43 Comments - Its Just Me - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 9:53 am: When Daley said that 80% of the city’s parking meters were in the loop and that the average citizen wouldn’t care, it was proof to me just how out of touch the mayor is. In reality, the Tribune noted that 80% of the city’s parking meters are in the neighborhoods. - Objective Dem - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:12 am: I actually like what is happening with the meters. It was always impossible to find a metered space because too many people parked in them and then pumped them with quarters all day long. Chicago didn’t require cars to move every couple of hours as is common in smaller towns. Now the spaces are open. If I go out to dinner, it costs me about $1 or $2. That is a lot cheaper than valet or parking lot. The primary group who is getting slammed are the people who were abusing the meters. My sense is many were employees of offices/stores/restaurants who parked in front of their business rather than parking a few blocks away or taking mass transit. The businesses may actually see more customers now that it is easier to find parking. - anon50 - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:12 am: Bill Daley needs to do something else to save face because he won’t win if he ran for US Senator. People are fed up with this stuff. It seems like nothing ever changes in the political system in DC, Illinois or most places in the country because these people just keep recycling to new positions. It’s just one bib country club. If Patrick Fitzgerald can go after the Governor for hiring practices plus all the other in fractions, it’s time for Fitzgerald take a hard look at Mayor Daley. It is no way that Sanchez did anything without the permission of the King. This continues to happen so it’s time that people stop and take a look at the King. Something is definitely wrong and has been wrong for a long time. - Amy - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:20 am: the trouble with the yuppie parking revolt is that it makes it seem that there is a bigger revolt so government has to pay attetion. i agree that it is probably people who work and park in front of their workplace who are unhappy. I’ve seen these folks in action too often replugging the meter. and I too am happy to drive somewhere and park easily for a short period of time rather than pay a parking garage. also, apparently some parking garages are lowering their prices since more people seem to be taking public transit. so, if the early bird price to pay in the loop is $14, you go early and don’t pay the meter. - Chicago Guy - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:24 am: = High taxes, high fees, unresponsive, bloated and corrupt government are all combining into a toxic political brew.= 100% correct Rich. Your typical taxpaying citizen has to be clobbered over the head multiple times to finally wake up, but I think its happening. The ward heelers (Madigan, Daley, et al) have rolled the Democratic Machine over the backs of citizens for so long–and so abusively–that its finally catching up. Of course, it took a near-depression, massive scandals, and a tax revolt to bring it all to a head. But it doesn’t necessarily mean anything is going to change. You can’t beat somebody with nobody and the pool of competent “reform” candidates for ‘10 and ‘11 is rather lean in this state and city. - carbon deforestation - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:26 am: I am with objective Dem. I think that the new prices reflect reality. I park downtown a few times a month, the new meter prices still beat garage prices for those of us who need parking by the hour. So instead of driving from Lincoln Park downtown for work, some people may now have to take the bus . . .wahhhh! - Nort'sider - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:28 am: Anon50 @ 10:12: If history is a guide, Fitz is most definitely looking at Mayor Daley, and doing so in the classic style — start with the small fry and work your way up the chain of command. As for this city’s and county’s toxic political brew, let’s compare it to a volcano everyone thinks is dormant. But below the surface, gas and magma build up over time. And up. And up. Then you get Krakatoa, Tambora, Toba, Vesuvius, Pinatubo, St. Helens, Yellowstone, etc. The warnings are there for everyone to see. The eruption is coming, even in Chicago and Cook County. - HANK - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:30 am: No comparison to 1979 Bilandic was not liked and did not have the grip on the city like Daley does. Bilandic was also lied to about snow removal efforts by his ward bosses who also hated him so every night he was on TV telling people that the media was making up stories. I remember coming home after a 2 to 3 hour trip each night and seeing his dour puss on the news telling me that I had imagined the crawl home. I wanted to reach through the TV but used the ballot instead. Daley will be punished for his arrogance in the next election but the punishment will be that he only receives 70% of the vote instead of his normal 80% of the 30% of registered voters who even bother to vote. Chicago voters are scared to death about the unknown without Daley. The common refrain is always “Chicago will be another Detroit” I no longer live in Chicago but work there and live close enough to be affected by his majesty’s whims. - Ravenswood Right Winger - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:32 am: maybe a voter revolt is coming, but it will be up to the GOP, Libertarians, Green, whoever, to provide not just an attractive, alternative candidate, but to clearly define what they would do differently. I am