Our resident economic development expert gives us his take on the budget crisis.
"There's only two options -- more layoffs or more tax increases -- unless you take a portion of the city's budget and devote it to buying lottery tickets," said Ald. Joe Moore (49th). Source.I've heard that the lottery is basically a "stupid tax". Whereas only "stupid people" would be gullible enough to think buying anything lottery will make them rich. Joe Moore must fall in this category.
How would you balance the budget?
20 comments:
What? Once again, that statement makes absolutely no sense. He will say anything just to get his name in print/on air. He is such a famemonger on the lowest level.
Amy said...> "He will say anything just to get his name in print/on air."
At least I got one smart reader. Amy gets it.
Let us not forget that the Ald. (and 43 other Ald.s) in effect "voted" themselves a $6,000+/annum raise recently. That puts an extra quarter million strain on the Chicago city budget.
To balance your own budgets, you "cut the fluff", right, and tighten your belts.
Da Mare should also cut the fluff--the UNPRODUCTIVE city workers who garner extraordinary wages for doing NEXT TO NOTHING! What a Magoo!
To paraphrase that phrase, It's the TIFS Stupid. Get rid of them, and there's more tax revenue for the important things (not Loyola's renovations).
I have come to have a new appreciation for my neighbors up there in Roger's Park. I thought the people of Uptown were the only ones afflicted with an insufferable alderman.
Yes. The aldermanic raises have to go. Also one staff person from the aldermanic offices. I think they have more staff positions then state reps do?? In any event, we have too many wards. New York manages with less, we can too.
Open up the TIF coffers to pay for expenses related to school infrastructure, local parks/playlots, etc., that have been shortchanged by the rampant TIF districts.
Eliminate exempt positions on the police force and increase the number of on-duty personnel.
Cut back on money spent on the City's PR (especially that which is directed toward citizens.) We're onto ya so save your money!
Don't fight the Children's Museum to the Illinois Supreme Court. Figure out what else to do about reducing legal costs.
Cut 5% of the patronage spots. You know where they are.
Don't spend over $400,000 a piece for affordable housing units at Wilson Yard. Go back to the drawing board and figure out how, as a city, you can get more bang for your buck and actually increase the number of units across the city with the budget you are working with.
It goes without saying, but the legislature should enact TIF reform and the sweetheart deals for the clouted needs to be reigned in.
Anyone else?
Why in God's name are we restoring Buckingham Fountain at this time? More millions down the drain for Daley's Olympic bid?
First: remove the $6,000+/annum pay increases for the Alderpeople
Second: cut the Alderpeople's pay by $6,000+/annum
Third: pay market salaries to all city workers. In July of 2007, I applied for an ENTRY level position as a Personnel Assistant in the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago that offered $46,000 to $72,000 per year, depending on qualifications.
NOTE: I didn't get the job. In spite of 25+ years experience I was turned down for the position because I'd never "worked in a personnel office." Forget the fact that I once wrote the personnel manual for a non-profit organization and that that manual is still in use today. I guess I wasn't qulified to "answer the phones, take messages and keep orderly files" as the job requirements stipulated.
Can you imagine getting an entry level CLERICAL position that STARTS at $46,000??? In the real world those jobs usually start around $22,000. I would love to know who got that job and what their qulifications were? I'm pretty sure it had more to do with WHO they knew or were related to rather than WHAT they knew. This brings me to my final suggestion on how we can trim the budget in this time of economic crisis:
FOURTH: CUT ALL PATRONAGE EMPLOYEES and replace them with qualified "unconnected" people. Not only would the City save money but I'm pretty sure, because the employees would know their job security rested on their job performance rather than an Alderman Uncle or an Auntie City Supervisor, the city would run smoother and more effeciently.
Those are my suggestions for balancing the city's budget and I approved this message.
- PEACE -
"How would you balance the budget?"
aldermanic salary freeze
freeze aldermanic expense accounts
return unused aldermanic menu funds to the general fund each year
fire half of aldermanic staffs, put 10% of salary savings into a program to promote proper use of 311
reduce number of aldermen to 1, elected at-large from the City, since they always vote unanimously anyway
slash City Council Sergeant-at-Arms staff
slash City Council committee staffs, particularly Finance
dissolve TIF districts w/o any projects
combine the Dept. of Planning & Development with Zoning like it was before Daley broke it up
cut City Council legislative work-load in half by establishing administrative procedures for sewer and garbage rebates, signage, awnings, permit parking, fee waivers for NFPs, etc.
