Change Comes to Washington, Will it Come to Chicago?

On the eve of the inauguration of Barack Obama to be the 44th President of the United States, a group of citizens met in a theater in Uptown, Chicago to demand accountability from their government.

The city that gave the United States a leader who called for change is seething with citizen anger over a laundry list of corruption, cronyism and crooked deals. They are wondering if the change that is hopefully coming to Washington can ever take place at their doorstep.

Some 90 Uptown residents met at the Annoyance Theater just doors away from the legendary Green Mill jazz bar and the shuttered Uptown Theater to organize around the massive construction project taking place on the site known as Wilson Yards.

The site, the location of a massive Chicago Transit Authority repair facility, and located next to Truman College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, is being developed for a range of new uses. The plans for this site have, over the past seven years, included high-end market rate housing, affordable housing, senior housing, retail, a Target department store and a movie theater. The residents are complaining that city money, in the form of some $52 million in Tax Increment Finance subsidies are going to a private developer, Peter Holstein, to build a project on prime real estate one-half mile from the Lake Front and one mile from Wrigley Field.

The developer's web site describes the project as promising

"to become the ideal mix of retail, housing and eating establishments for the area. The project includes a two story, 180,000 square foot Target store, 178 apartments for both families and seniors, 700 parking spaces, and over 30,000 square feet of other retail and office space. Funding includes TIF, developer and retail owners' equity, private loans, LIHTCs, and HOME, among other sources. Excellent access to public transit, a campus park, and a major rehabilitation of the CTA rail station planned in 2010 are just some of the amenities now emerging for this promising development. Convenient shopping at the new Aldi and Target stores are just some of the amenities planned for this exciting new development."

What the citizens and a new group they have organized, call Fix Wilson Yard, want to know is - why are the tax payers of Chicago subsidizing this project?

The meeting was also a fundraiser for this organization's law suit against the City of Chicago and the several companies doing the development work. This law suit was filed in Cook County Circuit Court on December 3 and seeks to block the construction, already under way, and the reimbursement to the city of any tax subsidies paid to the developer.

Tax Increment Finance Districts are a widely used finance mechanism in the City of Chicago. They were intended to aid the development of so called "blighted areas" - areas that could not attract private investment - areas that "but for" the infusion of public dollars, the needed development would not take place.

When an area of a region or city is "TIF'ed" the value of all property inside that district is frozen for 23 years. The taxing bodies that are fed from property taxes continue to collect their allocation of property taxes from the properties inside that district at the rate of the date that they were frozen. As the new development and other new construction in the TIF district generates new property taxes and as the other properties increase in value and generate higher taxes - all the new revenue - the incremental revenue (hence Tax increment Finance) flows NOT to the city's general operating budget or into the city agencies who rely on the property tax for operation - but into the coffers of the TIF program. The taxing bodies which rely on property taxes include the Board of Education, the Public Library, the Chicago Park District, the City Colleges, the Forest Preserve and the Cook County Health Facility. Of course, the City of Chicago and the County of Cook also receive large chucks of your property taxes.

Here's a diagram of how the revenue form a TIF district is apportioned out over the life of the district:

So - what's the big deal?

The TIF program has spread like a virus through out the city and now there are 155 TIF covering something like 40% of the city's total footprint.

In 2007, according to Cook County Clerk David Orr, the city's TIF districts threw off $555,310,568.

That was an 11% increase over the previous year's revenue. The additional 247 districts in suburban Cook County generated $336,310,568 in property tax revenues.

That means that all TIF districts inside Cook County generated a staggering total of $892 million in 2007. THAT'S a really big deal. TIFs have siphoned off $3.061 billion in property taxes from the city budget since 1986. Citizens feel they have a right to know the who, what and why of where that money has went.

