MAYOR RICHARD M. DALEY'S REMARKS
Civic Federation 1991 Annual Luncheon
Wednesday, June 5, 1991
A little more than a month ago, I began my first full
term in office by challenging the status quo in City
government and government agencies.
The truth is, we have no choice.
The urban landscape is changing. The old plans and
blueprints no longer apply.
American cities face greater problems crumbling
infrastructures, soaring crime rates, and troubled
schools. We face new and heart-breaking dimensions of
poverty.
Federal and state assistance is shrinking. And our
taxpayers struggling to balance their own checkbooks are crying for relief.
These are the indisputable facts of life in Chicago
and other urban areas.
But out of this changing landscape can rise new
hope.
Standing here today, I am hopeful because these
tough challenges have sparked a new creativity in Chicago's City government.
In the Budget Office, in the Departments of Revenue and Health, Police and Planning, we are looking at
the same equations from different angles.
Slowly but steadily, we are finding new solutions.
And we are replacing wasteful bureaucracy with
leaner, more efficient management strategies.
One important tool is privatization.
By turning car towing over to a private company,
we turned an expenditure into a revenue source. The
City now collects $25 for each car towed, and our
streets are being rid of dangerous eyesores.
By privatizing addiction treatment, janitorial services and sewer maintenance, we are getting better
services for less money.
And that's what good government is all about.
Another key strategy is aggressive revenue collection.
By cracking down on parking ticket scofflaws
alone, we raised over $40 million in 1990 a record
high. We're now booting 500-600 vehicles per week,
and we expect 1991 parking ticket revenues to pass $50
million.
We have started suspending business licenses where
outstanding permit fees and other city bills are owed. In
this way, we have collected $3 million in delinquent
state and city taxes from our liquor licensees just in
the last six weeks.
We're funding capital improvements through motor
fuel revenue bonds. And leveraging more private funds
for Community Development Block Grant programs.
I am hopeful today, because we are learning how to
maximize every available resource, in every corner of
government.
An outside panel will soon begin a study of operations in our Police Department. They'll look for ways to
turn Chicago's finest into the most efficient, effective
force in the nation.
Getting the most from every resource includes one
of our most critical assets City employees.
Last month, we announced a major crackdown, led
by my Inspector General, Al Vroustouris.
Thirty-seven employees in the Department of
Streets and Sanitation found out the hard way that we
expect a day's work for a day's pay. The crackdown has
just begun.
82% of Chicago's corporate budget goes to salaries
and benefits for our employees.
So workers who cheat the City timeclock are cheating every man and woman who pays taxes here.
I simply can't and won't allow that to continue.
Our number-one goal is to serve the people of Chicago to the best of our means and ability.
That includes meeting the needs of our people today and looking ahead to developments that will
serve Chicagoans in the future.
That's why the City is helping create a new west side
sports stadium that's privately funded, and aimed at
preserving and enhancing the neighboring community.
That's why we're supporting another international
airport, doubling the size of McCormick Place, and
designing a new downtown transit system.
I am hopeful today because we are making plans
and making headway.
Last year, we saw a significant change in the opera-
July 1991 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 19
tion of Chicago's public schools, under the local school
councils.
But it's only a fragile start.
There are two opposing forces at work in our
schools school reform, with all its potential, and the
resistent counter-weight of a cumbersome school board
bureaucracy.
The Civic Federation voiced a similar concern last
summer, warning that "some things still look like business as usual" at the Board of Education.
I think we have all been getting mixed messages
from Chicago's public school administration.
The struggle between the progressive force of the
local school councils, and old-fashioned school board
politics, is destructive and costly.
On the sidelines, with the most at stake, are Chicago's children. For their sake, the school board and
Superintendent must be willing to make the same kind
of tough calls we've had to make in City government.
The cuts that have been proposed so far barely
make a dent in the estimated $315 million shortfall. The
Board of Education has a long way to go.
One thing is clear we can't cheat our public school
teachers. Keeping their salaries competitive is like paying into a trust fund for the next century.
I'm realistic enough to know that a large infusion of
cash from the Illinois General Assembly isn't likely. Nor
will it solve the board's many problems.
But the schools are one of the main reasons I'm
fighting to extend the state's income tax surcharge. It's a
fair and practical way to provide critical funding for a
critical need.
These funds are more than numbers on a ledger
sheet to the people of Chicago and our children. We are
depending on a significant share of the income tax
surcharge or a replacement for that lost income.
I know the surcharge won't be discussed in a vacuum.
In Springfield, our state government is up against its
own budget crunch. Our governor and state legislators
are looking for ways to cut costs.
But they must not try to balance the state's books by
shifting their responsibility to the people of Chicago
and other cities across Illinois.
We simply cannot bear additional mandated programs without the resources to fund them.
New York City tried that, and nearly went bankrupt.
The State must face its responsibility, and remember that the concerns of the city of Chicago are the
concerns of most municipalities in Illinois.
As I have said many times, government can't solve
every problem by itself. We depend on input from you,
the private sector.
Powerful allies like the Civic Federation are another
reason I'm hopeful about Chicago's future.
The Civic Federation is Chicago's oldest and most
respected reform organization. It remains a trusted
guardian of the public interest, and a passionate advocate for our taxpayers.
In the last two years, the Civic Federation has informed and inspired my administration.
Your priorities are our priorities. To make sure government works, first and foremost, for the people who
support it.
I want to join the members of the Civic Federation
today in saluting Stanton Cook.
Over the last twenty years, he transformed the
Tribune Company from a local media interest to a
national Fortune 500 Company.
He accomplished this without once losing sight of
the paper's most important mission service to the
community. He did it with an abundance of vision,
talent and heart.
Stanton Cook is most deserving of the award that
bears the name of the Civic Federation's esteemed
founder, Lyman J. Gage.
As Chicago moves forward, I welcome the ongoing
advice and friendship of the Civic Federation.
With your help and the continued support of civic
and business leaders in our city Chicago will not be
another New York.
To the contrary, Chicago will be a guiding light for
other cities attempting to navigate through the changes
and challenges of the nineties.
Belvidere Wastewater
Treatment Plant
Designed By RJN Receives
State of Illinois Award
Belvidere Wastewater Treatment Plant in Belvidere, Illinois was recently awarded the Plant of the Year
Award for 1990 by the Illinois Water Pollution Control
Operators (IWPCO). The Wastewater Treatment Plant
was given this award because it successfully met Illinois
Environmental Protection Association (IEPA) standards in conjunction with a plant compliance project.
The design of the plant and engineering services during
construction were provided by RJN Environmental.
Page 20 / Illinois Municipal Review / July 1991