In the process, he strongly questions whether the mayor should still be in charge of the city's school system. You've got us Reverend. It might indeed be a good idea for someone else to be at the helm. But we're betting that the mayor would sooner cheer for the Cubs or eat a hot dog with ketchup than give up control of that particular piece of local bureaucratic pie.

Photo via Andrew Collings Photography

In reality, Mayor Daley might very well be... disposed. The Thursday Daily Daley however is not.

So as not to leave you entirely empty-handed though, we've collected some news of the day to keep you entertained (or horrified, depending on how you look at it).

Hey look, we're national news!

Chicago's sterling reputation continues to besmirch the White House. President Obama must be ever so glad that he launched his political career on these shady streets.

Mayor Daley makes nice with a bank that won't give a developer any more money for Block 37. He isn't upset and hey, why should he be? Nothing will ever be built there.

Chicago:1968 webcomic miniposter - Mayor Daley said he woudn't raise taxes to refill the trough, so now it's time to slaughter the pig.

DALEY NEWS

Wednesday's edition, posted Thursday

10am, Wednesday, Oct. 21st, Mayor Daley delivered his 2010 budget address to a special session of the City Council.

DALEY CHATTER

There was plenty of 2010 budget chatter here on the Windy Citizen, where, despite some minor technical difficulties, we hosted our own live City Council viewing party thread, making use of City Clerk Miguel Del Valle's streaming video of the meeting and some brand new technological features that Windy Citizen CEO Brad Flora has assured will only improve for the next go around.

Not the only news outlet to embrace the cutting edge while Daley looked out over the fourth quarter '09 horizon, Chicago Public Radio's @WBEZpolitics tweeted --

9:31 AM Oct 21st from TinyTwitter
we'll be tweeting from mayor daley's budget address this AM. no tax or fee hikes expected but the mayor will dip into parking meter fund.

Indeed, expectations were met as even the Associated Press reported over the national wire --

During an address to the City Council, Daley said people have not suffered this much from a bad economy since the Great Depression and he won't propose any new taxes, fines or fees to help close an estimated $520 million budget deficit in the nation's third largest city.

Making up the $520 million difference between Chicago's income and expenses will cost residents a lot more than slimmed-down municipal services, but also, the Chicagoist laments, many of the city's famous seasonal diversions, as well --

We previously mentioned a few items -- Venetian Night, the lighted boat parade and fireworks display that attracts upwards of 500,000 each summer, is going bye-bye. There's also no money in the budget for the Outdoor Film Festival in Grant Park, nor for the Chicago Criterium. The Chicago JazzFest, which arguably features the most talented musicians of the city's music festivals, is being shortened once again.

But Mayor Daley's refusal to burden Chicagoans with higher taxes, fines and fees during these tough times was a clever route for Hizzoner to take.  Brilliant, too, was his attempt to spin the negativity associated with the parking meter lease deal into a political asset by tapping those funds directly to plug the city's budget holes.

And whenever there are holes to be plugged, or assets to be admired, Gapers Block is there --

Mayor Daley's Budget: One Fine Piece of Assets

Mayor Daley will be dipping into the city's reserves, specifically the $1bn+ fund created by the leasing of the city's parking meters to a private operator, to cover the enormous budget deficit of half a billion dollars that the city projects for next year.

As yet, not all of the city's aldermen are on board with the Daley plan.  Chicago Public Radio's City Room illuminates these signs of aldermanic discord: 'Some Aldermen Criticize Plan to Tap Reserves' --

Several alderman say they're worried about using long-term reserves to balance next year's budget. Alderman Tom Allen suggests instead skimming money off the top of all the city's TIF funds, which are earmarked for neighborhood development.

ALLEN: Why can't we take resources that are in the TIF districts, income, and use it to plug this hole. Why do we give this money to private developers? Let's give it to the citizens.

That can't be done, according to a city spokeswoman. She says state law does not permit Chicago to spend TIF money on general expenses

Ald. Allen raises an interesting question: why can't we take resources that are in TIF districts?

