Daley Blames Economy For His All-Time Low Approval Rating In New Poll

Chicago Tribune:

Mayor Richard Daley today said he's not surprised by his all-time low approval rating in a new Tribune poll, saying he believes it is a result of public anger over the poor economy.

Read the whole story: Chicago Tribune

Comments

[mergina]

Oh, it couldn't be his conniving, back room deal making, under the table payoff approach to draining this city dry, to bleeding every last cent out of it, to being responsible for the MISMANAGEMENT that has it broke, bankrupt, and angry with an infrastructure that is CRUMBLING AND BEING IGNORED EVERYWHERE. Send the Olympic committee back and let US, THE CITIZENS WHO KNOW THIS CITY AND WHERE IT IS CRUMBLING, take them on a tour of how bad it really is here, and how we do not want and cannot afford the olympics or this mayor any longer.

[thundermummy]

Parking meters, Olympics, corruption, TIFFs, special assessments, cops who treat the city like they own it, city hall b.s., condos that keep going up with no one to buy them, potholes, but not the economy.

[MovingtoNorway]

It's NEVER his fault

[Joe001]

Daley has had some very controversial actions, including the justly unpopular parking meter issue, but much of the problem he is having is being replicated in major cities throughout the U.S. due to the poor economy: a reduction in tax revenues that is starving state and local governments. Despite the specific issues of the Olympics, favoritism, etc., Chicago is doing better than most other large cities. Daley has maintained Chicago's credit rating and successfully encourages large corporations to relocate to Chicago (improving the tax base). He also has found ways to continue replacing outdated infrastructure, building new libraries and schools and police stations and firehouses, creating jobs during a time of economic turmoil when one might expect these improvements to fall by the wayside. As for the Olympics, he has said repeatedly that he's doing it as a means of boosting the local economy, to create thousands of jobs that otherwise wouldn't exist during the six years of preparation for the Games. While there certainly are specific issues where he's vulnerable to criticism, Daley's overall performance has been more positive than negative when you compare it to other cities.

[47th]

I don't live in "other cities", I live, and pay taxes and fees, in Chicago. Daley has primarily replaced infrastructure with the TIF program. As we all know, TIFs take money away from schools, parks, mental health centers,etc. so while the infrastructure improvements are good, the TIF program is still draining money that has to be replaced somehow. Daley encourages large corporations to come to town with tax give aways, like Boeing and United. Again these give aways have to be made up somewhere and that is why Chicago is becoming an increasingly expensive place to live. As far as the Olympics go, the support is lukewarm, at best. Daley has pushed hard for something that is likely to be another money pit boon doggle as it is to be a boost to the local economy. I think people are just fed up when it comes to Daley.

[chgotchr]

Stop treating public schools like parking meters and selling them off to charter schools that are not any better than the public schools they are displacing!

[RoveRoveRoveYourBoat]

...STOP SELLING OUR COMMON PROPERTY DUMBSHIT!

[dianhow]

Mayor You suck

[dianhow]

Hello Mayor
NO Its you selling all our parking meters -who did not work- got stuck- and caused much havoc
with us all in Chgo. And digging up Meigs field in the middle of the night- like a sneak. and the constant coruption- that you say - you don;t know anything about ! Nonsense
You have had too many years in power. Just like our old timers- 25 -30 yr in Congressman
and the Senate. To all of you its time to go now.

[mratcheson]

Old-timers in the Senate? You can't be referring to Illinois..­.

[TMc73]

Typical Daley response..­."it's not my fault".

Years of political corruption­...not my fault.
Years of nepostism, patronage hiring and cronism...­not my fault.
Years of increased propery taxes...no­t my fault.
Years of privatizing city services to politically connected companies.­..not my fault.
Years of increased gang crime...no­t my fault.
Years of alienating fire fighters, police officers, and city workers...­not my fault.
The constant displacement of the poor and minority communitie­s...not my fault.
Meigs field...th­e sale of the Skyway...a­ttempted privitization of Midway, the parking meter fiasco, and now he wants the taxpayers to foot the bill for the Olympics if it goes over budget? Because if it does goes over budget, which it will, he will simply say..."not my fault".