looking at you, Lee Roupas. - Lincoln Parker - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:36 am: I agree with Objective Dem, the rate hike really isn’t that bad, and it opens up spots that were being abused. I don’t mind paying a little more for a good spot. The problem though is with the implementation, having a ton of quarters is a pain in the butt, and with a lot of the meters broken or functioning incorrectly, it is very frustrating. Not to mention the fact the ones that do work are getting fuller faster, and thus prone to errors. If they had figured out proper implementation before they raised the rates, I don’t think it would be as big of a problem. - Honest Abe - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:47 am: One interesting, if somewhat overlooked, development in the parking meter fiasco is that meters are suddenly appearing in many outlying areas of the city on arterial streets where no meters ever installed before. Some of the meters are old and rusty and look as if they were salvaged and put back into service recently. This type of thing is going to fuel more voter outrage as previously free parking spaces are now subject to parking meters and tickets. - VanillaMan - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:48 am: I think the crux is, “But do you think it will make any difference?” Or, similarly, “How bad can Chicago government get before Chicagoans do something?” Considering the fact that we have a president from Chicago who claims to be an agent of change, Chicago has never changed. Theoretically it can, but in practice Chicago has had the same type of government over the past 80 years with the same party in control. I can’t even imagine Chicagoans taking a stand and removing the Apparatchik in power. But then I couldn’t have imagined GM, GE or IBM going bust either. The problem for Chicagoans is that it has been a one-party government for so long, there isn’t any other party capable of taking over if Chicagoans did finally demand an overhaul. They know this, and this is one of the reasons they continue with one of the worst and most expensive city and county governments in the US. After King Richard I died in 1976, the city was plunged into chaos for a decade. It was good chaos, but unwelcomed to the Cook County Democrats. It should have been an opportunity for Chicagoans to finally end their industrial 20th Century past and spring into the future. Unfortunately, after Washington died, the opportunity to elect another Daley arose and the Cook County Democrats grabbed at the chance to resurrect and prolong the 20th Century, ending that golden opportunity. As expected, the Chicago-way is now DOA. Instead of rising to global prominence thanks to it’s close personal connections to new Eastern European markets and it’s strong foundation and continetal location, Chicago has slid from a national city to a regional one. It’s major real estate and it’s banking is no longer controlled by Chicagoans. It’s economy is now dominant over the Upper Midwestern US States, instead of the Central US. It’s government is to blame. Chicago’s refusal to reform has undermined it’s future. The City can no longer educate, provide public safety, balance it’s budget, or attract businesses as it one had. Chicago is no longer the transportation hub of the United States for the first time in it’s history. It is now just another transcontinetal stop. But all of this has still not budged it from it’s security blankets. There is still too much unknown out there for it’s citizenry to chance a political revolution. With Obama in the White House and promises to live off of government largess to dream about, Chicago will continue to slide. While it would be nice to see a parking meter revolution, Chicagoans seem to prefer mediocrity and slow decay to revolution. - Levois - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:51 am: Heh, I don’t see Daley getting un-elected in two years time. Things like this would have to keep happening for re-election to become uncertain for Daley. Even then who might be the next viable challenger. - anon50 - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:53 am: Thank you Nort’sider@ 10:28. That’s a really great analogy. I’m hanging in there because I definitely think you’re right! - anon III - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:57 am: Chicago Guy: “You can’t beat somebody with nobody” is right. There is a lot of talent out there that would run, but when the organization candidate can put 100 city & county workers on the street to go door to door on a Saturday morning, not even Jimmy Stuart could get elected. As long as jobs = precinct workers, and there is political hiring, Chicago is going to be monarchy. In addition to campaign finance reform, districting reform, and pension reform, we need civil service reform and a Hatch Act for Illinois prohibiting public employees from engaging in partisan political management and partisan political campaigns. I’m sure our legislators think about this in Springfield; then they take two aspirin and go to sleep. - Greg - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:59 am: From a revenue perspective, unfilled spots don’t indicate non-maximized revenue. But the reverse is true: always-full parking strongly suggests underpricing. I don’t know why one would see a “revolt” evidenced by unfilled spots…obviously the more you underprice a good, the more it will be consumed. But I guess many people want government pursuing goals other than revenue maximization from parking. - Nort'sider - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 11:00 am: HANK, You’re right in that the situation today is different from Mayor Bilandic in 1979, but while the cause