A diverse group of Chicago aldermen sent a message Monday to the city’s Olympic bid chief, telling Chicago 2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan that his team needs to find more work for minorities.
“I’m concerned that there doesn’t seem to be a real effort to diversify in the area of contracts and vendors and even paid employees,” Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th) told Ryan.
Only 6 percent of Chicago 2016 contract payments for the first nine months of this year went to minorities, although its stated aim is to award 25 percent to minorities in keeping with city goals, Carothers said.
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“I can understand why you feel that way,” Ryan said, explaining that there was an early focus on hiring professionals with prior Olympic-bid experience and that he expected better results as the process moved forward.
Ryan was asking the Finance Committee to approve a sale of the Michael Reese Hospital site to the city.
It would be used first for the Olympic Village and later for a mixed-use development.
Aldermen said Ryan’s team had cut a sharp bargain for the 37-acre property because of its size and prime location close to the lakefront. City officials say they will have no trouble selling the property even if the city doesn’t land the Olympics.
“You couldn’t have made a better deal if you used a gun,” Ald. Bernard Stone (50th) told Ryan.
Under the new agreement, the city will buy the site for $86 million, hoping to quickly resell it to a developer after a host city is chosen in October. Property owner Medline Industries will make a charitable contribution of up to $32.5 million — $12.5 million more than proposed in July — to the city to cover the costs of demolition and environmental remediation.
Medline will make a 15-year loan to the city to buy the land, with no interest or principal payments due for the first five years.
The new deal allows the chosen developer to take over the loan to the city, an arrangement designed to help developers struggling to obtain financing from banks in the current credit crunch.
However, the city would continue to guarantee the loan, meaning that taxpayers would be on the hook if the developers can’t make debt payments. Ryan has said any risk to taxpayers is small because of the property’s value.
Aldermen nevertheless delayed a vote until Wednesday, so they could consider a change that would require 10 percent of construction-trade work hours on site be done by apprentices.
Chairman Ed Burke (14th) also wanted to include in the agreement a requirement that Chicago 2016 agree to set city targets for participation by minority- and women-owned firms when the group awards demolition contracts.
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The highest-paid consultants to Chicago 2016 since July 2006 have been public relations giant Hill & Knowlton, which received $2.1 million, and the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, which got $1.1 million.
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