Chicago, IL

In the near future, various parts of Chicago could be brought to you by various sponsors. Mayor Daley has spent $285,000 to hire a consulting firm to determine what options are available to the city for naming rights on the el, Navy Pier, and other important parts of city life.

You would think that a consulting firm might suggest that spending $285,000 on a project like that is rather silly, but I suppose then they would be shooting themselves in the foot.

As a purist, I would hate to see the city taken over by corporate sponsorships, more so that it already is at least. Isn’t it bad enough that they are advertisements on the buses, on the trains, at the bus stop, at the train stops, on the tops of taxi cabs and on random signage throughout the city? Do we really need to rename things, like “The CTA brought to you by Target”?

This is all just part of a larger picture of this country being saturated with commercials. Remember when the Rose Bowl was just the Rose Bowl and not “The XXY Company Rose Bowl brought to you by ABC company”? Remember when a timeout in a basketball was just a timeout and not “a timeout by GGG company which reminds you to take a timeout and shop with them…” Those were the good old days, I guess, and now we should brace ourselves for a further influx of advertisements.

Any ideas that the outside firm comes up with must maintain “the integrity of the city of Chicago’s brand image.” The plans must pass the scrutiny of “an advisory group of civic leaders.” I have a feeling, though, that the group of “civic leaders” will be a bunch of Daley cronies who are ready to rubber stamp anything with big dollar signs on it.

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Chicago, Mayor Daley, corporate sponsorship

Although the Chicago Cubs did not have the post-season that fans would have liked, it should not be overlooked that they did manage to win the National League central division. True Cubs fans likely purchased various memorabilia to remember the event, like T-shirts and hats. However, soon to be available at auction is a spectacular souvenir: The banners that hung throughout the city following their victory (see photo).

The City of Chicago’s “Sharing It” Banner Auction will take place November 14th and 15th in the east lobby of the Daley Center from 12:00 p.m.-1:30 p.m. on both days.

In addition to the Cubs banners, fans can bid on banners from the Chicago Bears NFC Championship, the Chicago Marathon, and the Chicago White Sox World Series, as well as two autographed Gibson guitars from the Los Lonely Boys and the Black Crowes.

The auction is sponsored by Mayor Daley’s “Sharing It” program which raises money for the underprivileged. Specifically, proceeds from the auction will be donated to the Chicago Anti-Hunger Federation and the Greater Chicago Food Depository. Last year’s auction raised over $13,000.

I think that some of the items would be fun to own, although I think that I would pass on Chicago marathon banners, given my experience with it this year. Now that I think about it, I don’t even remember seeing Chicago marathon banners this year. Most of the usual locations were filled with the Cubs banners this year. Perhaps the banners are from previous years, since it seems like they are auctioning off older things, like the White Sox banners.

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Chicago, Mayor Daley, Chicago Cubs, Chicago White Sox, Chicago Bears

Drivers in the city of Chicago are already acutely aware that if the run a red light at one of several intersections throughout the city, they will have a photograph of their car taken. This is usually followed by a ticket in the mail and a copy of the photo of their car speeding through the intersection a bit too late.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, if Mayor Daley’s latest plan comes into action, illegal parkers in the city of Chicago will also be subjected to similar photographic crime-stopping power. The mayor wants to install high-resolution digital cameras to the front of street sweepers to capture images of cars who are parked illegally and blocking the street cleaning machines. The street sweepers will feature two cameras, one to take a photo of the vehicle and its surroundings and the other to focus on the license plate.

Mayor Daley originally brought up the idea three years ago and now City Hall appears to be moving forward with the plan. City aldermen are expressing concern over the plan, in part because the signs that tell motorists not to park in certain areas because of the street sweepers are typically removable paper signs, which can blow away or be taken down by pranksters. Thus, motorists may not even realize that they are parking illegally.

I suppose that it is more cost-effective to use automatic cameras on vehicles already in use for another purpose, rather than employing additional personnel to patrol and issue tickets. While the aldermen’s concerns are valid, this is the same argument that could be raised if it was simply a patrol officer placing a ticket on a car. The motorist could still fight the ticket, stating that there was inadequate notice that it was a no parking zone. Further, the motorist could potentially use the photograph that the street sweeper takes of the surroundings to show that there was not a “no parking” sign, if that is indeed the case.

I hope that the Wienermobile has learned its lesson and won’t fall victim to these new illegal parking cameras.

Chicago, Mayor Daley, parking cameras, street sweeper cameras

Mayor Daley proposed a property tax increase and a bottled tax that could raise close to $300 million for city programs.

Daley urged a reluctant City Council to raise property taxes by $108 million, or 15.1 percent, to maintain and build libraries, but only if feuding Democrats in Springfield put aside their differences and extend the 7 percent cap on property assessment increases.

The proposed bottled water tax would mean that every bottle of water would cost an additional 10 cents. Additional proposals include raising the city sticker cost for SUV drivers from $90 to $120. Daley also wants an new liquor tax, which would add eight cents to the cost of a six-pack of beer, seven cents to a bottle of wine, and 24 cents to a liter of liquor.

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After Mayor Daley announced plans to move the Children’s Museum to Grant Park, and away from Navy Pier, people have speculated that he did so in preparation for a casino to be placed at Navy Pier. Daley denied those rumors on Monday.

This will never be a gaming facility (at Navy Pier)… Navy Pier is for families….Gaming is not going to be around McCormick Place because you have conventions.

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