Olympic-sized TIF Orgy

This is at once astounding and sadly typical, shocking but not surprising. Get ready, Chicago, to bend over and just take it however the City Council wants to give it to ya. From Clout Street, this afternoon, this report on "action" in the council: Without a single word of debate, aldermen today voted to use new property tax revenue for Chicago's 2016 Olympic bid and guaranteed the city would cover the expense of additional police patrols, street cleaning and other services for the Summer Games. (By the way, where was Alderman Joe Moore? He was recently voted "Most Valuable Local Official" by The Nation magazine. One of the reasons they gave him that meaningless award was his courageous ability to stand up to Mayor Daley. "Without a single word" means that NOBODY said "boo!" to Mayor Adolf Daley, including Alderman "Benito" Moore.) The measure commits the city to using an unspecified amount of tax-increment financing dollars to subsidize infrastructure improvements at the Near South Side site of what would be the Olympic Village. It also reaffirms a $500 million promise to cover any operating deficit for the event. FULL STORY... Subscribe to Chicago News Bench