Wednesday, April 6, 2011
"Your" city?
I apologize for the long gap between this post and my previous post. But, I fell as a victim to America's busy lifestyle. My post today is about privatization in the city of Chicago. Mayor Daley is a big fan of privatization. First it was the parking meters and then the parking garages downtown. Now, the idea of privatizing the Department of Streets and Sanitation is being tossed up in the air. It's terrible to see our beautiful Windy City slowly becoming the City of Corporate America. City Council recognizes that privatizing the Dept. of Streets and Sanitation would save the city millions of dollars. But, at what other cost? The cost of turning over our city to the CEO of a big corporation. I'm sure that some where in the CEO's multi-million dollar bank account, he/she will be able to find the care and respect Chicagoans deserve. You may be asking yourself, "Does it really matter who picks up our garbage? After all, it's JUST garbage." This is where Mayor Daley's frame of thought comes in, "Does it really matter who controls the parking meters? Chicagoans will ONLY have to pay $4.00 an hour when parking." Chicago's future mayor, Rahm Emanuel is against the privatization of the Dept. of Streets and Sanitation. I applaud him for fighting the Daley culture of privatization. I hope that Emanuel keeps his word, after all he's no politician! But next time you tell someone that Chicago is "your" city, think about it twice!