is different, I think the anger is similar. The mayor is lying about different events, but he’s still lying about things voters can clearly see and comprehend. And we voters are as much to blame for this mess as the politicians; perhaps more so, since we let them get away with it. Thanks to L’Affaires Ryan and Blago, the ineptitude of Baby Stroger, and the tireless, much appreciated work of our U.S. attorney, maybe that’s changing, too. If someone viable emerges to run against Mayor Daley in 2011 — and that’s a mighty big “if” — I could see voters opting for him or her. Neither political has-beens or never-will-bes, nor 400-lb. preachers in shiny suits, will unseat Daley, even if Fitz is closing in on Da Fit’floor. As for the fear of a non-Daley mayor: Chicago will never be like Detroit because, as auto-dependent as we are, we maintained our transit system, downtown core, cultural life, public spaces, and — credit where credit is due — Daley did a lot early in his reign to retain a strong middle class within the city and strengthen the city’s urbanism. So did Harold Washington, who did so while facing into the teeth of a shameful racist s–tstorm (some of us remember this, Ed Burke). Like I said earlier, the eruption is coming. Even here. - Anonymous45 - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 11:08 am: Vanilla Man: Chicago is not a regional or national city, it is an international city…I don’t see foreigners flocking to Minneapolis or Indianapolis to take in the sights or cultural amenities…Chicago government will not change until Fitgerald is done marching up the food chain to the 5th floor of City Hall, and Todd Stroger is replaced at the County Board…I’m not holding my breath… - wordslinger - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 11:09 am: Marin should know better. Parking meters are nothing, and I mean nothing, compared to the fiasco of the winter of 79. The city shut down. Bilandic was on TV night after night saying everything was hunkey-dorey. It was surreal. Plus, the busses couldn’t run and he closed down 14 el stops on the South and West Sides. Guess who put Byrne over the top? I like the new parking meter rates. Now, you don’t have squatters mooching them all day. If you want to eat or shop for an hour, you can find a spot and not be soaked by a garage. There are plenty of reasons for a citizen’s revolt in Chicago, but parking meters aren’t one. - Objective Dem - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 11:22 am: I also don’t see a backlash related to the patronage hiring scandal. My sense is the average person assumes this is how it works everywhere in government (even if it doesn’t). There haven’t been major outrages like Todd Stroger installing his friends and relatives in high offices. In the city’s case it was largely latinos getting blue-collar jobs, which likely would have happened due to the changing demographics of the city. The only “outrageous” case was the truck driver who ran into the co-worker. While bad, it doesn’t approach the tragedy of the Willis children. - Hank - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 11:35 am: I agree that Chicago will not become another Detroit but it’s a handy boogyman for many of the masses who may be getting tired of Daley’s tricks.The city related blogs are full refernces to Detroit and consequences that come with it. It’s all code and it works. Just like all those life long dems in 1983 who were raised to never utter the dreaded “R” word convinced themselves that it was for the future of Chicago to pull the republican lever and vote for Bernie (before it’s too late) Epton - HoBoSkillet - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 11:46 am: Nice analogy for the situation Nort’sider. I particularly enjoyed the vandalism done to the Krakatoa entry. - wordslinger - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 11:47 am: VMan, Chicago’s not an international, national or even regional city? Give me a break. Never let facts or reality get in the way of bias. In 2005, the Chicago metro GDP was $460 billion, the fourth highest in the world behind only Tokyo, New York and LA. It was tied with Paris, and just ahead of London. Gee, those are international cities, arent’ they? http://www.citymayors.com/statistics/richest-cities-2005.html Chicago will not be Detroit. That’s absurd. Chicago’s diverse economy mirrors that of the United States. When the United States is in recession, so is Chicago. In 1950, Detroit’s high water mark, 50% of the automobiles produced in the world were made within the Detroit city limits — not Michigan, just Detroit. The city was a one-trick pony, and had nowhere to go but down. - Pot calling kettle - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 11:48 am: The private company will find the market rate for street parking. If no one is willing to pay, they will lower the charge. When they find the right price, there should be a space or two open every block. As was stated above, if all the spaces are full all the time, the price is too low. - The Doc - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 12:09 pm: ==But I guess many people want government pursuing goals other than revenue maximization from parking.