Richard the Privatizer

[Donnachaidh]

http://socialistworker.org/2010/09/14/richard-the-privatizer

Bob Quellos, a founder of the No Games Chicago group that challenged the city's bid for the 2016 Olympics, chronicles the long and grim reign of Mayor Richard Daley.

WITHOUT WARNING, and to the relief of many Chicagoans, Mayor Richard M. Daley announced at a press conference last week that, after 21 years as mayor, he would not seek re-election.

Since his announcement, the mainstream media in Chicago have been busy glamorizing Daley's tenure as mayor and praising his ability to bring the city out of the doldrums of 1980s deindustrialization and create the "global city" that it is today.

While the media has been forced to give nods to the obvious troubles that have plagued the Daley administration, any real analysis of the city's political structure and current economic plan has been sparse. Take, for example, the praise for Daley's mayorship in a Chicago Sun-Times editorial:

efore he goes, allow us to make one thing perfectly clear: Richard M. Daley has been one hell of a mayor. Though his dictatorial style at times offended us, Chicago flourished during his two decades at the helm.

As of late, the Daley administration has run into some problems. A July poll by the Chicago Tribune found that just 31 percent of Chicagoans wanted the mayor to run for re-election, as opposed to 53 percent who did not. And Daley's image has taken a hit over the last year after the details surrounding the sale of Chicago's parking meter lease became public.

More at the link ---