Olympic Opponents Don’t Make the Cut

By KEVIN HELLIKER and PHRED DVORAK

CHICAGO — On Friday morning, when thousands swarm Daley Plaza to root for this city’s 2016 Olympics bid, Bob Quellos will show up to boo.

“Actually, there will be a small core of us,” Mr. Quellos said.

As a founder of No Games Chicago, Mr. Quellos has worked for months to keep the Windy City Olympics free. Yet when the International Olympic Committee convenes in Copenhagen on Friday to choose the host city of the 2016 Olympics, Mr. Quellos and his group will be excluded.

Never mind that the leader of No Games Chicago, Tom Tresser, will be stationed just outside the voting chamber in Denmark, eager to counter the arguments of President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey and Mayor Richard Daley — all in Copenhagen to lobby for Chicago’s bid. Mr. Tresser won’t be invited inside.

“In the face of this overwhelming firepower in favor of the Chicago bid, it’s a little intimidating to be arguing against it,” Mr. Tresser, a Chicago college instructor, said Wednesday by phone from Copenhagen.

The group worries that taxpayers could end up on the hook, despite Chicago’s contention that the games will be financed privately. And in a city with a history of corruption, No Games Chicago says the Olympics is likely to enrich the powerful and hurt the poor.

The 2016 Chicago bid received financing of about $70 million, and at its helm sits one of the city’s most respected business leaders, Aon Corp. founder Patrick Ryan. On Tuesday, Chicago’s 2016 committee released an independent poll showing that about 72% of Chicago-area residents support the bid.

Of all the challenges that have faced Chicago’s Olympic bid — the availability of financing, the logistics of proposing new venues, the allure of competitors like Rio de Janeiro — none have been less threatening than the local opposition movement. The first No Games Chicago demonstration, staged last winter, drew only about 200 people, though about half of those who took the microphone turned out to be supporters of the bid.

Anti-Olympic campaigns sprout up at most every Olympics. The Winter Games often trigger an avalanche of environmental concerns: how many trees and mountain vistas need to be sacrificed for a new set of bobsled runs and ski jumps and slalom stadiums and roads to link them all together?

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‘No Games Chicago’ trio hopes to make their pitch, too

By LISA DONOVAN – Staff Reporter

COPENHAGEN — Three representatives of the group “No Games Chicago” arrived in Copenhagen today, hoping to meet with President Obama and members of the International Olympic Committee before the IOC decided Friday which city will get the 2016 Summer Olympics.

They wouldn’t say where they’re staying or talk much about the final plea they hope to make.

“When you’re in a foreign country and when you have the president and the mayor aligned against you, you want to be cautious,” said Tom Tresser, who traveled with fellow “No Games Chicago” supporters Rhoda Whitehorse and Martin Macias.

He said the group will ask to meet with Obama, who will arrive here Friday  — to help First Lady Michelle Obama, Mayor Daley and others make a final, formal pitch before the IOC vote.

Chicago is competing with Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo.

Tresser argues that Chicago can’t afford to host the Olympics.

And if Chicago wins?

“Either way, we have a question as to what the city of Chicago should do now,” Tresser said. “What ideas do people have for making people prosper?”

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Opposition to Chicago’s Olympic bid hoping to travel to Copenhagen too

No Games Chicago’s Tom Tresser is begging Chicago residents to turn out Tuesday at City Hall for what he is hoping will be a mass demonstration against hosting the 2016 Games.

Tresser is hoping to get the attention of the International Olympic Committee in advance of Friday’s vote.

“Tax payers are already on the hook for $250 million dollars and the Games haven’t even started yet,” says Tresser.

Recent polls show as many as 84% of Chicagoans are against having to finance any part of The Olympics.

Some of Chicago’s under-developed communities are left out of the plans, leaving residents of these areas feeling less than positive about the Games. Even residents of lower-income neighborhoods included in the 2016 plans are opposed, stating events won’t help the communities. Some even call the plans racists.

Tresser is asking for help so that he can travel to Copenhagen and air the grievances of the group.

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Chicago has reasonably solid plan for 2016 Olympics, auditor says

Civic Federation also urges City Council to keep close tabs on Chicago 2016

By David Heinzmann and Todd Lighty

Tribune reporters

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Mayor Richard Daley’s Olympic committee has a reasonably sound financial plan, but aldermen must keep a close eye on Chicago 2016′s operations, according to a six-week review of the bid team’s finances by the Civic Federation.