Lead attorney for the Fix Wilson Yard law suit, Thomas Ramsdell, spoke at the community meeting. His team has filed some 90 requests for documents trying to "pierce the veil of secrecy and to determine where the money is going" and to re-construct the decisions which created the project in the first place. Calling the eligibility study done to justify the TIF and the public subsidy " a sham," Ramsdell asserts that the transfer of such a valuable property for the reported price of $6 million amounts to a fire sale and makes no sense given the unique size and location of the parcel.

Fix Wilson Yard's web site lists its objections to the project:

Failed Housing Model: The misguided housing model of the past, all low-income housing in high and mid-rise buildings, is being torn down everywhere else, so why is it being built here? Uptown currently has 6,000 units of subsidized housing (25% of all rental units). Similar projects have been recognized as magnets for crime and safety problems. Criminal Activity: Uptown has an ongoing problem with drug traffickers and gang recruiters/members easily accessing our neighborhood from Lake Shore Drive. The placement of this proposed development will act as a beacon for drug traffickers and gang members, increasing criminal activity in Uptown and endangering all residents. Lost Economic Development & Community Retail: This plan which should have been the gateway for Uptown's commercial district fails to continue the organic flow of Broadway retail development we see just north of Leland in the 48th ward. Instead it brings dead, negative space with high empty walls and narrow sidewalks that discourage pedestrian traffic. Poor Urban Planning: The project is dramatically out of scale with the neighborhood. Planning elevations show the housing will be ten stories of sheer brick walls that overpower Montrose from Broadway to the Red-line tracks, and Broadway from Montrose to Sunnyside. Design standards typically used to create safe welcoming spaces were ignored. Traffic Congestion: The City's traffic study was conducted in September, not during the peak summer months. Mismanagement of TIF Funds: The Wilson Yard TIF is funding almost 35% of the project, well above the mandated guidelines for a TIF. These are your tax dollars. You are paying for this grossly mismanaged project to the tune of:

-Low-income Building 1--$458,076 construction cost per unit
-Low-income Building 2--$330,610 construction cost per unit

Higher Property Taxes:
In addition to paying over $50 million into the Wilson Yard TIF fund, local property owners will shoulder an even greater tax burden in the future when they are forced to take up the slack of tax breaks given to the housing development. This project will also cause additional strain on the infrastructure and city services without it financially contributing to the community."

Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley is no fan of TIFs. Writing for the online news site Progress Illinois in July of 2008 he said:

"Imagine, if you will, traveling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of imprudence. A wondrous land where more than $500 million a year is spent off-budget; a land where $500 million does not appear on a single tax bill; a land where $500 million is spent to spackle the cracks of waste, bloat, patronage, and corruption. Welcome to the land of Tax Increment Finance districts (TIFs). Although that $500 million figure is merely the amount of revenue collected through TIFs in Chicago in 2006, the TIF twilight zone extends throughout Illinois, scooping up hundreds of millions more in taxpayer dollars every year."

It's hard to argue with his assessment when you discover that even the Central Loop has been TIFed and in 2007 threw off $157 million in revenue. LaSalle Street - the home of Chicago's Federal Reserve branch and all the major banks - even has its own TIF district, which generated $18.9 million in 2007. How can you call the Central Loop and LaSalle Street blighted? Where did all that money go to?

Perhaps some of it found its way into the coffers of the Grossinger Auto owners. They were awarded $8.5 million in TIF funds by the city in January of 2008 in order to renovate an old warehouse in the heart of the hottest shopping district in Chicago at the corner of North and Halsted. Grossinger sold its old facility on Wells just north of Division to JDL Development. JDL plans to build townhomes and condos on the site. Presumably, Grossinger received a substantial sum for their old location. Why do they need almost $9 million in public money to move a few blocks north where they will be in the shadow of brand new mid-rise condo tower, SoNo Chicago, where the units start at the "high $200s"? If that's blight - let me have some. Alderman Vi Daley testified for the subsidy saying "Grossinger wanted to expand and the neighbors did not want them to do an expansion there [on their old site]. Therefore, they needed to find another spot. And so this is an ideal spot as far as I'm concerned...It will increase sales tax revenue, and provide jobs. So I'm in full support of this TIF."

