I am thrilled to announced that my book on the No Games Chicago campaign from 2009 is now on sale from Routledge Press! Use this link (feel free to share widely)-> www.tinyurl.com/Get-NGC-book. It’s a dramatic story with international intrigue, a few Davids going after many Goliaths, daring tactics, civic thuggery, attempted bribes, and a real-life spy! Although the organizing took place in 2009, the lessons learned and unlearned are striking for Chicago and the rest of the country. For one thing, three white billionaire families who each own a sports team are all angling for BILLIONS of public dollars to build new stadiums! Sound familiar? And, across the USA, another eight cities are proposing massive public subsidies for stadiums – over $10 billion for those places. The price tag for Chicago’s greedy team owners has been estimated to be at least $3 billion and perhaps DOUBLE that!Buy the book. Sign the petition demanding NO PUBLIC SUBSIDIES for stadiums.
Have you heard of We Will Chicago? This is a new city-wide planning effort launched by the city with a few major partners. Here’s my comment on their web site:
“I am deeply suspicious. The city has a long history of top down planning loaded with clouted mega nonprofits whose HQ are in the Loop and who are run by former Daley insiders and for-profit consultants (mostly White). What have you all given us so far that makes you the proper home for this work? Pushing the 2016 Olympic bid on us? Pushing privatization scams? Standing to the side as over policing runs rampant in communities of color? Standing by as TIFs stole $10 billion and sent billions to clouted developers (who will gain even more from this work, I’m certain). Where were you all when the two racist super TIFs were approved for Lincoln Yards and Project 78 that will divert $2.3 billion in public dollars to subsidize two mega developments in affluent White Chicago? Oh wait, the VP of the Metropolitan Planning Council was a “public representative” on the Joint Review Board that voted to APPROVE the Lincoln Yards TIF despite hundreds of people protesting and seven aldermen-elect protesting in the street on the morning of that cursed vote. No, I would say, surrender this approach and turn over all funding (past and forthcoming) for this work to grassroots groups who are struggling to make ends meet and who deliver real service and justice every day DESPITE your planning and love of clouted projects that shower love and resources on already prosperous parts of the city.”
They deleted my comment! Here is what they said:
“Hi Tom_Tresser, Thank you for signing up and providing feedback on the 2020 Citywide Plan Referendum consultation. Unfortunately your comment was removed by our moderators because it breached our moderation rule: The comment was potentially defamatory . Comment Details:
Project: 2020 Citywide Plan Referendum Topic: Citywide Plan Referendum Survey Moderators Comments: The comment was potentially defamatory. Please edit before reposting. Thank you.
If you feel our decision should be reviewed, please reply to this email with an explanation of the reason/s your comment should be reinstated. Your argument will be considered by our moderation team in due course. We will advise you if we change our decision. Please note, however, the decision of the moderation team is final and following a review, no further correspondence will be entered into. Moderation of this site is provided by Bang the Table Pty Ltd.
Here’s my reply (I was agitated): “What a load of crap. There was nothing “defamatory” about my comment. Just some facts and a strong opinion. How dare you silence my comment – I’m a taxpayer, a long time activist, educator, and former candidate for county-wide office. The leaders of the Metropolitan Planning Council are adults and they can take a dose of criticism, as should the mayor and all the people behind this planning effort. Your decision mocks the mayor’s repeated declarations of “transforming” Chicago’s corrupt and arrogant government. It reminds me of the days of Mayor Richard J. Daley turning the mike off on aldermen who got too disagreeable.
I ask you to reverse your decision and post my comment as I wrote it.
If you are offended by my few words, you better get ready for much stronger stuff as grassroots organizers get wind of this nonsense.
By the way, who, exactly is the “Moderation Team” – do you work for the Bang The Table that has offices in Australia and Boulder, CO. What do you know about the civics here in Chicago?”
The next stage in the evolution of the TIF Illumination Project is here! Help us raise funds to publish “Chicago Is Not Broke. Funding the City We Deserve.” We’ve got the authors all lined up. Will you pitch in so we can publish 5,000 copies?
There’s a new venue for community-based storytelling in town – The Do Not Submit series. On May 18, 2015 the first instance came to Lincoln Park. I went over to City Grounds Coffee and shared this seven minute story about No Games Chicago.
Historian and reporter for The Nation Rick Perlstein is doing a series of articles on the perils of privatization. In this 13 minute interview on WBEZ he lays out the reasons to be very skeptical about the sorts of deals Chicago is “forcing down the throats” of the taxpayers. He gives a shout out to the work of Tom Tresser and the CivicLab.
I gave this presentation to the Loyola Law School’s Public Interest Law Program Thursday. The audio is 47 minutes. If you’d like a copy, email me at tom@tresser.com.
Chicago Ideas Week founder and chief honcho Brad Keywell (Groupon) ran a full page ad in today’s Chicago Tribune (my scanner isn’t big enough to get it all – this is like one third)…
Thing is, Brad and his wife, Kim each gave the mayor $5,300 for his re-election effort. This from his campaign’s October 2 A-1 report.
So here’s an idea for Chicago Ideas Week – throw the investment bankers out of City Hall and end the patronage, corruption and insider trading that stands for public policy here. We need MORE public, not less.
Historian and reporter for The Nation Rick Perlstein is doing 