The 100-plus page review was requested by the City Council to test the financial assumptions put forth by bid officials about whether the 2016 Summer Games would be profitable. Fears that the Games would lose money and burden taxpayers have dominated public debate in the months before the Oct. 2 selection of a host city.

The watchdog group cautioned that the review was not a thorough financial audit and that time constraints limited the depth of the analysis. But the federation nonetheless said if Chicago 2016 sticks to its plan to buy additional insurance, the extra coverage would create “an effective safety net” to protect taxpayers in the event of problems such as cancellation of the Games, natural disasters or “loss of development financing.”

The report also said it was critical for the City Council to use its oversight powers to monitor the city’s Olympic plans. But that appears to miss the political reality of City Hall, where aldermen routinely have followed Daley’s lead and rarely challenge his major plans.

“The greatest risk that we see for the City of Chicago and the taxpayers is if they get the bid and fail to follow the plan and carry out the professional level of oversight that is necessary,” Civic Federation President Laurence Msall said.

The federation hired a consulting firm, L.E.K. Consulting, to do most of the work. The London-based firm is bidding on a city contract at O’Hare International Airport that will be decided by the Daley administration, a fact Msall said did not present a conflict of interest.

Ald. Manny Flores (1st) said the report reinforces his calls for greater council oversight of the Games.

“If Chicago wins, we should have a specific plan in place that deals with oversight and with transparency,” Flores said. “I think the council is up to the task.”

Among the greatest risks in the Olympic plan is the impact that a changing real estate market could have on the financing of the billion dollar Olympic Village, according to the report. To address that risk, the Olympic committee’s plan calls for multiple developers to spread the financial burden in addition to the proposed insurance policies.

The report also cautioned that some of Chicago 2016′s revenue estimates appeared optimistic. “Local sponsorships are predicted to be substantially higher than previous Games, and estimated revenues from donations are aggressive when compared to past Olympic budgets,” the report noted.

But the federation found that the revenue projections did not pose a “significant risk” to hosting the Games.

Chicago 2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan said he believed the sponsorship estimates were well-founded, considering past giving to civic projects by Chicago corporations and philanthropists.

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Daley’s Olympics dream only bruised as key test nears

Posted by Greg Hinz – Crain’s Blogs

I went out to listen the other night when Mayor Richard M. Daley’s 2016 Olympics “listening” tour hit my ward, fully expecting Team Daley to get clobbered.

Olympics critics have been on a roll lately, ever since the mayor let it slip after a meeting in Europe that Chicago taxpayers would after all have to guarantee the whole $4.8-billion-plus shooting match. If there’s a place where folks don’t like to have their pockets picked, and are smart enough to know when that’s happening, it’s on the liberal lakefront, where I live.

But in the end, though the critics raised valid questions at the meeting, it was the pro side that impressed.

The critics huffed and puffed and rolled their eyes and wildly exaggerated: No, Monroe Harbor is not going to be emptied of boats for four years, as one speaker suggested. No, the lakefront bike path is not going to be decimated by hordes of Ukrainian wrestlers in SUVs or slow moving construction crews, as another hinted.

The message from the anti side was that everything is hunky dory, just the way it is today. The parks are in perfect condition, Chicago doesn’t need the international image boost that a successful games could provide, yadda, yadda, yadda.

In comparison, the Chicago 2016 bid committee crew was cool and collected, without a trace of the arrogance that the critics wore like a cheap suit. They knew their stuff.

When, for instance, one speaker belabored Chicago 2016 for not creating new park land by putting the games on toxic waste and other fringy sites, officials promptly responded that doing so would invite the kind of risky financial excess that they are trying to prevent.

Game, set, match.

Some confirmation of that view landed in my in box this morning, when U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Evanston, announced that the House had unanimously approved a resolution supporting the Chicago bid.

“I can’t think of a better place to host these games,” Ms. Schakowsky said in a somewhat breathless press release. “Chicago boasts a magnificent skyline and a diverse population that prides itself not only on its history but on what will be achieved in the future.”

Now, Ms. Schakowsky is a charter member of the lakefront liberal alliance. She’s represented the north end of the city lakefront — in Congress, and earlier as a state rep — for two decades. And if she can engage in such a full slobber over Mr. Daley’s dream despite recent occurrences, guess what? Maybe she’s concluded that those recent occurrences don’t mean much.

