With friends like these, who needs enemies? That’s what I kept thinking as I read the article “Mayor continues to cite parking meter NDA, even as owner claims it was lifted”
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(June 20) by reporter Jake Sheridan.It wasn’t the first time I was aware of the mayor’s inaccurate claim. However, Sheridan’s report has convinced me of just how contradictory to the city’s best interests the mayor seems to be up to now.
I find it very difficult to understand why Mayor Brandon Johnson has kept everyone in the dark about the pending sale of the horrendous parking meter deal. This sale is a rare opportunity to help the people of Chicago for decades to come. The City Council, business and civic leaders, and even the interested public should all have been called on and informed about every effort to find a solution to the parking meter hostage crisis.
From the beginning, the consortium that put together Chicago Parking Meters LLC has shown it is about one thing. Greed.
Greed at its core, with zero interest in contributing to community safety or development. A miserly unwillingness to grant the city necessary concessions when meters are out of use for new construction, sewer or street maintenance, and special events such as parades or festivals. They are the prime example of everything that makes capitalism unattractive to our younger generations.
One could argue that it was written into the contract; that bad faith was on both sides in the beginning. But I have to ask the CPM businesspeople involved: How much return on investment does it take for you to do something in good faith once it becomes clear that you are hurting people?
We get into these situations because our politicians, such as the president and Johnson, appear to be wheeling and dealing in secrecy instead of letting the light shine on the problems or they keep fighting over the solutions. Ultimately, most Americans don’t care who gets credit or who gets blamed. Only politicians let that get in the way.
If there’s a chance to win concessions with the sale of the parking meter deal that runs for another 57 years, let’s get on it.
Better yet, where are the civic-minded people capable of putting together a consortium to buy it back for the city in exchange for a heck of a lot of free parking?
— Linda Finley Belan, Chicago
How to reclaim parking meters
People are unhappy on a lot of fronts right now. Maybe it’s time to go all in to do some good for the city.
Do a $5 billion bond issue. Use $3 billion to buy back the parking meter system, which was possibly the worst urban deal ever made, and use the other $2 billion to fund infrastructure for a new Bears stadium to replace Soldier Field. Connect it to McCormick Place as a combined convention, sports and entertainment center. Anchored by the historic museum campus and Grant Park, it could be a big moneymaker and enhance Chicago’s growth as a world-class city.
If it works, you’ll have the money to retire the debt and help the good people of Chicago.
— Ron Gafron, Hoffman Estates
What clerk should tell teens
After reading Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon’s op-ed on youth voting and gun violence (“Young people need to be part of conversation on gun violence,” June 22), I wondered if these same young voters were told that when they do decide to vote, the candidate of their choice would not really be a choice at all. Because Cook County and the city of Chicago remain a Democratic bastion, new voters will not have the choice of getting new ideas or a fresh set of eyes from an independent or a Republican candidate. Instead, they will receive the same warmed-over solutions that the party in charge has been pledging as a fix for decades.
Talking to teenagers about their civic duty to vote is noble but doesn’t fix a broken system. That means that many of them may become disengaged over time, when they begin to believe that the choices they are given at the ballot box only seem to lead to more of the same. Many of these same teen voters likely have parents who grumble about how nothing has changed regarding gun violence in this city, even though Illinois ranks among top states for the strictest gun laws in the nation. These voters may come to see that while their political choices all speak about how horrible gun violence is, that does little to stem the dozens of shootings that continue to take place across the city during the warmer months.
If Gordon wants to really help these new voters, she should tell them to demand that current politicians release the stranglehold on competition and push for a more diverse electorate. That they should demand that different thoughts, leadership and viewpoints be given a seat at the political table. She would tell them to push for ballot referendums on term limits, to stop individuals from serving long past their effective date.
Finally, she should tell them that as voters, one-party rule is unfavorable, regardless of whether it’s Democrats or Republicans.
Curbing gun violence in this city demands a multifaceted political approach and a democracy that works for people and upholds their best interest. If the current one-party bastion of elected officials in this county and city cannot stop the continuous scourge of gun violence, perhaps it is time to elect different parties that can.
— Ephraim Lee, Chicago
Advice for city’s faith leaders
Regarding the article “Faith leaders call for new anti-violence office” (June 23): When isn’t a coalition of Chicago faith leaders and activists calling for new anti-violence policies from City Hall?
This demand came after at least 39 people were shot in the city, six fatally, last weekend, with the Juneteenth holiday weekend and the grand opening of the Obama Presidential Center in the backdrop.
Instead of calling for another layer of city bureaucracy at a cost of $100 million, when will Chicago faith leaders and activists call for personal responsibility and accountability?
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— Bruce R. Hovanec, Chicago
Tolls never go away, do they?
I had to laugh about this editorial (“‘Toll free in ‘73’ was just another empty promise. Buckle up for a 45-cent toll hike, Illinois,” June 19). I grew up in Weehawken, New Jersey — the New Jersey end of the Lincoln Tunnel. I remember my mom waiting for the toll to go away because leaders promised once the tunnel was paid off, it would be free. She’s still waiting.
I’m not sure, but last I checked, the Lincoln Tunnel toll was more than $20! When I was a kid, it was less than a dollar.
— Judith Snyder, Skokie
Toll roads better maintained
I like the Illinois toll roads. They are better run and maintained than the freeways. It’s worth the money in my opinion, especially now that all the tolls are electronic collection.
— Jerry Meier, Lisle
Note to readers
Bike lanes in Chicago inspire a lot of passion. We’d like to hear your thoughts. Do you support bike lanes? Or are you opposed? Whether you’re for or against, do you have advice for the city on its approach? Send a letter of no more than 400 words to [email protected] by Wednesday, July 1. Include your full name and city/town.
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