Progress Illinois

In case you missed it, late Friday night the Tribune published its first citywide survey of Chicago Mayor Richard Daley's approval rating in more than four years.  The poll indicated that only 37 percent of city residents approve of the job he's doing (as compared to 56 percent in their February 2006 survey) and only 31 percent want to see him reelected (including only 22 percent of black voters). But for Progress Illinois readers, this shouldn't be a big surprise: We published an SEIU poll in early 2009 pegging his approval at 41 percent. 

And just in case you're new to city politics and are wondering how he could have become so unpopular, we'll let Mick Dumke summarize his record:

Daley's complete co-opting of the City Council, his use of patronage workers to bully opponents and win elections, the Duff scandal, the Hired Truck scandal, the illegal hiring scandal, his support for the installation of Todd Stroger as county board president, the decline of city services, the festering murder problem, the deterioration of the CTA, the deterioration of the city parks, the privatization of public space, the privatization of the public schools, the sale of the parking meters, or the use of taxpayer money to subsidize profitable corporations while the rest of us are trying to pay our property taxes or rent.

Tax increment financing (TIF) geeks across the city read with interest the Chicago Inspector General's recent audit of the Central West TIF district. The watchdog was able to find noticeable waste by focusing on one tiny sliver of one district, a fact that led the Reader's Ben Joravksy to wonder just how much taxpayer money has been misused at the expense of the Daley administration's vast TIF empire. The Chicago Journal's editorial board, meanwhile, expressed frustration over the opaque manner in which the IG says the city "ports" TIF revenue from one district to another.

Chicagoans aren't the only Illinois residents fed up with the way municipal officials have exploited the development tool. In suburban Bartlett, city council members -- including the Village President -- are questioning the success of their TIF system. And the Belleville News-Democrat penned an incensed editorial Thursday correcting elected officials who continue to insist that tax increment financing is not a hidden property tax. These pieces should serve as a valuable reminder to TIF reformers in the Windy City: If some Democrats could be pushed to buck the mayor, the General Assembly could reform the state's TIF statutes, and thereby protect taxing bodies in neighborhoods statewide.

If you swung by Chicago's Daley Center this morning, you might have seen Illinois PIRG holding a bake sale. The cause? To raise awareness about the large amount of "dough" the city is losing as a result of its parking privatization deal.

It is estimated that Chicago will lose close to $1 billion in future revenue as a result of the decision in late 2008 to lease our 36,000 parking meters for 75 years. Illinois PIRG campaign coordinator Tim Robinson says that lawmakers should no longer turn to short-term budget fixes -- such as proposals to privatize Midway Airport or Chicago's water system -- without considering the long-term effect on taxpayers. "This is urgent and we are making sure there is an appropriate amount of public input," he told us. "There should be something in place to let the public have input and have a third-party organization analyze these deals."  Several aldermen proposed an ordinance to that effect last year, but it's yet to advance.