Since Fix Wilson Yard got off the ground in June of 2008 several thousand people have signed their petition on its web site and over 300 people have donated some $50,000 to its legal fund. I spoke at this meeting and praised the group for its fight and told of my experience as a co-founder of Protect Our Parks, a grass roots group formed to stop the privatization of Lincoln Park. We organized when a secret sweetheart deal between the Park District and the Latin School threatened to peel off several acres of priceless lake front park land and lease it to the exclusive and extremely wealth private school to build an artificial turf soccer facility that the school would almost exclusive use of for 20 years. I told the crowd that fighting the city is a daunting, but doable and definitely necessary task. If the city continues to make closed door deals away from public scrutiny that result in the transfer of public property and public funds to private concerns or businesses with no accountability - then the people must organize. I said I was frightened to go to court against the city and the well endowed Latin School and discover that they had assembled a team of 13 lawyers - including a senior partner from the politically connected Jenner and Block law firm. I said such legal fights cost money and they should be prepared to match their passion for truth with deep pockets. [Read an earlier post about this effort]

Indeed, one of the organizer's leaders, Judy Glazebrook, announced that they would probably need to raise at least $200,000 to see the legal fight through. Fix Wilson Yard President, Molly Phelan, moved to the area in 2005 and woks as a property tax attorney. She is angered over the breakdown in the public process. "The property tax revenues are supposed to go to schools and other city agencies. The law is supposed to work of people, not against them." She objects to "the abuse of the TIF program and the public process of using tax payers dollars."

Another volunteer, Mark Nielsen, who lives at Wilson and Buena, recently moved here from Omaha. He was astonished at how local government works here and "the lack of accountability" is how public funds are being used. Welcome to Chicago.

Are these angry citizens organizing to prevent more low-income housing from being developed in Uptown. The ward's Alderman, Helen Shiller, has been a long-time champion of the poor and affordable housing. Her web site proudly announces:

"It is with great excitement that we announce that the development at Wilson Yard has actually begun. This project will have a dramatic impact on the 46th Ward, as well as on the city's North Lakefront area, bringing needed retail space, new jobs, senior and rental housing. And I am confident this development will spur future commercial and retail development in the Uptown area of the ward. Wilson Yard was an extraordinarily complicated venture involving many city departments and state agencies, all of whom worked closely with one another, as well as hundreds of community residents to ensure its success." She also writes "Since the TIF District was established, new market-rate housing has been built and some rental housing has been converted into condominiums. The inclusion of affordable housing in the Wilson Yard development contributes to maintaining the area's economic diversity. Two residential buildings are part of the Wilson Yard development. Both are rental and will be affordable to households earning up to 60% of the Area Median Income. Both buildings will be owned and managed by Holsten Management Company. One is for seniors with 99 one-bedroom apartments. The other buildings is 84 units and has 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments."

Alderman Daley claims Grossinger Auto needed $8.5 million in public subsidies to help it re-furbish a warehouse for its new sales and service headquarters. She asserts that the new facility will generate tax revenues and jobs. But didn't the old site do those things? If Grossinger needed to move, why couldn't they buy and build using their own funds? Where is the rationale and the economic argument for giving a very successful private firm so much public money.

Could it be that there are other reasons for this gift? Ben Joravsky, writing in the January 17, 2008 Reader, "A Good Day for the Rainmakers" reports:

"Lobbyist Terry Teele, a former deputy chief of staff for Mayor Daley, was so persuasive on Grossinger's behalf that the CDC recommended making the site itself a TIF district, the Weed/Fremont TIF, with funds to be devoted exclusively to the project. No one from the city's environmental department felt compelled to explain why the city would want to subsidize a multimillion-dollar auto dealership when it can't find funds to alleviate the CTA meltdown. And no one from the planning department bothered to explain why one of the north side's hottest real estate markets, where privately financed development fills almost every lot, merits a subsidy intended to eradicate blight." [Read Ben's other great columns of TIFs]

Comments on Ben's article revealed further details. Mr. Teele was a vice president of Tony Rezko's lobbying firm from 2003 to 2006 and that on February 21, 2007 he donated $1,500 to Friends of Vi Daley.

