* Fran Spielman…
Mayor Brandon Johnson on Tuesday mounted the legislative equivalent of a goal line stand against the Bears’ quest for the property tax break needed to pave the way for a domed stadium in Arlington Heights.
Johnson questioned why any lawmaker from Chicago would even think about providing a massive tax break for a professional sports team valued at nearly $9 billion, while ignoring the need for what he calls progressive revenue to increase school funding and help working people struggling to make ends meet.
“If we’re asking anyone to tighten the belt, we should look at whose belt is exploding and that’s the ultra-rich. As their bellies get fat and our people are starving, this is not the time to balance the budget off the backs of working people,” the mayor said at his weekly news conference.
“The type of tax structure that they would set up for large corporations and billionaires without a clear pathway to provide certainty as well as equity for everyday working people, I believe that’s a mismatch there. And quite frankly, the infrastructure they’re even discussing in the suburbs — those infrastructure needs have been present on the lakefront for a very long time.” […]
“At a time in which property values are increasing and affordability is becoming that much more of a challenge, to do anything in favor of entities with means without supporting families who have needs — I would find that shortsighted.”
Two years ago, Johnson joined Bears President Kevin Warren in unveiling plans for a domed lakefront stadium adjacent to Soldier Field that would have required $2.4 billion in public support.
The mayor spent a whole lot of political capital on his Soldier Field plan, telling leftie Springfield legislators that his plan to give away billions in state money without talking to the state first was a huge part of his progressive agenda.
And yet here we are.
- Flip Flopper - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:21 pm:
Wait am I reading this right? A few years ago Mayor Johnson proposed taxpayers foot approx $1.5 billion for a stadium to keep them in IL? And now doesn’t want anything to do that?
- Rahm's Parking Meter - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:24 pm:
MBJ - making Lori Lightfoot look good daily.
- George Lincoln - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:25 pm:
@Mayor Brandon Johnson this you? https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/04/26/mayor-brandon-johnson-is-all-in-on-proposed-4-7-billion-bears-stadium-and-thinks-you-should-be-too/
- DS - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:26 pm:
February can’t arrive soon enough.
- Think Again - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:31 pm:
=we should look at whose belt is exploding and that’s the ultra-rich. As their bellies get fat and our people are starving=
Sounds like the language of the old Soviet Union Politburo
- DuPage Saint - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:34 pm:
I guess he has not yet finished reading his copy oh How to Win Friends and Influence People yet
I will say I agree on the infrastructure. Get rid of the lead pipes that is a health hazard
- NIU Grad - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:38 pm:
Jason Lee’s “Charm Offensive” strikes again!
- Three Dimensional Checkers - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:42 pm:
Stop the body shaming Mayor Johnson.
Despite the Mayor’s hot air, this is probably the most newsworthy thing he did today:
https://x.com/byaliceyin/status/2051726511208571089
- Leslie K - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:50 pm:
I wish I could say “unbelievable,” but this is just so on-brand…
- Northsider - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:50 pm:
It’s a bold strategy, Rich. Let’s see if it pays off for him.
- Better Way Bill McKay - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:51 pm:
Fortunately, his stick in the capitol is very very small and his previous stance in favor a ridiculous giveaway to the Bears makes his current position ring more than a bit hollow.
- Overbay - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:54 pm:
“Johnson is still holding out hope to keep the Bears in the city”. By trashing legislators at every turn? By having no viable site to keep them in the city? By ignoring that he is Illinois’ king of taxpayer giveaways to sports teams and pretending he didn’t make the original proposal that kicked off this frenzy in the first place? The Governor and the General Assembly haven’t offered to pay for the construction of a private stadium. Mayor Johnson did.
- Amalia - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 2:55 pm:
he can’t come up with a viable strategy to keep the Bears in Chicago so he’d rather they go to Indiana. well then…
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 3:05 pm:
===approx $1.5 billion for a stadium===
That was only the initial installment.
- Katie - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 3:09 pm:
The dome plan was absolutely ridiculous but Brandon and I are not the only two Chicagoans who have absolutely nothing invested in the Arlington Heights Bears
- Thomas Paine - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 3:13 pm:
Apples and oranges in my view.
Soldier Field is owned by the public.
SpaceX Field will be owned by The Bears.
Concert revenue from Soldier Field goes to the Public.
Concert revenue from SpaceX Field will go to The Bears.
Oranges and Apples.
- Think Again - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 3:30 pm:
=Oranges and Apples=
Not to worry The Chicago Parks Department is planning a $630 mill project to make Soldier Field a revenue generator for year-round concerts
https://www.fox32chicago.com/news/exclusive-chicago-park-district-pitches-630-million-plan-post-bears-soldier-field
- homer - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 3:50 pm:
The Arlington Heights Judas Bears are grubbing for their 30 pieces of silver in return for betraying the city that made them.
- David Agnew - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 3:55 pm:
Does the mayor’s opinion matter to a single legislator? He’s done a pretty terrible job as a whole but his dealings with Springfield have been absolutely atrocious.
- Lee Elia - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 4:18 pm:
Given the White Sox want out of 35th and Shields very soon, the Governor and the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority should have gotten creative and figured out a way to let the Bears build their privately financed domed stadium there- pointed the correct way- so fans could see the beautiful Chicago skyline on game day.
- gemstone - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 4:19 pm:
Did he bring his Springfield “experts” CPZ and John Arena?
- thisjustinagain - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 4:40 pm:
Johnson sinks himself yet again. Commenters saying he’s worse than Lori was aren’t wrong. No wonder his staff gets fired or quits; there’s no helping him.
- 46th_Ward_Moderate - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 7:21 pm:
All I can say re: BJ, Jimmy Stewart he ain’t
ala Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, if that’s lost on you..
- Yorkville Will - Tuesday, May 5, 26 @ 7:23 pm:
Apparently Mayor Johnson is attempting his own version of a Hail Mary.