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* Alexi Giannoulias can’t catch a break. Even when there’s no new news to report on the family bank, somebody just has to go and pop off at the mouth. This time, that “somebody” was House Speaker Michael Madigan…
Asked if the problems at the Giannoulias family-owned Broadway Bank would affect the candidate’s voter support in the Senate race, Madigan replied, “I’m glad I don’t have any deposits there.” […]
Despite the slight jab at the bank’s woes, Madigan noted he’s supporting Giannoulias in the November Senate election against Republican Mark Kirk, a five-term North Shore congressman.
“I’m supporting all the Democratic candidates. (Giannoulias) has been a successful candidate in the past. You’ll recall he won a contested primary when he was elected as the treasurer,” said Madigan, referring to the March 2006 primary election.
* Madigan spoke about Giannoulias to reporters after a hearing on the struggling McCormick Place. During that hearing, the Speaker more than hinted that big changes were on the way…
“We’re not satisfied with the current management at McCormick Place. We think it could be done better. We’re actually looking at a model which would provide that the whole place be privatized. So everything’s on the table.”
More…
“My position is the legislature is not going to move forward with any extension of taxes, any restructuring of debt payments, until we put in place a good, workable business structure,” said Madigan, D-Chicago. […]
Other worthwhile ideas, Madigan said, include drafting a set of exhibitor rights and auditing show contractors to make sure they pass along any cost savings stemming from union concessions.
“Everything is on the table,” he said.
By the way, there’s something important to remember when reading about this back and forth between the unions and the two big trade show contractors…
Contractors throw the blame of high exhibitor costs back on the Chicago unions, whose work rules, they say, can cost an organization $1.6 million in labor here compared to $552,000 in Orlando.
John Gates, chairman of the MPEA, the agency known as McPier that runs McCormick Place and Navy Pier, also called for an overhaul of union work rules, which, among other things, can dictate how many people are needed to complete a task at McCormick Place.
“We cannot allow archaic work rules for 100 to jeopardize jobs of 65,000 people,” Mr. Gates said.
Rosemont’s convention center (which is in the top ten in the nation) uses the same unions with the same work rules as McPier and they have no cost complaints. The difference between McCormick Place and Rosemont is that Rosemont doesn’t use those two big contractors to put on shows. Rosemont is its own contractor.
Also, McPier uses its own electric company to jack up rates for juice and services through the roof. The profits go to pay staff salaries. That pricing situation absolutely must be redesigned.
* Related and a roundup…
* Kirk raises $2.2 million this year in Senate bid
* Mark Kirk adds $2.2M to Senate bid war chest
* Kirk raises $2.2 million for Senate bid
* Kirk to talk about stem cell research
* U.S. Senate candidate Kirk offers economic recovery ideas during expo
* Brady to independent GOP website: Remove my name and photo of naked woman: Since the photo was mentioned on Windycitizen.com and TheCapitolFaxBlog Wednesday afternoon, Swiss has been getting calls from Brady and others but he said he is leaving the photo up.
* Bernard Schoenburg: Blogger’s ‘jackpot’ video stirs Constitution debate
* Farnham, Munson already butting heads
* Illinois’ unpaid bills could top $5.5 billion
* Quinn plays catch-up on clemencies
* Remap debate to have far-reaching consequences
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 1:27 pm
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Kirk is getting press on supporting the president’s stem cell research initiative, jobs and economic recovery, and raising a boat-load of cash. Alexi is getting dinged by Madigan. All is right with the world
Comment by 10th Indy Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 1:52 pm
Hey, at least Alexi’s signs are still up at Mr. Greeks on Halsted.
Comment by Sent from my iPhone Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 2:02 pm
I love when leaders like Madigan, who is as responsible as anyone for the fact that thousands of teachers will soon lose their jobs and who commandeered the state to the horrible fiscal shape it is in, talk about how to improve McCormick Place. Priceless!
Comment by Jim Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 2:15 pm
“I’m glad I don’t have any deposits there.”
Speaker Madigan.
“Revenge is a dish best served cold.”
Don Corleone (in the book, not the movie).
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 2:18 pm
you’ll recall he won a contested primary. WOW. Madigan
is reminding us of the election in which his candidate lost
to Alexi. we all know that he gets his revenge eventually,
the reason is not often so pointedly shown to us.
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 2:29 pm
Rich, great point on Rosemont. The MSM and Reformocrats seem to have bought into the meme that its all the unions fault, but facts like these continue to raise doubts for objective observers.
@Amalia
Um, Jesse White beat the Speaker’s endorsed candidate in 1998, and the Speaker is one of his top allies.
Moreover, Alexi went on to win the Speaker’s 13th Ward handily not just in the 2006 General Election, but in the 2010 U.S. Senate Primary.
This is not a “Revenge of the Machine” Story. In fact, Mike Madigan is probably the most loyal Democrat you’ll ever meet. They guy started walking precincts for Democrats when he was still in the womb.
Comment by Yellow Dog Democrat Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 2:41 pm
Kass throwing out Forrest Claypool’s name as a possible replacement for Alexi.
Comment by Ravenswood Right Winger Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 2:44 pm
RRW, that was just another goofy rant. He’s got quite the imagination.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 2:45 pm
It does trigger the gag reflex to hear how mighty mike wants to fix McPlace after he allowed it to be run into the ground. They have been carrying the booty out under his watch for so long he knows generations of those hacks.