Alderman Schiller proclaims the benefits of the Wilson Yard project. But the nature of this project has changed so much since it was first announced that neighbors are suing to unravel what, exactly, is being built there and how much public subsidy is being used and for what and why. Does this project need or deserve $52 million in public subsidy?

Who is watching the store when so much tax dollars are being offered to private businesses?

Yes, change is coming to Washington. And if the citizens of Uptown who are organizing and supporting Fix Wilson Yard have their way, change will be coming to Chicago. And soon.

To learn more about Fix Wilson Yard, email: [e-mail] - www.fixwilsonyard.org

Comments

[joshuabrollier]

The Fix Wilson Yard folks like to parade around like progressive activists fighting the Daley machine. In reality, they are a group of rich condo owners, many of whom are worried about their property turn around values.

Not many people agree with TIF in general or gross TIF abuses (except for the rich developers who profit off large projects like the Borders in Uptown- which, by the way, was not opposed by FWY), but Wilson Yard is one TIF project that actually directs some of the funds towards providing affordable housing to the people in Uptown, a neighborhood that is quickly gentrifying and leaving the poor and working class no place to go but elsewhere.

The Wilson Yard project has had years of community input and process, and FWY is a last ditch effort by the gentrification class to stop that progress. And the truth is that the gentrifiers really do not have the support of the people. They did not have it ten years ago when the community voted to build wilson yard, and they do not have it now.

As recently as Nov. 4 2008, 66% of Uptown residents in multiple precincts voted "yes" on a referendum which asked: "should the city allocate 40 percent of TIF funds to preserve and produce affordable housing for persons at or below the community median income?"

[AmyJM]

I encourage Chicagoans to fight TIF abuse.

However, this is not the organization to hitch yourself to. Their main goal concerns keeping public housing out.

This is not the Obama way and I am incredibly shocked to see his name associated with FWY, the least "community" minded organization in Uptown.

What would the Obama way look like? Volunteer. Connect. Encourage interaction in this already extremely mixed income neighborhood that is clearly not "mixing."

I cannot believe this is on HuffPo without the whole story. This is not community organizing. It is the same old Not In My Backyard.

[Tom Tresser - Huffpost Blogger]

I did detect some "there's enough poor people in Uptown" sentiment in this group. Listen, I worked in Uptown from 1985 to 1990 as managing director Pegasus Players and it was a bit of a wild west show on Wilson Avenue. I mean one day there was a trail of blood in the plaza separating the theater annex from the main building. Another time a wild dog attacked a theater reviewer in the parking lot. Another time an undercover cop was shot in the men's room of the college. I suppose you could accuse Pegasus Players of being a gentrifying influence. Alderman Schiller certainly thought so and told us as much. That being said - if the Fix Wilson Yard folks do have an agenda to stop the further development of affordable housing - that's their right. Maybe they have a case. I reported as much. Dies this affect your perception of them fighting TIFs? Do you think the TIF fight is just a screen? Do you think they would be FOR a TIF it was to develop some upscale toye project?

[47th]

Yes, I think they would be for the TIF, if it were in place to put up 500,000 dollar condos. Pegasus players moved into the rough Uptown neighborhood, and you are surprised by a little crime? That happens in Uptown, why do people move there if they are afraid of poor people or crime?

[AmyJM]

Yes, I absolutely think this organization would not exist if this project did not include low income housing (or if it was housing for "low income artists" as the group had proposed before forming FWY).

Yes, that absolutely affects my perception of the group. Take a look at comments on the petitions ("Support property values. Not slums" or "As much as I love Target, I wouldn't be comfortable shopping there with low-income to very low-income housing next door") or on Uptown Update.

