Chicago 2016’s Spin Masters

            Tonight, you will be exposed to the latest efforts of Chicago 2016’s Spin Masters to convince Chicagoans that the 2016 Olympics will be good for our neighborhoods and our city, that we taxpayers won’t have to pay a dime for it, and that the Olympics “will not displace one person” (quote of Mayor Daley, Chicago Defender, April 15, 2009).

             You are the judges in this new event.  But before giving Chicago 2016 your support, we ask you to consider carefully “The Bronzeville Story.”

            * During the past 20 years of Mayor Daley’s administration, the City has already displaced almost 40,000 residents from Bronzeville—nearly 40% of our community’s total population (Source: U.S. Census).

            * During this same time, the City has accumulated a huge stockpile of vacant lots in Bronzeville, taking it from hard-luck homeowners for no ($0) cost.  The City today owns 2,000 properties identified by individual PIN numbers in Bronzeville, representing some 3,000 separate city-owned lots (Source: letter to Housing Bronzeville from Department of Planning, September 3, 2008).

            * Now we find out that the City has instituted 12 TIF districts in Bronzeville.  In 2007 alone, these TIF districts siphoned $28 million in Bronzeville taxpayers money out of paying for services in the City Budget and deposited these monies directly into aldermanic and Mayoral special funds (Source: Cook County Clerk David Orr’s website). 

            * Some 2016 Olympic experts suggest that the TIF moneys—totaling $555 million in just 2007 in the City as a whole—and the Bronzeville vacant lots are really being set aside to pay for the Olympics, rather than support local improvements such as affordable homes for our current residents.

            Remember those twin boasts by the 2016 Spin Masters: “Chicago Taxpayers Won’t Pay a Penny” and “Not One Person Will Be Displaced.”  If you believe them, then give the Ryan, Healey, Daley triumvirate the Gold Medal for “Spinning the Public.”  Add the Silver and Bronze Medals, too.  They will have earned them!

Housing Bronzeville . . .  3424 S. State Street, #102 . . . 312-949-9030
Or visit our website at www.standupforbronzeville.org arriving on July 9th.