== Greg, I would agree if not for Daley leasing the meters for a 75-year period for pennies on the dollar. In addition, the first rate of increase was likely too steep, especially after 20-odd years of static meter rates. And there are more substantial increases to come over the next several years. If you’re truly interested in determining the diminishing return rate for Chicago street parking, the city would not have turned over operations to a private entity, and would have increased rates more incrementally. But that’s a political hot potato for both City Hall and lapdog aldermen, and would not have provided Daley with a lump sum cash payment to keep the Machine well-oiled in lean economic times. - Nort'sider - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 12:15 pm: HoBoSkillet @ 11:46: Thanks, but “vandalism”? - HoBoSkillet - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 12:38 pm: Nort’sider - Earlier today someone had vandalized the Wikipedia article on Krakatoa. It appears that the article has been fixed, with the exception that Indonesia is referred to as a “wafer biscuit” underneath the geographical subheading. Anyway, the vandalized article gave me a chuckle, especially considering your analogy between Chicago and supervolcanoes. - Captain America - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 12:40 pm: I retreat to my perennial characterization of Czar Daley as politically and adminstratively competent, but also adminstratively corrupt in terms of contracts and jobs. No question that Chicago is a tough place to govern. Hardball politics is probably required to govern effectively. Also I believe that any political executive should be able to fill higher level administrative positions with people who support their policies and are motivated to execute those policies effectively. Personally, I don’t think Shakman and Rutan establish enough exempt positions for any political executive in Illinois to fill. Despite my advocacy of more higher leval patronage postions, I’m certainly not suggesting that there should be wholesale hiring and firing of civil servants. The challenge is to strike some balance between political and merit hiring, and to also insist that political hires be qualified in terms of meeting basic standards of education,experience and character. - Nort'sider - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 12:51 pm: HoBoSkillet @ 12:38: Wow, that must have happened and been corrected between my first post and when I went to see what you were talking about. If only we could fix things around here (not THAT way) as quickly. - Don't Worry, Be Happy - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 1:06 pm: It’s not just the increased rates, but also increased hours. Meters that I used to be able to park at after 6:00 pm or on Sundays are now in force until 9:00 pm, seven days a week. Also, I haven’t seen anyone talking/writing about this, but it’s been my observation that the enforcement of parking meters has also gone way up. I think a lot more tickets are being written right now, and I think that’s adding to the anger. - Obamarama - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 1:17 pm: Carol Marin says in her article that a quarter buys seven minutes of time. She then explains that two hours of parking would require 28 quarters… 120 min in 2 hours and 7 min per quarter: 120/7 = 17.14 quarters. Is 17.14 the new 28? - jerry 101 - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 2:14 pm: I’m not bothered by the increased parking meter rates…heck, I rarely bother with a metered space because they’re so danged impossible to find. I am bothered by the decision to turn over parking to a private company, and I applaud the vandals. The City should have doubled the meter rates in highly congested areas and times. Parking spaces would still be filled and we’d get a big bump in revenue. Higher rates lead to more churn as well, which benefits businesses because people aren’t clogging parking spaces for the entire day while they’re at work. Instead, actual potential customers park for an hour or two, do what they need to do, and possibly buy something. Low congested areas/times should have free parking in order to entice people to come out. - babs - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 3:34 pm: I’m thrilled to find parking when I go shopping. Sure, I stopped at the bank to get a roll of quarters to keep in the car - but that’s way cheaper than a lot or valet. And, I can actually find parking now. I have only run into 1 meter that wasn’t working. Keep hearing about more but haven’t seen it myself. Obamarama - first quarter = either 7 or 8 minutes and the second quarter is the other. Giving you 15 minutes for 50 cents and $2 per hour. Still a deal. - VanillaMan - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 4:34 pm: Vanilla Man: Chicago is not a regional or national city, it is an international city…I don’t see foreigners flocking to Minneapolis or Indianapolis to take in the sights or cultural amenities Using that standard, Venice Italy and Machu Picchu Peru would also qualify. Chicago will not be Detroit. I didn’t say it would be. That must be what you are assuming I am suggesting. Four of the five largest employers in Chicago are taxpayer-based, and are not tax generators. The City’s largest banks are not owned by Chicagoans. The City’s largest real estate owners do not live in Chicago. While you are touting valid economic measurements, you have failed to take into consideration how Chicago became Chicago and the fact that it has lost those particular attributes without gaining new ones. Chicago is living off of it’s seed corn, fighting against the latest business models and focused simply on deciding which interest group gets a larger piece of a shrinking pie. Chicago is no longer home to growing families as it was during most of it’s history. Families are the future of a city, it’s foundation. Without safe neighborhoods, functioning public schools and the some of the highest taxes in the US, families are not attracted to Chicago as they were as recently as 20 years ago. Mayor Daley touts Chicago as another San Francisco or another Pittsburg. They are not global cities either, regardless