The meetings scare people into thinking that lower income=criminals. I cannot get behind that.

I'd love to see a neighborhood of people who want to truly create something different in Uptown-- the Obama way. Not by lawsuits, but by organizing and having a truly mixed neighborhood that is actually mixing and works toward common goals.

As it stands, FWY only has an AGAINST position and stands FOR nothing. I would like to see someone acting out in a positive way to create change. FWY is raising money for a lawsuit. Why can't there be this much enthusiasm and $ thrown at making a difference in Uptown? Coming together?It's not about TIF, it's about property values.

[AmyJM]

Hey, I'm not opposed to this neighborhood doing well and values going up. I have a personal interest in that, too. But I'd like to see that happen because we find ways to be a community. Take this diversity and become a model in Chicago and elsewhere. I do not want to live in the next Wicker Park. That's not why I moved here and for those who just wanted to cash in, I do not feel sorry for them.

Also, small world note: I've worked with Pegasus a couple of times over the last two years. They're a great group. Of course the arts tend to have a gentrifying influence, but they are also intentional and diverse with their work. Intentionally being inclusive does not a gentrifier make. If you want to talk about Schiller than tell me what she said. I don't trust anyone when they talk about Schiller anymore, and if you're familiar with Uptown, you know that's the best way to go about it. I've heard more lies and mistruths about that woman than any other individual EVER. She can be worked with, but no one tries.

[media717]

Great assessment of t he situation, Tom. As a resident of Uptown and the TIF district I am so tired of the lies and misrepresentations of the alderman, mayor, developer and others involved in pushing the TIF. Every time you go to one of their dog-and-pony-shows the design is different or they've added something else to the TIF. Now we're going to have to put $10-million in for a garage at Truman College, and god knows what else. We need an auditor specifically dedicated to Chicago TIFs. Every property tax payer deserves to know how much of their tax is going to the TIF, and EXACTLY who is getting what and for what purpose. This aldermanic slush fund has to end.

[Tom Tresser - Huffpost Blogger]

I agree. I'm not against public subsidy of worthy projects. I worked for Peoples Housing in Rogers Park for three years and we developed 20 buildings for over 600 families who were at the poverty level and below. Some neighbors fought us - perhaps as some neighbors organize against excessive subsidized housing in Uptown. We fought to get our funding and complete our projects on time and worked every day to organize the community and our residents so they could work together and manage their affairs. But - even so - knowing what I now know about TIFs and other public pots of money - I would now be in favor of total transparency and reporting to the public of all subsidies we received.

[dragon2005]

While I agree that TIF abuse and municipal/county corruption are serious issues that Chicagoans should rally around, I think you should ask whether this lawsuit and Fix Wilson Yard would exist at all if the proposed development did not contain any low-income, Section 8 housing. As an Uptown resident, I've witnessed first hand how Fix Wilson Yard supporters have used fear of 'poverty and crime'--Phalen stating that gangs will access the area via Lakeshore--to twist arms for checks. Why doesn't Fix Wilson Yard, or this article, mention that 100 of the units are designated for senior citizens, who will not be joining any gangs? Fix Wilson Yard has honed its message of late from one of protecting property values from 'scary' poor people to self-serving crusader for tax reform. The truth, however, is revealed by reading the comments section of the Fix Wilson Yard Petition which, at least until recently, rarely mention TIF abuse, but expose my neighbors' fear of poverty, crime, and lower property values (many comments are no longer viewable because they were openly racist). I cannot support Fix Wilson Yard because it is more about a war on affordable housing in Chicago than about creating real political reform because, rather than gathering the Uptown community to fight city hall, Fix Wilson Yard has hardened class divisions.

[Tom Tresser - Huffpost Blogger]

I can totally see your point. Nevertheless, their law suit will serve the greater common good and - I believe - be supported by folks who care about honest government and accountibilty from the city.