Either Daley has no clue as to what is going on around him which would make him utterly incompetent

or

he knows exactly what is going on around him all the time which would make him utterly corrupt.

No matter which one you choose, he will always claim that it's "not my fault."

[dianhow]

73 Yep Daley is full of crap and in power way too long
he's become arrogant.

[47th]

Good post! The displacement of poor, minority, or working class families has been the benchmark of this particular Daley. Richie's racism is much more subtle than his father's but just as real.

[thundermummy]

I forgot Meigs field, I will add it to my rant. As for the displacement of the poor and minorities, just see what happens if we get the Olympics. A land, revenue and power grab of epic proportions.

[TMc73]

I live in southern Cook County and we are all waiting for the diaspora to begin if Chicago gets the Olympics. The southern suburbs have already seen their fair share of low income refugees from the CHA 'make over' which for the most part was nothing more than the city tearing down the projects and pushing its low income / minority citizens out of the city and into the surrounding suburbs.

Many of these communities were already floundering due to high taxes and middle class / white flight. Add to the mix the large influx of low income, Section 8 citizens that swamped these already teetering towns when the projects came down and the downward spiral gained even more momentum.

Daley's attitude about the whole thing seemed to be that he simply doesn't want to see poor minorities in the city any longer. The more he can push his problems off on someone else, the better off he looks to his constituants. Once again, his attitude seemed to be "not my fault", or in this case, "not my problem".

[Kathryn Maver]

How about the mayor's comments about how it's okay for aldermen to pressure magnet high school administrators into accepting their low-achieving kids, because, hey, no money changes hands, so it must be alright? Then there's Meigs Field, Olympics, parking meters, Olympics, tax increases, Maggie's private fundraising party on the new runway at O'Hare for her pet charity. Olympics. . . they have pro Olympics PR spots being pumped into the sound systems of CTA busses every fifteen minutes or so. I have never heard any sort of commercial on a bus before. Makes my blood boil.

[johnnygoodwud]

how about the olympics, botched parking meter deal, corruption, corruption, and more corruption, high sales taxes, high property taxes,,,,,,,,,,oh yeah did i mention corruption?

[Cogs]

People put up with the cronyism and corruption as long as Daley was able to keep a lid on the violence and deliver basic services. He's lost his grip.

[47th]

I think the Olympics are the last straw. Daley, and a limp City Council, have forced this down our throats! To say the support for the Olympics is luke warm is being too generous.

[mphalen]

Blame the economy Richie. Forget the fact that you are selling off the city, piece by piece, to fund your Olympics bid. First the Skyway, then the parking meters, and now you want to sell our snow removal service to the highest bidder. (Remember the Blizzard of 1979?)
Or maybe it was the wrought iron fences. You know, the wrought iron fences you put up around the parks. The parks were just fine without them, but you needed to waste taxpayers money on them. How much of a kickback, sorry campaign contribution, did the wrought iron fence builder give you for the contract? Or maybe it was when you forced the small business owners with small parking lots, like gas stations and convenience stores, to put up wrought iron fences around their parking lots by city ordinance.
Or maybe is your underhanded way of busting the unions in this union town. Renaisance 2010 is your way of breaking the teacher's union by privatizing the schools. And not to mention the union city workers that you are trying to break the contracts with.
And finally, maybe it is because you threw Phil Cline under the bus and fired him for no good reason and hired this ex-FBI guy Jody Weiss for police chief, under which gang violence has skyrocketed.

No Richie, just blame the economy.

[harryjay]

Because he's a crook, plain & simple, always has been! The economy is just the light shining in the citizens of Chicago eyes, and they the rat infested political class.