That said, Mr. Daley and his Olympics dream are about to enter a critical phase. The City Council is set to vote late next month on whether to authorize that total guarantee after receiving an outside financial review by a firm hired by the Civic Federation.

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Inside the 2nd Ward Olympic Forum

No Games Chicago is a no show

by Bernard Ramos

After Mayor Daley remarked that he will sign the standard city contract guaranteeing the games’ finances in Switzerland last month, Chicago 2016 decided to hold several community forums for all Chicago’s fifty wards in fifty days. The Committee had to not only drum up support from the residents but they also had to quell any concerns that taxpayers’ money might be used to fund the games. The Second Ward, led by Alderman Bob Fioretti and one of the big downtown wards that would be affected by the Olympic Games had its chance to voice out their concerns at the UIC Forum in the University Village on Tuesday.

The most important topic of the meeting was the financial guarantees, which Lori Healey, the Chicago 2016 president, delved into the details right away.  She reassured the audience that the city’s commitment of up to $500 million, the state’s $250 million share and the additional $1 billion insurance guarantees would never be touched because of the assumption that no recent US Olympic games have lost money, and revenues would be pouring in from ticket sales and many major sponsors would pay to have a piece of the pie, and Ms. Healey touting the Central Time Zone as the most lucrative TV market in the world. The Chicago 2016’s $3-plus billion conservative budget also included the premiums to pay for the insurance guarantees.

Almost a full hour was designated for questions and the first concern that was brought up used the Athens games as an example of excessive cost overruns and white elephants. Ms. Healey defended the Chicago games that it would not be similar to the Athens games because most of the city’s venues and infrastructures are already in place and the fact that Athens had to build an international airport.

One local business owner asked the committee how small businesses can participate in the business aspect of the games without being trumped by the big-time sponsors. Another attendee raised some concerns about the possible displacement of local residents when the Olympics come to town and quickly drew Mr. Fioretti’s attention and countered the notion of displacement as unfounded. The Committee explained that the planned Olympic Village will be located in what is now the shuttered-Michael Reese Hospital and provided the prospects of additional housing, especially senior housing, possible students dorms, apartments and retail development in the underserved area.

Another issue the Committee tackled was the fact that these future housing units would not flood the current real estate market until 2017. Furthermore, the Committee reassured one South Loop woman who inquired how local residents will be affected with the influx of tourists and spectators within the immediate venues in the Near South Side. Part of the plan is to have spectators use their venue/event tickets as passes for free transportation so that car traffic would be limited to local residents. Venue parking garages and lots would not be used to guarantee minimal disruption in the local area and promote public transportation and foot traffic.

Ms. Healey quipped that the largest possible event would most likely be the opening ceremonies and that alone would attract about 80,000 spectators which pales in comparison with the 4th of July Fireworks during the Taste of Chicago—which attracts at least a million people without so much incident. A woman who was involved with a youth track and field program drew applause from the audience after raising the prospects of leaving several sports facilities after the games for the underserved kids in the area, especially the obvious lack of track and field venues.

One big surprise was the lack of anti-games questions or concerns that were expected to cloud such community meetings, especially from the diverse and dense Second Ward.  But what the audience unexpectedly heard were the gung-ho attitude of one downtown worker asking for more visionary developments beyond the games and another man quoting the clichéd Burnham mantra “make no small plans.” Another attendee, who apparently attended the other previous meetings, commended the Chicago 2016’s consistency in delivering the facts and information for not just telling the neighborhood what they want to hear, but also what they need to hear. Being a former chief-of-staff of the mayor, Ms. Healey certainly controlled the discussion and seemed to calm any doubts on the Committee’s delivering the Games. This community forum’s views may be different from the rest of the forty-nine wards, but it was definitely a major win for the Chicago 2016 Committee.

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Bid for Olympics on the hot seat

Use of parkland is criticized during forum in Lakeview

By David Heinzmann and Kathy Bergen | Tribune reporters

Chicago 2016 leaders gave their regular presentation Monday, telling a community forum in the city’s Lakeview neighborhood that the Olympics would be a privately funded spectacle that would raise the city’s profile globally.

But unlike a string of recent meetings, after the bid team put its best foot forward, it was immediately hit with counter-presentations from critics who fear that the Summer Games could gravely damage the city.

