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Pritzker says GardaWorld will eat the state’s costs of canceled Brighton Park tent city

Wednesday, Dec 13, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller

* A reporter asked Gov. Pritzker today about what payment arrangements have been made with GardaWorld now that the tent city it was building has been canceled

So, from the state, the understanding with GardaWorld is that they will do other work with us. And they knew as they were building this shelter, before the environmental report came in, that it was possible that the environmental report wouldn’t allow the completion of the shelter.

And so they understood that and they were willing to take that liability on through the state’s contract. I can’t speak to what may have pre-existed or been in place with the city. Meanwhile, they are going to be involved and have been working to help us stand up other shelters. Remember, even the bricks and mortar shelters that already exist need work. And GardaWorld is helping us to complete that work very quickly so we can get people sheltered in the right places.

* Asked what else was happening as far as site building goes

We’ve been working together with the Archdiocese of Chicago. They have a number of buildings that they’ve made available over time. And so we’re continuing to look at the sites. A few of them are better than others. But I want to compliment the Archdiocese and especially the Cardinal because they’ve worked from the very beginning to assist the migrants, the asylum seekers here. There are lots of other organizations that have stepped up, but I just wanted to highlight them today. And I thank the Cardinal and the church for the work that they’re doing. And there are many other faith leaders, let’s be clear, who’ve come together. I think the mayor held a press conference with some of them. We’ve also talked to a number of others and people have stepped up to do the right thing to help out and especially in this holiday season, that’s heartwarming.

* Any announcements imminent?

Not yet, but I promise you that the city will be announcing as those shelter sites are available. I think they’ve stood up one shelter site roughly every eight or nine days during this challenge, and during the mayor’s term. And so I’m sure that there will be others announced.

* More from Isabel…

    * Crain’s | Oak Park helped Chicago house migrants. It can’t take any buses: Although no new buses have arrived in Oak Park since October, the village is currently housing roughly 180 asylum-seekers between its West Cook YMCA, the Carleton Hotel and local churches. Scaman said Oak Park is providing “wraparound services,” including daily meals and some legal support.

    * Block Club | City Paying Well More Than Typical Rent For Migrant Shelter Buildings — And Keeping Details Secret: A picture has emerged through interviews and public records: As the new mayor and his team grew desperate to find housing for the migrants, the emergency offered lucrative opportunities to some city contractors and well-connected property owners, Block Club Chicago found. In the West Loop, Johnson aides ultimately approved deals to convert three former office buildings into migrant housing at a cost to the city of as much as $1.3 million a month, according to information provided by the city.

    * ABC Buffalo | ‘Diversity is the future’: Working to recruit migrants to help restaurant industry staff shortage: “Diversity is the future. I mean we shouldn’t have waited this long to diversify the workplace,” says Kailey Gyorffy, vice president of WNY Chapter NYSRA. “Getting these people that have worked so hard in their countries and they’re completely overlooked by other major corporations in the area and we’d like to offer them an opportunity to show their skills and use their skills.”

    * Seattle Times | A year into crisis, Tukwila church struggles as 500 asylum-seekers face winter: Local and state officials were first notified by the church of the situation in the spring, a few months into people arriving. The state said it has prepared for crowds as large as New York or Chicago, but that hasn’t happened yet, meaning a full emergency response isn’t warranted. Because the crowd that does exist is outside Seattle limits, Seattle-specific agencies say they can’t help. King County has said that it’s mainly Tukwila’s problem, while Tukwila says it can’t solve this problem alone.

       

12 Comments
  1. - TheInvisibleMan - Wednesday, Dec 13, 23 @ 1:20 pm:

    Speaking of eating, I legitimately almost spit out my drink after reading JBs latest tweet.


  2. - Rich Miller - Wednesday, Dec 13, 23 @ 1:36 pm:

    This one?


  3. - Henry Francis - Wednesday, Dec 13, 23 @ 1:39 pm:

    So nice of the Archdiocese to house (in their tax exempt property) refugees this Christmas season.


  4. - DisappointedVoter - Wednesday, Dec 13, 23 @ 2:11 pm:

    The block club piece on the secrecy from the mayors office is a great piece of reporting. IDK what Brandon and team are hiding. Keeping secrets, or attempting to, has never worked in the political world.


  5. - School Guy - Wednesday, Dec 13, 23 @ 2:27 pm:

    Nice to see public/private partnerships come together. And nice to for the governor to acknowledge the commitment of faith leaders and the Archdiocese.


  6. - TheInvisibleMan - Wednesday, Dec 13, 23 @ 2:35 pm:

    Yes. That one.


  7. - LastModDemStanding - Wednesday, Dec 13, 23 @ 2:50 pm:

    I’ve been sounding the alarm here for a bit for the shelter leases in the high priced neighborhoods like West Loop and Gold Coast–kudos to Block Club for digging deeper. Nothing about the lack of transparency or pricing of these lease agreements sounds good.


  8. - SNOWMAN61 - Wednesday, Dec 13, 23 @ 2:52 pm:

    It is my understanding that the migrants must get a work permit before they work and this takes about months. My question, can they work for the vendors like food service/cleaning that are taking care of them at these facilities to provide a sense of pride and help them along the way?


  9. - levivotedforjudy - Wednesday, Dec 13, 23 @ 3:28 pm:

    Once again thank you JB for being my governor (and now it seems like my mayor too).


  10. - Just a guy - Wednesday, Dec 13, 23 @ 4:16 pm:

    That Block Club piece…amazing journalism. Kudos to them for digging deep. As for the fact that “City officials also said they don’t yet have records showing how much they’ve been billed for use of the West Loop properties,” - umm, no. I would love to see you show me a business that lets you move in hundreds of people, have to feed and shelter them, and not provide an invoice. Again, just like all the others, an epic fail by the Brandon Administration.


  11. - Frida's boss - Wednesday, Dec 13, 23 @ 4:27 pm:

    Could’ve started to use Archdiocese in the summer.
    CTU was opposed to Invest in Kids Act so they didn’t want to give the Diocese a win in public opinion.


  12. - um.. - Wednesday, Dec 13, 23 @ 4:52 pm:

    what liability did they eat? the liability of lost protentional revenues from a contract that wont be completed, or is the state not paying for any work already done?


Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.


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