The following comes from Celeste Meiffren, field director for Illinois PIRG.
Mayor Emanuel unveiled a plan to transform Chicago’s infrastructure
and create 30,000 jobs over the next three years. Updating our public
transit system, making buildings more energy-efficient, and the other
projects to improve schools and parks are worthwhile ideas, but the
devil is in the details.
The Mayor has not been entirely
forthcoming about how exactly the “Building a New Chicago” program will
be financed. He claims that it will be a mixture of private dollars
through the new Infrastructure Trust, savings and user fees. But until
we know exactly where the money is coming from, how it will impact our
pocketbooks, and who is benefiting, Chicagoans will rightfully remain
skeptical.
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