While bid officials hoped to allay fears particular to Lakeview residents, such as the impact of venue construction to a lakefront bird sanctuary and further congestion to a crowded neighborhood, they had to defend the bid from attacks on multiple fronts.

Sharing the stage with bid officials were Tom Tresser of No Games Chicago, which opposes the games, and Erma Tranter, president of Friends of the Parks. While Tranter doesn’t oppose the Games outright, her group fears that the current plan would permanently mar some parks and burden the Chicago Park District with facilities it later won’t be able to afford to operate.

Tresser said he believes that the Olympics would be a boondoggle from beginning to end.

“We’re broke. We have no money. We’re incompetent and corrupt, and we’ll bungle it,” Tresser said.

Much of the debate Monday focused on the use of the parks for Olympic venues. Tranter said her group still wants the 80,000-seat Olympic stadium moved out of Washington Park. But the stadium in Washington Park is a centerpiece of the Olympic plan.

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Group Joins No Games Opposing Chicago 2016

The Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precint Organization (IVI-IPO) has joined No Games Chicago to oppose Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

In a statement released Monday the group cites Chicago’s “long history of being unable to contain special projects costs” and the violation of the “initial promise that ‘not a dime’ of taxpayer money would be used”.

In a newsletter IVI-IPO said the recent revelation that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) host city contract will require the City of Chicago to be liable for all cost overruns puts city residents in a precarious position, especially when the city is facing severe budget cuts. The group calls the Olympics a “wonderful institution, but the city’s record of extreme cost overruns on large projects makes this a bad deal for Chicago residents”.

The IVI-IPO has been in existence since 1944. According to its webiste the organization’s primary tools are voter’s registration, voter information and candidate endorsement.

The Independent Voters of Illinois-Independent Precint Organization (IVI-IPO) has joined No Games Chicago to oppose Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

In a statement released Monday the group cites Chicago’s “long history of being unable to contain special projects costs” and the violation of the “initial promise that ‘not a dime’ of taxpayer money would be used”.

In a newsletter IVI-IPO said the recent revelation that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) host city contract will require the City of Chicago to be liable for all cost overruns puts city residents in a precarious position, especially when the city is facing severe budget cuts. The group calls the Olympics a “wonderful institution, but the city’s record of extreme cost overruns on large projects makes this a bad deal for Chicago residents”.

The IVI-IPO has been in existence since 1944. According to its webiste the organization’s primary tools are voter’s registration, voter information and candidate endorsement.

The Illusions of “No Games Chicago”

I have been following the campaign from No Games Chicago for some time, and while they do bring up important points on certain issues (like better schools, crime reduction and public transit), one should note that below the surface their resistance is not purely directed at Chicago 2016 even though Chicago is the focus of their campaign.  If these people resided in Madrid, Rio or Tokyo one would expect them to have the exact same arguments and opposition.

Rio’s government has been accused numerous times for being corrupt, especially its police force.  The city also has numerous issues with infrastructure, and it has five times as many murders each year.  I wonder why they are so eager to host an Olympics?

Oh, and since when did Tokyo or Madrid say they would not be using tax dollars to fund their Games?

Those are three major points NGC pounds into their media interviews, and people who hear their grips walk away thinking “Chicago is the one with all the problems.”

NGC hardly ever bring up actual facts other than general arguments “it will cost too much money” or “the government is corrupt” or “look at London and Vancouver’s cost overruns.”  These points are barely worth making an argument over, but the media loves to plop down a camera and let them split it out because it makes them “balanced” even though NGC is quite the minority if you look at their argument in its entirety.

One has to realize that the arguments from this group go beyond Chicago, and they should be directly squared against the Olympic movement.  The way they cloak their “issues” with Chicago’s bid needs to be looked at with a more skeptical eye, but the last time I checked the Olympics in general are still very popular among Americans and the greater global community.  The Beijing Opening Ceremony was the most watched event in the history of man – even more than the moon landing.

So please those in the media, feature Olympic supporters other than the Chairman of Chicago 2016.  Please stop posting purely negative commentary into your newspapers from people who really don’t know anything about how Olympic Games operate.  I know many people who can intelligently make the case for why Chicago would be a fantastic host city and what we could gain here.

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No Games “Outrage” at ATR Survey

Here is an NBC video from a couple weeks ago featuring the Around the Rings Survey released, and see Tom Tresser’s interview…