I was especially amused when I read Ochoa’s statement that the preposterously generous benefits, like earned vacation time from previous employers, were so they could attract only the best of the hacks.
All Madigan should do is appoint someone to shut off the lights after the last convention leaves town.
Comment by Phineas J. Whoopee Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 2:46 pm
Freeman and GES ( the two big Mac contractors) have had the best PR for decades on who’s to blame on McCormick Place costs. Most people have never head of them.
But they make a lot of money. Everyone does, or used to, down there. The shows made money, too. In the whole industry, it’s a buyers market now and for the foreseeable future.
Comment by wordslinger63@gmail.com Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 2:47 pm
Something I saw yesterday and cannot now find was how most of McPier’s competitors are also experiencing downturns in business. It’s not unique to Chicago.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 2:48 pm
Rich - I think this is what you are looking for:
**On the other hand, the Chicago Tribune reports that Chicago took a relatively small hit in the weak convention market.
It says convention business in Chicago fell 7 percent last year, compared to a 30 percent drop in Las Vegas and a 21 percent drop in Orlando.**
http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/metro/20100407-unions-mccormick-place
Comment by Willie Stark Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 2:58 pm
Madigan’s picking a time, when he has the muscle, to strike at the weakened, long-time power structure at the Mac Place trough — the Governor and Mayor’s offices (they appoint the boards and tops jobs), unions (especially Bill Hogan and the Teamsters) and the show operators.
Mac Place can’t make it’s nut anymore and is dipping in to the state sales tax for their bonds. The GA has plenty of cover to go in and shake it up.
Throughout the industry, the shows are getting smaller and fewer. The continuing communications revolution makes them less and less relevant.
On top of that, over the last 20 years, convention and meeting space has mushroomed. The Brookings Institution did a pretty good report on that a few years back. Basically, more inventory chasing less business.
Every town from Mayberry to Mt. Pilot has a convention center. Hawaii gives away the space if you’ll fly out there.
Comment by wordslinger63@gmail.com Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 3:12 pm
I agree with YDD, Rich, it is helpful to know how some of the outrageous costs come in to play at McCormick Place. The union members are the faces all the conventioners see but it’s the behind the scenes Chicago shenanigans that are forcing some of these costs up. Easy to bash unions, we see that here sometimes, too.
Comment by dupage dan Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 3:21 pm
Does Speaker Madigan have any bank accounts with over $200K in them at any bank? Is he not aware that deposits are insured up to $200K?
It seems like a dopey attempt to be clever.
Madigan’s a smart guy. If he’s going to attempt to be witty, he should apply more smarts.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 3:48 pm
“I’m glad I don’t have any deposits there.”
Mr. Speaker? Whose money do you think is going to be spent cleaning up Broadway Bank as the Giannoulias family cashes out their millions?
Mr. Speaker, you might not have any deposits there, but you will pay for this mess, just like everyone else.
One thing to be said for Republicans, when they had a banker’s son running for that seat, his family’s bank wasn’t collapsing and under investigation for loans to convicts.
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 4:02 pm
VM, I didn’t notice the Republicans or the Chicago Tribune fretting when Henry Hyde’s S&L failed.
Every director had to plead guilty to criminal misconduct except for Hyde.
And for some reason this didn’t warrant significant coverage.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 4:16 pm
I was glad to see the link on Quinn catching up on clemencies. This mess, like so many others is leftover from Blago. It may not be a big deal to many but to those it affects, it is a big deal. Thanks Governor, for trying to clean up the mess the “celibrity you ain’t” left behind.
Comment by Both Sides Now Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 4:34 pm
VM, I didn’t notice the Republicans or the Chicago Tribune fretting when Henry Hyde’s S&L failed.
Where we going through the Great Recession when it happened? You know, times change and so do voter priorities. What is an important priority during one election isn’t for the next election. That happens. If Henry Hyde’s S&L failed this year - it would be as big a deal as Giannoulais’ problem. Thems the breaks. Pointing out that the Media isn’t giving the same level of coverage between the two, doesn’t mean a thing.
I read about this kind of comparison all the time, and when it is presented, you have to ask yourself why it is a big deal. You don’t just whine about how someone else got away with something similar decades ago.
Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 4:45 pm
===Where we going through the Great Recession when it happened?===
We were going through a steep recession in 1990 when that S&L failed. It lasted so long that GHWB lost a presidential election because of it.
Hyde was on the board of the S&L during the very deep recession of the early 1980s, when some quite hinky decisions were made.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 4:50 pm
I shudder to think who will make kajillions while privatizing a public asset.
Its the cycle of life in Illinois. Make a donation to the right pols and benefit from a lucrative deal. Repeat the donation cycle for new profits.
Comment by Plutocrat03 Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 4:54 pm
I found it interesting that Madigan said “good candidate” and not “will be a good Senator.”
Comment by Its Just Me Thursday, Apr 8, 10 @ 11:45 pm
Watch out McPier unions here comes the train. You will soon find out that there is 178 members of the House under the Dome.
Comment by Obamas' Puppy Friday, Apr 9, 10 @ 9:27 am