of how beloved they are with tourists. Look at the Federal Reserve Reports. They consider Chicago a “regional city” today, not a “national” one. According to the Board, Chicago’s economic base is now regionally focused, when in the past it was national. This occurred over the past twenty years, according to the Board. Chicago has been in a coma politically for a lifetime. A subconscience decision was reached in 1989 with King Richard II’s ascension that Chicago was going to focus on aging gracefully in retirement after 100 years of economic boom times. Instead of hustling, it would saunder. Instead of being the city of “broad shoulders”, in Sandburg’s memorably accurate image, Chicago would be the city of confident ambivalence. Chicago needs a very hard kick in the pants, an entire cleanout of City Hall, a complete replacement of the Democrats rotting in power and priviledge, and a revolution. It may already be too late. - Obamarama - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 4:44 pm: Babs: Thanks for clarifying. That make’s Marin’s math even more off. - Obamarama - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 4:49 pm: My mistake, I didn’t know there were loop meters at a $3.50/hr rate. - south sider - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 5:44 pm: Bill Daley marrying Bernie? Is he gay? What happened to his family in Sauganish? - Independent - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 6:08 pm: I thought Daley was a good mayor for about the first eight years. He took some stagnant bureaucracies by the throat and shook them up. He made the bold move of taking over a school system that was a national laughingstock, a very risky move. Even if it ultimately does not work I appreciate him taking that risk. Then something changed. Having 95% of the power was not enough — he wanted 100%. He always made sure his friends were well fed, but by the mid-late 90s he ratcheted up his jobs and contracts for friends machine to ridiculous proportions. Scandal after scandal marred his administration and Daley shifted into full-on CYA mode. His hard core supporters say so what, he’s still a great manager. But that myth has been exploded through years of scandals about which he claims to have known nothing, neglect of the CTA and lack of a decent recycling program, massively over budget and poorly planned projects, and his selling off the city piece by piece. This sell off will provide him with money to keep his friends and family happy now but will leave future mayors hamstrung. Some of his supporters say without him Chicago will become Detroit, Gary, or Cleveland. We all know what is code for. It still is enough to scare many into continuing to vote for Daley. - Lynn S - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 7:02 pm: Objective Dem, that truckdriver who ran over who co-worker admitted on the stand at Sanchez’s trial that she had no CDL or experience driving commercially before she filled out her job application at an HDO event held in a biker bar. The co-worker died a few years after the accident from complications caused by her injuries, and the truck driver tried to say it was not her fault because the co-worker was “too fat”. In your mind, this may not rise to the level of the 6 Willis children (and believe me, I think George Ryan should be in the electric chair for the deaths of those 6 innocent babies), but it was a needless, senseless death caused by political corruption. I’m waiting with bated breath to see whom Fitzy goes after next in the Daley Administration. - Quizzical - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 7:30 pm: This does bother me. The other day I shopped a little bit in my North side neighborhood for dinner makings. I stopped at three different stores. Each stop had 25 cent/15 minute meters. I didn’t have enough quarters on hand, so I spent much of that time worried about getting a ticket. The hassle of keeping that may quarters on hand has me thinking about heading to the burbs the next time. I’m also pretty convinced that we did not get a fair price for the asset. If there’s a good candidate other than Daley in the next election, that’s who I’m voting for. - The Fox - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 9:03 pm: I’m getting bored with Marin and Kass gloating over the Sanchez conviction. They are too old to have been born yesterday but how the hell do they think Fitzgerald got his job in the justice department. You might want to ask federal judges if they discussed or aided people who helped make their appointments possible. Get a life. - Bobs yer - Wednesday, Mar 25, 09 @ 10:07 pm: This parking meter thing will die down, and everyone will talk about the pretty flowers on Madison Street again. But Chicago won’t change, ever. The only way to get good government is to limit its resources, then demand that it spend on the priorities. But that doesn’t happen here. Chicago has an (approximate) $1.5BB slush fund, or to put it in Daley’s jargon “rainy day fund”. The money came from the sale of public assets to private entities. With all the “11 BB, no 12 BB” deficit argument, have you heard any state leader (all Chicago Dems) suggest reducing payments to the city because they can use the ‘rainy day fund’. No, and you won’t. Keep electing the Alexi’s and the Lisa’s and the Hyne’s, folks. Illinois insanity. - Marianne North - Thursday, Mar 26, 09 @ 8:40 am: Read the comments at www.expiredmeter.com (or blogspot.com). There’s a tremendous amount of anger at Daley and the Democratic Party. Where is this anger coming from: Stroger, the 10% sales tax, Blago, the recession and now Daley. If they don’t get it, they’ll never will. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.