TW: More on my favorite pet peeve, the Daley parking meter deal that is a metaphor for poor American fiscal management. Now Chicago's own inspector general (Daley created the IG position in response to past criticism of city governance) is stating the obvious- the deal was stupid. Note how the Daley rep in countering the IG avoids the fundamental point, i.e. the deal traded millions in the future for short-term cash, and credits the deal with shoring up Chicago's current budget shortfall. But that is the point Chicago traded a huge asset in order to avoid a couple of year's budget shortfalls.
The only good thing coming out of this is that perhaps the City Council is going to alter its approval process for such deals in the future.
From Chicago Tribune:
"City Hall's inspector general blasted Mayor Richard Daley's parking meter lease Tuesday, alleging the administration gave up the potential for hundreds of millions in additional cash when aldermen rapidly rubber-stamped the deal...The report takes the City Council to task for ratifying the deal by a 40-5 vote in December, just a day after Daley aides briefed aldermen on it."There was no meaningful public review of the decision," Hoffman wrote.
The city got about $1.15 billion upfront for jacking rates and turning over control of its paid street parking system to a private company that gets to keep all the meter money for 75 years. Hoffman's report calls the lease a "dubious financial deal," arguing the city could have raked in at least $2.13 billion if only it had kept the meters after raising rates -- minus the cost of collecting the money and maintaining the meters.Top Daley aide Paul Volpe immediately fired back...Volpe said the parking meter money has helped the city avoid service cuts and steep tax hikes. The money from the parking meter deal in this year's budget is equal to the cost of retaining 2,000 police officers, or half the budget of the Streets and Sanitation Department, Volpe said...Now some council members say they made a mistake in voting for the deal and want the city to back out.
...Rates immediately quadrupled at most meters around the city, with the cost to park at some downtown spots to rise to $6.50 an hour within four years.Aldermen weary of public criticism are expected to approve a measure Wednesday that would give them at least 15 days to review future privatization deals.
...Daley appointed Hoffman in 2005 to head an office that is supposed to root out wrongdoing in city government. Hoffman has expanded the role to include issuing public reports on city government's performance. In one report last year, investigators spied on city garbage crews, alleging that truck drivers and laborers loafed for about two hours of every eight-hour shift."
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