[47th]

TIFs are without a doubt, abused by the Daley administration. If you live in a TIF district, the amount the TIF drains from your property taxes should be listed on your tax bill, but fat chance of that ever happening. I am glad that this group is questioning how TIF money is being spent, but I have no pity for people who spent 500,000 dollars on a condo in Uptown, and are now amazed that there is crime and poor people in Uptown. Uptown has always been a tough neighborhood, and probably always will be. Many hardworking families have been priced out of Uptown and other neighborhoods by development geared to the rich. While I think TIFs are generally abused, I am glad to see affordable housing being built on the North side. Why it costs 450,000 dollars to build a unit of affordable housing are questions that Schiller and Daley need to answer.

[Chuck Crubel]

Exactly. The way TIFs are handled in Chicago is not only extremely wasteful (we'll probably never find out how much tax-payer money they appropriated), but it is usually serves institutional, corporate, and other vested interests, and not the needs of local residents. It's high time that the massive abuse of TIFs is more widely exposed and finally stopped.

On the other hand, I'm just sad that Uptown is becoming a battleground for disappointed property owners, aggressive investors, and condo owners who see continuing low-income housing development as a threat to their plans for this area (now largely populated by poor people). Not surprisingly, their preferred mode of social action is not community organization in poor Uptown neighborhoods (like the sections of Wilson and Broadway), but a lawsuit lodged at the city hall. And moreover, their screeching rhetoric, letters and blogs keep framing the issue (see quoted parts of the article above) in terms of "low-income housing" = "criminal activity" = "urban planning" = displace the poor, empower the property owners, etc etc. That's what's so sad about the Wilson Yard lawsuit.

Will there be a place for the poor in Uptown? That's the question that any development in Uptown, with or without the TIFs, has to honestly deal with. Uptown always was a place for the disadvantaged and the less fortunate, and I for one hope Chicago is able to make a space for the poor instead of turning into a condo-owners paradise.

[Tom Tresser - Huffpost Blogger]

Another thoughtful comment. After 20 years in the community development field - I have yet to see gentrification truly "defeated" in Chicago - or anywhere, for that matter. Cook County simply never has had the vision or politics to look at property globally and create any meaningful plan or instrument to do real "development without displacement." At Peoples Housing, where I worked from 1993 too 1995, we tried to do affordable condos so poor people could own their own homes and have equity they could borrow against. But the legal structure of the tax increment financing, which is what most affordable housing developers use, made that sort of ownership impossible - because the properties were really not owned by Peoples Housing. We'd have to get into some other instrument for land ownership and freezing property taxes to seriously stop the market from marching from one neighborhood to the next.

[jsgaetano]

I'd really just be happy if the city would stop treating drivers like a source of revenue. They raised taxes, raised fees, and cut city services... yet they crank up spending on their parking gestapo.

Also, despite all the fee increases and threats to cut service, the CTA is STILL terrible. How hard is it to not run three buses in a row? Space it out so we dont have to wait 45 minutes during rush hour because the drivers want to fly out of downtown at 4:50pm with no people on their bus.

[Tom Tresser - Huffpost Blogger]

Dear Jsgaetano-

The city has sold the Skyway, Midway Airport, the downtown parking garages and the city's parking meters (OK, not sold but leased for a gazillion years) - what's next? They will continue to nickle and dime us to death until the citizens demand an accounting for how our tax dollars are being used. Don't forget that rampant corruption, cronyism and incompetence is the order of the day for our state, county and city government. What are YOU going to do about it?

[jsgaetano]

That's true, they received a billion dollars for the Skyway, and yet they still bleed everyone for money.

But I don't care about parking anymore because I already got rid of my car- the city makes it too difficult and expensive to own one. My anger on that issue is one of principle, not self interest.

As for what I'm going to do, I'm going to keep going to work and paying my bills. If someone wants to take charge, I'd be happy to help them out. If someone has a petition, I'll sign it. I'd even contribute to the cause if it looked like the people in charge can get results.

