This morning I found out (much like everyone else) that Chicago did not get the Olympics and I was EXTREMELY happy.
Much like Neo, we dodged a bullet on this one.
Approaching the Olympic decision, there were two categories; those who wanted the Olympics, and those who did not. There was no in between.
Those who wanted the Olympics argued that the Olympics would bring in new infrastructure, money and international appeal (putting Chicago on the world map).
Those who did not want the Olympics argued that our focus and money should be invested elsewhere (public schools, public transportation, police, etc, etc) and also argued that taxpayers will eventually have to pay for these games (even though the Mayor said they wouldn't...and when have politicians ever lied to us?).
Chicago faces many more important issues financially. The Olympics would have taken our focus off of what truly matters in our great city; like education, public transportation and law enforcement.
For example:
-As of March, 2009, the Chicago Public School's (CPS) had a $475 million deficit (which has been called the biggest in history). And that stimulus from the Government is only covering $50 million. This deficit has caused more staff and faculty cuts (i.e. teachers) and even higher property taxes (from home/business owners) to fill that void. These are our children we're talking about here. OUR CHILDREN! What's more important than focusing your time, energy and money in the children of your city? Absolutely NOTHING!
-The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is $87 million dollars in the red. That deficit includes sales-tax revenue ($42 million), the Real Estate Transfer Tax ($33 million) and discretionary funding ($12 million). Since I have lived in Chicago, there has been two (2) "Doomsday" experiences when routes/services were cancelled. The CTA continues to struggle with this deficit and must look towards the state for additional money just to keep it on life support.
-The Chicago Police Department hasn't had a contract or wage increase in 5 years. 5 YEARS! This is YOUR POLICE that enforce THE LAW and protect you from CRIME! Think about this: If you're a Chicago Police Officer, it is a requirement for you to live in the city. And if you own a home and pay rising property taxes, you have to deal with NOT receiving a wage increase for 5 YEARS to compensate for these rising taxes. PLUS - I can't even remember when the police academy was open. Can you?
All of these are valuable points that we need to focus on for making Chicago better.
For those of you that do not think that the Olympics would've gone over budget, consider the following:
-Vancouver will be in debt for the next 55 years because they are currently 500-600 million dollars over budget for their 2010 Olympic games.
-The 2012 Olympics in London is 9 BILLION euros OVER budget (that's the equivalent to 13 BILLION DOLLARS). Imagine that...13 BILLION DOLLARS!
If Chicago would've gotten the Olympics, it wouldn't have been "If" Chicago was over budget, it would've been a matter of "How much".
So thank you IOC for doing your homework and calling out Chicago for what it is...a city that is financially in the red and one that struggles to improve its quality of life.
Listen, I am a Chicagoan and I LOVE this city and I will continue to love this city. No longer do we have to be satisfied with the way business is conducted in our city. We need to use this opportunity as motivation to believe in something better for Chicago.
And when we believe something better for our city and invest more efforts to improve our quality of life, we won't have to dodge bullets of budget crises in education, transportation and law enforcement...
...because we'll stop them.
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