Disclaimer: Anyone who navigates this blog will easily discover that I have an intense dislike for Rahm, such as is normally reserved for traitors, so keep that in mind while reading the following.
Guiding Principle: You can tell an awful lot about a leader from the little things he does, the kind of things that don’t usually call attention to themselves – not even on a slow news day.
So what? It’s only a library
You’d have to try awfully hard to find a more non-descript, unimposing little building than the Albany Park Library, a single-story structure on the corner of Kimball and Foster Avenues in Chicago. Albany Park is the name of one of 77 community areas in Chicago, situated on the far North side. Anyone familiar with Chicago politics understands the value of being so situated; a substantial value indeed when compared to perennially impoverished neighborhoods situated on the south and west sides.
I believe the fate of this library will prove to be a useful indicator of what kind of president Rahm Emanuel would be. [Make no mistake about this: He very much wants that job.]
In a nut shell? Rahm has approved the use of money meant to combat urban decay in order to tear down a perfectly good library and build another in the exact same spot. Of course, the Illinois judiciary being what it is, Rahm will never be brought up on charges of violating the TIF law (more on that, later). This is from the official City of Chicago website:
http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/mayor/press_room/press_releases/2011/november_2011/chicago_city_councilpassesmeasurestosupportcommunitiesacrossthec.html
The Albany Park branch library at 5150 N. Kimball Ave. will be replaced by a new structure that's twice its size through $15 million in TIF assistance.
The new 16,000-square-foot facility will rise on the site of the current library, which dates to 1963.
Being planned by the Public Building Commission, the new library will create eight full-time positions and 35 temporary construction jobs. Work could start in spring 2013.
:UNQUOTE.
Chicago, even in the Albany Park neighborhood, has many needs. But replacing this library is not anywhere near the highest priority. Here I’d like to quote from an article that appeared in the August 1, 2012 Chicago Tribune newspaper; the article is entitled: “City debt payments set to spike next year.” Here’s a link, followed by the material I’m quoting, into which I’ve inserted my yellowed highlights and bracketed comments:
QUOTE:
City of Chicago debt payments are expected to soar by $278 million next year to the record level of $1.55 billion, stated a city financial analysis released Tuesday by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. [I am so distrustful of Rahm, that I call into question the accuracy of this analysis. It is written: “Figures don’t lie. But it is also written, “Sometimes, liars ‘figure.’”]
As a result, about $1 of every $4 the city will spend in 2013 could go to paying off long-term debt, complicating the city’s already strained financial situation. [Tell me, does $1 of every $4 in your personal budget go for such payments?]
This year, the analysis shows a projected budget shortfall of $369 million, half of what it once was expected to be. [It might be tempting to credit Rahm with this reduction, but perhaps it would be more accurate to conclude that Rahm did nothing more than take long-overdue measures which long-term Mayor Daley didn’t.] But it’s still a big hole that will force the city to find ways to spend less, bring in more money or both. Part of the expected gap results from higher pension and debt costs, the analysis states. Paying those costs diverts money from being used for day-to-day city operations.
The debt problem began to grow a decade ago, under former Mayor Richard Daley [perhaps because he had for so long been neglectful of Chicago’s overall social and economic health]. Overall city long-term debt has nearly doubled during the past 10 years as the city borrowed money to expand O’Hare International Airport, upgrade its sewer and water systems, fix streets and build new libraries [hopefully, where they were needed] and police stations.
More than $1 billion also was borrowed to pay retroactive police and fire raises and cover legal judgments against the city. [Say, what?! $1 billion? Shouldn’t there be some kind of law against borrowing for pay raises? You may be very sure, though, that Rahm Emanuel would never propose such a law.] Payments are expected to surge in 2013 because of the way the debt is structured.
Pension costs, meanwhile, are a financial time bomb set to go off in 2015, when a state law requires the city to step up its payments to the funds for police officers and firefighters, the analysis states. [2015, you say? At that point, Rahm can claim to be too busy campaigning for the presidency and will leave that in “the capable hands of my successor.” Yeah, right!]
:UNQUOTE.
A bit of background: What is a TIF?
TIF stands for “Tax Increment Financing,” which this next quote defines, and which includes my bracketed comments and yellowed highlights:
QUOTE:
The city [Chicago] began using TIF in 1984, after state lawmakers authorized the financing technique to help cities spur development in blighted or declining areas. Once the city designates an area as a TIF district, the amount of property taxes that the city, county, schools and other local governments can collect from it is frozen for 23 years. [That means, for instance, that such increases in tax revenue wouldn’t be available to help the Chicago Public School system but would, instead, be diverted into a TIF account, forcing CPS to find alternative sources for operational funding.] Any new tax revenue generated from rising property values — the tax increment — is collected by the city and must be spent within the district or in a bordering one. [And in Chicago, the Mayor has decisive say in how TIF dollars are spent.]
The intent is to use these pots of money to lure investment from private real estate investors [And we “lure investment” by knocking down one library to replace it with another on the exact same spot?] by fixing infrastructure, acquiring properties for developers or subsidizing them directly. As the developers build or renovate offices, homes and factories, property values presumably rise, leading to incremental increases in property tax revenues.
:UNQUOTE.
Basically, the underlying idea of a TIF is to fight urban blight by helping support the local economy. Specifically, it was intended to help the poorest of the poor among our communities, which would not include Albany Park. More specifically, it wasn’t intended to be used so that a mayoral ally (local alderman Margaret Laurino) could look good during the next election by having a new building constructed for (in essence) her benefit.
Which it would, since many of the locals would see a new building being constructed as a sign of the influence of their alderman.
Rahm Emanuel as President
Moreover, I don’t think Rahm Emanuel has the temperament for policymaking that aims for long-term impact. And I suppose that’s just as well, at least as far as his personal plan is concerned – which (again) is to run for the US presidency in 2016. Rahm knows that he can’t afford to be Chicago’s mayor for another term, since too many chickens will have had time to come home to roost. He can boast now about having made some reforms, since that’s relatively easy in terms of simply reigning in the bad practices of his mayoral predecessors.
But with too much time at the helm, pundits will begin to notice that Rahm will start to run out of rabbits to pull out of the hat. And that could lead to them concluding: “What’s wrong in Chicago is Rahm Emanuel’s fault.” That’s a definite drawback to being in charge for too long, especially over an enterprise as hopeless as Chicago will turn out to be without the benefit of a long-term vision.
Rahm Emanuel will prove himself to be a leader satisfied with the appearances of short-term gain (enough to fool the voters), while ignoring long-term solutions. But doesn’t that describe the mindset of our voters when they cast ballots in a national election? If so, then those voters and such “leaders” as Rahm Emanuel would be a perfect match.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Steven Searle for US President in 2012
Founder of The Independent Contractors’ Party
“I hope that, somehow, we can manage to stave off the disaster that would most surely result from a President Rahm Emanuel.”
Contact me at bpa_cinc@yahoo.com
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