[Chuck Crubel]

Great points about the abuse of TIFs in Chicago, not just in Uptown, but all over the city -- in fact, TIFs are most abused by the most *privileged* (institutions, corporations, property speculators, etc).

And that is really missing from the piece -- nothing about the class tensions in Uptown, nothing about the crushing *poverty* of some of its areas, nothing about its long history as a place for marginalized groups (blacks, Appalachian migrants, Laotians, Vietnamese, all mixed together in Uptown).

Those people, most of whom are still quite poor, are NOT mentioned in the article. All we hear about them is: CRIME. The old Republican equation of poverty and criminality... Why is HuffPo repeating such stuff?

What about the needs of Uptown residents (who typically don't have blogs or disposable income)? What about the fact that they are worried about being displaced by gentrification? (The article doesn't even mention "gentrification," all we hear is crime, "low-income" housing, etc.) Did it occur to anyone that a structure like Wilson Yard (mix of retail, office, and housing) might serve the residents of Uptown who have known either blight or condos?

TIFs are being grossly abused -- you can be sure of that anywhere in Chicago. But the situation in Uptown deserves to be acknowledged for what it is: a ghetto desperate for economic and social change.

Hand-wringing over the budget and individual councilmen does not even come close to addressing that central fact.

[Tom Tresser - Huffpost Blogger]

You raise good points. I wasn't doing a piece on the plight of the poor in Uptown or anywhere in Chicago. That is a very valid object of reporting and activism. A critique of the city's record on low income housing, quality programming for all the wards and an overall questioning of the city's approach to economic development is much in order and way beyond my poor skills. Fir example, where is the independent reort on the how Olympic games are financed and their true impact on host cities over the past 20 years? My point in doing this blog is to "connect the dots" between (1) the over-militarization of the federal budget, (2) the incompetence of the state of Illinois (and corruption), (3) the corruption and lack of true oversight at the city level and (4) the astoundingly bad services being rendered to a wide range of Chicago citizens. Like Deep Throat said in "All the President's Men" - "Follow the money." If the needs of all Chicago's residents, including those who are not being heard from in Uptown, are to met - it seems to me we need to become smart about how are tax dollars are being used and then organize to change the way that money is being spent. Consider this blog a small effort toward that end.

[uptownlady]

TIF's are a total misuse of taxpayer dollars and the Wilson Yard TIF is an example of how this abuse plays out locally and affects an entire community. Because there is no accountability from either the planning side or the fiscal side it’s the wild west - anything goes. Because of this particular TIF the Uptown community will suffers for generations to come. It’ll be negatively affected in numerous ways ....because tax dollars were denied the programs that were supposed to get them....because a discredited plan was used that goes against all common sense and years of urban planning research....because the community did not get the true economic stimulus that it needed....because out of control spending wasted precious tax dollars.
The dispute is not about whether there is a need for affordable housing - the question is at what price. Because the use of TIF funds have no controls and no transparency - construction cost has skyrocketed to over $450,000 per unit. Why are these units costing this much when the CTA land was basically given away to the developer? Do we ignore these questions and say it’s okay to be wasteful it’s okay to ignore years of research and move forward with a plan as bad as this just because it’s low-income housing and not expensive condos? The Wilson Yard law suit is an example of everything bad about Chicago (the shady politicians/the rich developers) and everything good about Chicago (gutsy citizens willing to take a stand).

[dragon2005]

Hi Tom,

you need to think about which community Fix Wilson Yard is attempting to organize--mainly white condo owners. You cannot separate poverty and race in your article, especially when this is how Fix Wilson Yard has been gaining support. Ending TIF abuse is only a secondary concern for them, a happy side affect. The truth is that they are primarily concerned about falling property values. If they win this lawsuit, will the organizers of Fix Wilson Yard go on to attempt to further reform city hall? I doubt it. Their problem is that they have not organized a "community" so much as people just like them--an interest group that does not speak for many residents of Uptown, including this one.