If Johnson doesn't reel in the spending Chicago will need a Go Fundme campaign
Lalapalooza, NASCAR, and DNC loom as budget busters
While Mayor Brandon Johnson licks his progressive wounds following the Bring Chicago Home referendum drubbing; somebody on Team Johnson needs to put that loss in the rearview mirror and look ahead to this summer. Just three events - the Democratic National Committee convention, the NASCAR street race, and the annual Lalapalooza fest stand ready to drill a deep hole the city’s budget-something Johnson has been reticent to discuss since taking office. All three have the potential to force Chicago to shell out dollars in police overtime and contractual services beyond what it already budgeted. The current budget is so tenuous Chicago might have to do a municipal version of a Go Fundme drive.
In the last two months to 10 weeks Johnson has been doling out dollars for various programs and projects as though Chicago is loaded with surplus cash. To balance the current budget, we know he had to cobble dollars from several sources, including places from next year’s allocations. His current spending is beyond short-sighted.
The administration just lost its chief of staff with the retirement of Rich Guidice, and with his exit it lost the vast institutional knowledge he has concerning major events such as the DNC convention. He is the former head of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications. Guidice, and in that role normally would handle all logistics for this event which none of Johnson’s staff have any experience.
That’s why it is critical to name the people in-house who will shoulder the responsibility of seeing that the convention comes off as smoothly as possible. Although there have been many instances when it was obvious he needed to do so; the mayor has refused to call for outside assistance. His staffers also will need to know how to coordinate and listen the host of law enforcement agencies that will be here. They range from the Secret Service to the Cook County Sheriff’s office- interagency dependency also is missing from the Johnson Administration’s playbook.
A non-financial pain point is that Johnson’s outsized ego will have to take a distant backseat to Gov. JB Pritzker. In several political circles there is the sentiment the governor is Johnson’s nemesis. Were it not for Pritzker and his deep, deep pockets the convention would not be in Chicago this year.
Unfortunately, the players in this administration have been highly reluctant to recognize internal flaws; and are quick to look for fault in their accusers’ perspectives. That attitude could be problematic when “outsiders” direct the mayor’s office on how matters should be handled.
Even with the bevy of outside law enforcement present, we can look for CPD members to rack up some astronomical overtime hours. During a routine year, they stack up hundreds of millions of dollars collectively in OT; this will be like manna from Heaven for them.
It is naive to think or believe that Superintendent Larry Snelling is going to attempt to stymie how much his officers will pluck from the OT box. Snelling grew up in the CPD system, one which is known for having officers routinely doubling their incomes via the overtime route. Snelling’s loyalty will be to the men and women under his charge. A giant overtime bill after the convention will only merit him a slap on the wrist from the mayor- if that. Yes, Johnson proclaimed his outrage about overtime totals a short while ago; but that was more for voter appeasement than indignation over the reality i the department when it comes to OT.
Ultimately, how much overtime is accrued in conjunction with the convention rests with the women and men of CPD who will be on the streets and in and around the United Center and any other convention venues. Now is the time for city decision-makers to work out a viable plan to try to make sure it is not excessive; if not, then city budget officials just might have to resort to Go Fundme.
NASCAR will be chuckling all the way to the bank
Whatever glitz and glamour the first NASCAR street race brought to Chicago last year; the organization closed out the weekend with bags full of cash while the city held a virtually empty bag. Former Mayor Lori Lightfoot was so adamant about bringing the event here, she and her team allowed race officials to steamroll them, and Chicago nearly paid them for the race instead of vice versa. The public cries to get out NASCAR’s three-year contract were loud and frequent, and ignored.
However, the organization negotiated with the new mayor who offered that the city had struck a better deal - different is not necessarily better. What the Johnson Administration came up with is NASCAR making changes about set up and break down times, tweaks to the route and other minor changes.
Even though NASCAR agreed to kick in approximately $2 million more for the 2024 race, people who track such matters predict Chicago will still lose between $1 million and $2 million dollars. Studies revealed that the race didn’t generate nearly the economic impact that organizers told city officials.
Lapalooza is an accounting matter
Chicago can be assured that this festival will generate a couple of million dollars in amusement tax. For this budget season the issue becomes the overtime pay for CPD will leave the city’s coffers long before all of the festival revenue is realized. And there is no guarantee that Chicago government and festival officials will walk away agreeing on how much the latter owes the city.
Like the other events mentioned, this one reek of overtime opportunity and abuse from CPD. On the plus side, Chicago has experience with this event, and that should lend itself to better control and allocation of resources.
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