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Government, it's all about MONEY, not protecting people rights.
Aren't these government bureaucrats who want to erect these electronic eyesores the same government bureaucrats who pass messy yard laws that jail private citizens for having yards that are eye sores??? More of the old "Do as I say, not as I do" from our government masters. Mayor scales back billboard plans Emanuel temporarily drops provision to allow digital signs close to residences By John Byrne and John Chase, Chicago Tribune reporters November 24, 2012 Amid concerns from aldermen that Mayor Rahm Emanuel's latest budget-balancing venture would result in bright billboards invading Chicago's residential neighborhoods, Emanuel has temporarily set aside that part of the package to save his plan for electronic billboards along city expressways. The mayor's office has started briefing aldermen in hopes of building enough support on the City Council to vote next month on the scaled-back proposal, which would still let a new billboard conglomerate, Interstate-JCDecaux LLC, erect 34 digital signs overlooking the Kennedy, Dan Ryan and other expressways from nearby city-owned property. The mayor's office says the no-bid deal would bring the city at least $154 million over 20 years. But gone for the time being is a second prong of Emanuel's billboard expansion, which was unveiled late last month. That clause would have allowed companies to build digital billboards on city-owned parcels as close as 125 feet from residences in exchange for taking down five conventional signs elsewhere. Ald. Daniel Solis, 25th, chairman of the zoning committee, said too many aldermen had questions about the five-for-one provision. "The sensible thing to do was pull back on that portion and move forward with the signs near expressways," Solis said. Solis and officials with the mayor's office, though, did not rule out the possibility of reviving the neighborhood provision. Solis, who is an Emanuel backer, said he hopes to build enough support among his colleagues to eventually pass that part, but he warned that it wouldn't come unless it is part of a billboard ordinance that would call for taking down standard billboards and other large signs that have been posted illegally. Emanuel's decision to piecemeal the billboard proposal comes weeks after he first unveiled it as a major portion of his plan to bring $18 million into the city's coffers next year through what his administration calls a municipal marketing campaign. The mayor's top financial adviser, Lois Scott, said the billboard proposal would raise at least $15 million a year for the next two years. But that guarantee drops to about $6 million for the following years. When the city announced its deal with Interstate-JCDecaux several weeks ago, competitors knocked the plan because City Hall didn't put the expressway and neighborhood program out for bid. They questioned whether the city was getting all the money it could with such a long-term deal. That criticism has become muted since the Emanuel administration pulled back on the neighborhoods proposal. Interstate-JCDecaux is a partnership of two politically connected firms formed specifically to vie for the Chicago advertising contract. The Emanuel administration acknowledges that it agreed to a deal without checking to see if any other companies would offer more money for the same advertising rights. Emanuel and officials in his administration have repeatedly said the mayor doesn't support "sole-source deals." But they contend that the billboard agreement is different because it came out of the city's 2011 open invitation to about 6,000 city vendors to pitch any ideas they had for marketing on city property. Interstate-JCDecaux was one of five companies that came up with a digital billboard plan in response to that request, and their proposal was selected as the best one, Emanuel spokeswoman Kathleen Strand said. "This is in no way a sole-source contract," Strand said. Still, members of the City Council have questioned the plan. Ald. Proco "Joe" Moreno, 1st, said he's concerned that the city isn't getting enough bang for its buck from the conglomerate. He compared the arrangement to the much-criticized parking meter deal made by former Mayor Richard Daley in which the city sold the long-term rights to run the parking meters for less than some thought they were worth. "That's what I'm concerned about," Moreno said. "We're getting $154 million from this deal. That sounds good, but how do we know that's what it is actually worth? I think the way to find that out is if we had multiple entities to bid." Solis said he's confident a contract involving expressway signs and a tougher stance against the illegal signs cluttering Chicago neighborhoods will have enough council votes to pass. During debate over Emanuel's 2013 budget, which passed the City Council on Nov. 15, Solis defended the billboard deal and said the city will not give up assets as it did under the parking meter lease. Solis also said some of the complaining about the Interstate-JCDecaux plan has come from aldermen allied with competing outdoor advertising firms. Moreno, for instance, has received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from billboard companies. But Ald. George Cardenas, 12th, said that even though he likes the idea of raising money through billboards next to expressways, he thinks the city could do better than the Interstate-JCDecaux agreement. He said City Hall should consider auctioning off specific billboard locations. Ald. Robert Fioretti, 2nd, said that rather than introducing intrusive billboards to his ward stretching from south of the Loop to the West Side, the city could raise millions of dollars each year simply by doing a better job of collecting annual inspection fees for existing signs. "They don't need a trade-in for something even more distracting in the neighborhoods," Fioretti said. "Government has to have some role in protecting people from digital blight." jebyrne@tribune.com jchase@tribune.com Copyright © 2012, Chicago Tribune |
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