What the heck. No one thinks we should buy lotto tickets?
Is it true New York City gets by with roughly the same number of aldermen as Chicago but with 2 1/2 times the population? Why do we have so many aldermen???
Very sorry...Wikipedia is showing New York with 51 'councillors' to Chicago's 50 alderman. Is this a valid comparison?? Not an expert on the details of chicago governance.
I should've offered an easier question for the Joe Moore supporters.
"What lotto numbers would city council play?"
Dear Neighbors,
We've been spending money like drunken sailors and we're broke. I've come up with an idea to bail us out of this mess.
We're going to use your tax dollars to buy lotto tickets.
The reason for this email is I want YOU to be involved in this venture too. Send me the numbers I should pick. That way, if I lose, I can blame you.
If this doesn't work I'll come up with another plan. Maybe I'll raffle all of Barack Obama's used jock-straps he has me carry around on the campaign trail.
Good Luck,
Joe Moore
My point, marcum, was that NYC has a population of around 8.1 million people and Chicago has about 2.8. (Feel free to quibble over the exact current number but Chicago has less than 1/2 the population of NYC.)
The basic point I was trying to make is that NYC manages to serve way more constituents per office holder than Chicago aldermen. I speculate that their staff is also similarly sized as our aldermanic staff but I don't know.
As far as I can tell, if we had a similar ratio of constituents to aldermen in Chicago then we shouldn't see any appreciable reduction in our satisfaction with local government. As Hugh points out, they all vote the same anyway! And, in my neck of the woods it is not like my quality of "ward service" would be reduced. Any old fool can have staffers yell "F - YOU" to moms with babies coming in wanting to talk about crime. It shouldn't be too hard.
Does this mean if we have a lottery Joe will elt the winner pass out doughnut with him at the Howard and Loyola el stops
Funny thing - I never see him at Jarvis El or the Morse El passing out goodies. He probably can't handle the urine smell
The city of Los Angeles has 15 city council members & a population of close to 4 million right now.
Los Angeles County has a population of 10 million & five, I repeat just five county supervisors.
C[r]ook County has 17 county commissioners plus the halfwitted Toddler for 5 million people.
Plus LA County has a huge fire dept. in addition to all the various cities that have them.
Well Craig, you and I are both idiots because we always listen to Joe Moore
First, reduce the number of alderman to 10. If Los Angeles, with 3.4 million people, can get by with 7, then we can surely get by with fewer than 50. That would also vastly reduce the number of city-paid flunkies working for our aldermen.
Then, sunset all TIFs, and pass city legislation blocking any more. We don't need to have our tax money committed to buildings on Loyola's campus and to redundant, inappropriate retail at a time when there is, to say the least, a LOT of excess retail capacity.
Drop all "white elephant" projects, beginning with the absurd Olympics that never benefited a single city that hosted it. Ask the citizens of China whose farms failed because their scarce water supply was diverted to Bejing for this massive exercise in national vanity. The "super" el station, likewise- just finish off the Washington stations with required ADA equipment and rebuild the connecting tunnel.
Drop the airport expansion. The airlines are OVER, thanks to escalating fuel prices. The death warrant was written at $60 a barrel, and in 5 years, there will be only a third as many planes flying, if even. It will be a mode of travel mostly for the affluent, and we don't need to commit public money badly needed for necessary services and urgent road and sewer and water infrastructure repairs, to luxury travel.
Drop any thought or plans of an Outer Drive Extension and/or landfill for the beach between Edgewater and Evanston. Affected residents have indicated that they overwhelmingly do not want this, and the cost would be atrocious. We have too much other decaying infrastructure to contemplate huge changes to the lakefront, even if we wanted them, which we don't.
We could restore Buckingham Fountain, a bonafide public amenity, easily,plus clean and improve all our existing parks, and still afford the level of police and fire protection, as well as transit and school funding, required for good service, were we to cut back on completely unnecessary vanity projects AND most of all, stop the diversion of public money to private projects via TIFs and other Corporate Welfare gimmes.
My word, North Coast, I think I love you . . . O.K., I love your brain anyway. If ONLY someone in a position of power would take your suggestions to heart, I do believe this crisis could be turned into a blessing for this city. Ah, if only . . .
Madeinrogerspark - thanks for the great laugh about the donuts! The Morse stop is a hellhole - the Alderman's office thinks it's greatly improved - I wonder when the last time is one of them got off there!
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