City Council aim to shield taxpayers from Olympic risks
Chicago aldermen have been vilified and lampooned for rubber-stamping the 75-year, $1.15 billion deal that privatized parking meters after just two days of debate and no independent analysis.
They don’t intend to get burned again on a deal with an even bigger potential to stick it to Chicago taxpayers: the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
The City Council is mapping plans to hire an independent insurance analyst at taxpayers’ expense to comb through the $1 billion in private insurance policies being lined up by Chicago 2016 to shield taxpayers from any risk beyond the $500 million the City Council has already pledged.
Chicago 2016 Chairman Pat Ryan said this week he needs 45 to 60 days before he’ll be ready to outline the carriers, costs and conditions of the insurance.
But after a closed-door briefing with Ryan Thursday, Ald. Joe Moore (49th) insisted that the information be delivered to aldermen in time to conduct an independent risk-assessment analysis prior to the International Olympic Committee’s Oct. 2 vote.
Aldermen also intend to hire their own experts to verify Chicago 2016’s construction budget and the Olympic committee’s representation of surpluses generated by past Olympics to make certain “they’re not cooking the books,” Moore said.
“If, through their own-foot dragging, they don’t present us with information in time for us to conduct an independent analysis, I would have no choice but to vote the entire package down. The old, ‘Trust me’ just won’t fly anymore,” Moore said.
Ald. Willie Cochran (20th) said the City Council is bolder and wiser after the furor caused by broken, overstuffed and improperly calibrated parking meters and the steep schedule of rate hikes tied to the 75-year lease.
“We have been bitten by the lack of information from this past fiasco. I’ve learned early. Everybody has learned. We are taking those mistake-ridden decisions and moving forward,” Cochran said.
“I never want to be in a position ever again to be held accountable for making a vote on something without having adequate input.”
Rick Ludwig, chief financial officer for Chicago 2016, said he welcomes an independent analysis.
“You can never be 100 percent certain about everything. But, we’re confident contingencies in our budget will be sufficient to cover conditions that might arise and that the insurance will be sufficient to cover catastrophic risks outside [our] control, such as bad weather, power outrages and sponsor bankruptcy,” Ludwig said.
Last week, Mayor Daley touched off a political firestorm back home when he told International Olympic Committee members meeting in Switzerland that Chicago would match the full government guarantees offered by rival cities by signing the standard host-city contract.
That means Chicago taxpayers would be the final back-stop for Olympic losses if Chicago 2016 burns through $2.5 billion worth of public and private guarantees.
During Thursday’s briefing, Moore said he told Ryan he has “failed pretty miserably so far” when it comes to selling the Olympics to the public.
“The whole world has changed since they first brought this to the City Council and they haven’t taken into account the changed circumstances: the near economic collapse; ballooning budget deficits; increased public cynicism and anger as a result of the parking meter lease,” Moore said.
“All of these factors have undermined public support for this Olympic proposal. They need to do a better job of selling this and being transparent.”