7 ms·

What I don't understand: If the city really needed short-term money, why couldn't they take out a loan against the parking-meter-system? It's extremely low-risk

by V__ 4y ago

What I don't understand: If the city really needed short-term money, why couldn't they take out a loan against the parking-meter-system? It's extremely low-risk and in the long run the city could have keept it. This has to be corruption, doesn't it?

electric_mayhem 4y ago
Why take out a loan against it when you can sell it to your buddies, or at least get some nice kickbacks? Chicago is pretty famous for corruption.
- jjtheblunt 4y ago
  > Chicago is pretty famous for corruption. That might be an understatement of all time winner, I opine, as someone originally from there.
kodt 4y ago
Mayor Daley was on his way out and only cared about the short term boost. This was his MO for years though, he took several pension holidays which the subsequent mayors have been trying to grapple with, and yet people remember the Daley years fondly because of it.
- mdasen 4y ago
  People often don't associate the bad things with the people that caused them. They associate the bad things with the person cleaning up the mess. Daley didn't raise their taxes. The meters didn't skyrocket in price under his tenure. People rarely look for causes to things. Ah, so he didn't fund pensions so now my taxes are going up? No, it's the newer mayors who are the ones raising my taxes! Yes, if you look at the situation, he might have caused those problems, but during his tenure people probably felt better. They had more money in their pocket and weren't being told bad news. Why can't things be like they used to be? Well, turns out it was never sustainable for things to be like that and when you mortgage your future the bill eventually comes due.
HDThoreaun 4y ago
The parking deal happened because of corruption, not because it was the only way to raise money. It was rammed through the city council in a day after being negotiated behind closed doors.
- 0cf8612b2e1e 4y ago
  I hate that argument because it absolves the council from doing their job of reviewing the laws they are signing. Nobody could honestly think a $1B windfall appearing from nowhere was worth signing without significant review. Every person involved understood the significance of the deal.
  - HDThoreaun 4y ago
    The council was just as corrupt as the mayor. The public had no chance to understand the deal before it was approved.
idrathernot 4y ago
On the corruption point, it depends on if it was an open bidding process (there are many laws and protocols governing the sale of public property). The city has probably borrowed against the meters in some form many times over so they may have transferred certain debts to the new owner as an additional way to reduce debt and raise liquidity (I don’t know the details of this transaction specifically however)

by V__ 4y ago

electric_mayhem 4y ago

Why take out a loan against it when you can sell it to your buddies, or at least get some nice kickbacks? Chicago is pretty famous for corruption.

jjtheblunt 4y ago
> Chicago is pretty famous for corruption. That might be an understatement of all time winner, I opine, as someone originally from there.

kodt 4y ago

Mayor Daley was on his way out and only cared about the short term boost. This was his MO for years though, he took several pension holidays which the subsequent mayors have been trying to grapple with, and yet people remember the Daley years fondly because of it.

mdasen 4y ago
People often don't associate the bad things with the people that caused them. They associate the bad things with the person cleaning up the mess. Daley didn't raise their taxes. The meters didn't skyrocket in price under his tenure. People rarely look for causes to things. Ah, so he didn't fund pensions so now my taxes are going up? No, it's the newer mayors who are the ones raising my taxes! Yes, if you look at the situation, he might have caused those problems, but during his tenure people probably felt better. They had more money in their pocket and weren't being told bad news. Why can't things be like they used to be? Well, turns out it was never sustainable for things to be like that and when you mortgage your future the bill eventually comes due.

HDThoreaun 4y ago

The parking deal happened because of corruption, not because it was the only way to raise money. It was rammed through the city council in a day after being negotiated behind closed doors.

0cf8612b2e1e 4y ago
I hate that argument because it absolves the council from doing their job of reviewing the laws they are signing. Nobody could honestly think a $1B windfall appearing from nowhere was worth signing without significant review. Every person involved understood the significance of the deal.
- HDThoreaun 4y ago
  The council was just as corrupt as the mayor. The public had no chance to understand the deal before it was approved.

idrathernot 4y ago

On the corruption point, it depends on if it was an open bidding process (there are many laws and protocols governing the sale of public property). The city has probably borrowed against the meters in some form many times over so they may have transferred certain debts to the new owner as an additional way to reduce debt and raise liquidity (I don’t know the details of this transaction specifically however)