Entries associated with the tag "Children's Museum":

The City Council's great debate over the Children Museum is over, and the burning question is this: How did we do with our predictions? 

Overall, not so bad. The council voted 33-16 with one absentee (alderman Carrie Austin) to approve Mayor Daley's proposal to move the Children's Museum into Grant Park over the wishes of local alderman Brendan Reilly and many of his constituents. Mick predicted the vote would go 35-15 for the mayor; Ben, ever the optimist, had it going 31-19. Here's where we blundered.

Second Ward alderman Robert Fioretti: We both predicted he would vote against the mayor, but he wimped out. Some days he's acted like an independent; now he's behaving like one of the boys, albeit slicker and smoother. So what's he angling for?

Third Ward alderman Pat Dowell: Ben picked it--she voted against the mayor. As she called out to Mick before today's vote, "You had me wrong." Glad to hear it.

Fifth Ward alderman Leslie Hairston: Voted against the mayor after we predicted she wouldn't. Obviously she has more guts--or more vocal lakefront constituents--than we thought.

Thirteenth Ward alderman Frank Olivo: He voted with the mayor. Ben: "I thought his boss, Michael Madigan, would make him go to bat for Reilly, Madigan's former legislative aide. Boy, did I misjudge Madigan's loyalty. I wouldn't want to be in a foxhole with him." Mick: "A 'no' vote would have required Olivo to say something other than 'aye.'"

Fifteenth Ward alderman Toni Foulkes: We predicted she would vote against the mayor, but she voted with him. Got to give credit to--gulp--Orion, one of this blog's leading fans/critics. He hit this one right on the head when he wrote, "Ring up another one we have flipped."

Twenty-first Ward alderman Howard Brookins: This was a late-hour flip--trust us. The mayor must have put the squeeze on. And hard.

Twenty-second Ward alderman Rick Munoz: We had him voting against the mayor--in fact, we thought this one was a no-brainer--but he didn't. Is he going the way of Helen Shiller? Does this mean he won't be able to lead the independent caucus anymore?

24th Ward alderman Sharon Denise Dixon: We assumed she traded her vote for the Ogden-Pulaski TIF deals. But she proved us wrong. West side!

26th Ward alderman Billy Ocasio: A resounding 'yes' when we'd both predicted  no. Ben: "I didn't really believe he had the guts to buck the mayor--Mick made me do it, I swear." Mick: "Mayor Daley made Ocasio do it--I swear."

41st Ward alderman Brian Doherty: We predicted he would vote with the mayor, but he rebelled. There must be more opposition to the museum on far northwest side than we realized (which just goes to show you what lackeys alderman Margaret Laurino and Patrick Levar are).

44th Ward alderman Tom Tunney: Ben was right and Mick was wrong--he voted against the mayor. Mick: "To my shock, he stuck up for the lakefront, not the man."

47th Ward alderman Eugene Schulter: Same as Tunney. Mick: "In other words, he caught hell from his ward."

The Trib reports that among those in attendance at the epic Plan Commission meeting Thursday were Children’s Museum "proponents" bused in by the Woodlawn Organization, which is led by plan commission member Leon Finney Jr.

You and I and every other taxpayer in the state helped finance the organizational efforts and transportation costs needed to get the Woodlawn cheerleaders downtown.

Here’s how: the Woodlawn Organization is a tax-exempt, 501c3 nonprofit organization, and according to its most recent filings with the IRS, the vast majority--more than 80 percent--of its annual revenues come from government grants, most of it federal money handed out by the state and city. That amounted to $4.6 million in taxpayer money in 2006, the most recent year available.

In fairness, the organization did bring in a little more cash through "real estate management and development fees." And it raised $69,000 at a "golf gala"—though about $40,000 of that went toward expenses for the event. 

When it’s not busing people to political showdowns the Woodlawn Organization uses its public money on a range of social programs, including Head Start and Chicago Housing Authority services.

Incidentally, Finney was paid $161,989 to run the group in 2006. His wife, Georgette Greenlee-Finney, earned another $60,000 as a marketing specialist.

Also on the payroll was former CHA chief Vincent Lane, who was forced to resign that job amid allegations of mismanagement. He was later convicted [PDF] of fraud and sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison. In 2006 the Woodlawn Organization paid Lane $66,781 for consulting work.

It's funny the things that enrage Mayor Daley.

Aides and city employees indicted or carted off to jail on corruption charges? Hey, stuff happens.

The CTA's breaking down physically and financially? Hey, man, don't bother me, I got to catch a plane to Paris. My buddy Frank did his best.

But one alderman dares to tell the mayor he can't do what he wants? Look out, mama -- Katie bar the door.

Witness how Daley reacted to rookie alderman Brendan Reilly (42nd), who after weeks of community meetings decided to go with the majority of his constituents and oppose the mayor's plans to move the Chicago Children's Museum to Grant Park. Daley laced into Reilly, albeit screwing up his name. He was so riled he misquoted Reilly in his efforts to tarnish him. Reilly and his constituents, he insisted, were child-hating bigots whose opposition imperiled the future of the entire city. His face got red. His hair fell across his forehead. He snarled. He sneered. He threatened.

It was a vintage Daley temper tantrum. People at City Hall tell me he throws them all the time. It seems to be an effective tactic: most aldermen fall in line. To cite just one example, the council voted 35-5 for Daley's grand scheme to bring the 2016 Olympics to town, despite knowing full well we can't afford them. They figured the city wasn't going to get the games anyway, so why piss off the mayor with a "no" vote? And if the International Olympic Committee were to award the games to Chicago? Well, that's a risk the aldermen were willing to take. Better to risk public bankruptcy than the mayor's wrath.

In his tirade against Reilly, Daley said he was standing up for Chicago's children. "I hope you understand what this fight is all about," he said.

Who's he trying to kid? This fight is not about children -- it's about patronage, and it's about power. The mayor has both in spades, and he wants to keep them, particularly with his Olympic dreams on the line. As story after story points out, one of the biggest things Chicago has going for it in the eyes of the IOC is the notion that Daley's an all-powerful mayor (a benign tyrant, if you will) who can get whatever he wants. Want to shut down Washington, Jackson and Douglas parks for months, maybe years? Want to divert millions, if not billions, of property taxes from the cash-starved schools? Want to soak the taxpayers for billions in order to throw a three-week party? Mayor Daley can get it done. No one dares cross him.

Except, it turns out, Reilly. I didn't think he had this kind of guts when he was running for office in February, but he's shown signs of it before. I can only hope his council colleagues aren't afraid to emulate him.