Official word is that it "can't be done."  Even so, the severity of the economic situation has shined a new light on these secret honey pots of stashed city money known TIF funds.  And though the Sun-Times reports that Mayor Daley defends decision to raid city's reserves, neither the Mayor nor the Sun-Times makes any mention of the reserves in the TIF funds.

Propting Progress Illinois to pose A Question For Mayor Daley: Why So Quiet About TIF?

"Mayor Daley stands mute" - my unofficial entry into the WBEZ Blog's caption contest

The silence from the 5th floor is deafening.

From Progress Illinois -- 

But as we listened to him address the City Council this morning, we wondered if he'd make mention of the city's other major reserve, the $1.4 billion that's squirreled away in off-the-books tax increment financing (TIF) accounts. After all, wouldn't this be the perfect opportunity for the mayor to make the case to skeptics -- Tribune columnists David Greising this week called the corporate TIF giveaways "a racket" -- that his economic development strategy is actually paying off?

Not surprisingly, Daley didn't deliver.

Photo via Chicago Tribune

EDITOR'S NOTE: You may have notices that we're going through some staffing shortages here at the Daily Daley. This has led to missing posts on some days, shorter than usual posts (like today), late posts, etc. We apologize for these bumps in the road and ask you once again to help out. If you think you're up to the task of writing for us, please send an e-mail to dailydaley@gmail.com.

DALEY NEWS

Today was the most packed day for the mayor that this writer can recall. In nearly 18 months covering His Honor, there has never been so much going on. The mayor was everywhere. There was a sustainability conference, a press conference about the 2010 city budget, a safety award, a reception to honor an international airline which now stops in Chicago and a Carl Sandburg event. Got all that? Whew!

DALEY CHATTER

• Read his lips: no new taxes.
• But here's the bad news.
• If this upsets you, have I got the t-shirt for you!

That's all for now. You may go back to watching Chicago Tonight.

pic pulled from the omnimagonline blog - Doesn't matter if he's in Bridgeport or Beijing, even Da Boss has to pay up for public transit. 

DALEY NEWS

Wednesday's edition, posted in the early AM hours of Thursday morning

Mayor Daley took hump day off - from the media, at least.  He had no public appearances scheduled this Wednesday.

DALEY CHATTER

"Mayor Daley has this one right," proclaims NBC5 Chicago.  "Hey, it happens," they reluctantly admitted.

When Steve Rhodes opined for the Peacock on their local beat this Wednesday, he supported statements Mayor Daley had made to end free rides for seniors.

Hizzoner looks to 2010 as he prepares to present next year's budget to a special session of the City Council next Wednesday.  He does so under the dark cloud of projections that put the CTA $300 million in the hole.  And with fare hikes and services cuts being the only solution thus far proffered by the transit authority, Mayor Daley winced at what he described as, "very, very ugly" state of affairs on Tuesday.

Perhaps he was struck by some midweek inspiration when Daley proposed on Wednesday that the State Legislature needs to end free rides for senior citizens:

"They have to revisit everything," Daley said. "And that is one of 'em they have to revisit. Definitely."

You may remember the free-ride program was added to the 2008 CTA bailout by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich shortly before he was arrested on federal corruption charges.  It was the first of many stunts he'd soon pull to gain public sympathy and a peice of the spotlight.  The final chapter of his epic downfall is yet to be written.

pic from Sun-Times - Blago dashes headlong into an uncertain future

Transit politics aside, Daley has a $520 million budget gap of his own to worry about.  But the Mayor has so far spoken out against raising city taxes:

"You can't [raise property taxes] ... That would hurt people tremendously," Daley said.

"You can only take so much. People are being laid off on a daily basis. People are getting cut back. They don't have the money anymore. Government has to look at itself and find out what they can live with and what are their priorities. Simple as that."

Some sources suggest rather than raise taxes, Daley will propose pulling cash from the city's long-term fund which holds money from the city's controversial parking meter and Skyway privatizations.