On Thursday, May 15, when the Chicago Plan Commission conducts a hearing on Mayor Daley’s proposal to stick the Chicago Children’s Museum in Grant Park, the media, drawn by the prospect of a contentious debate, will pour into the City Council chambers, shining a spotlight on a relatively obscure public body. And what will we see? Most likely an embarrassing display of servility to the mayor.
Founded almost 100 years ago at the recommendation of the Burnham Plan, the commission was always intended to be a board of mayoral appointees. According to city statute, its 22 members include the mayor, six aldermen, four city department heads, the chairman of the CTA board, the superintendent of the Park District, and nine citizens appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council. (The Plan Commission’s roster lists only 21 members, and repeated attempts to determine if parks superintendent Timothy Mitchell is on the board were unsuccessful.)
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Until a recent court ruling, the commission gave opponents of projects only two minutes each to address the members. I can recall hearings over the years where residents sat through hours of testimony by the developer, architects, traffic engineers, and lawyers only to be barred from speaking themselves.
This has ushered in a new age of citizen input at the Plan Commission—one that activists intend to exploit in their mission to keep the Children’s Museum out of Grant Park. Streeterville residents, environmentalists, park activists, and lakefront lovers have promised to show up in force. Under what City Hall insiders snidely refer to as the “Hedlund ruling,” they now have the right to speak, ask questions, and introduce evidence.
The sad reality of oversight boards like the Plan Commission is that no one—not even the mayor’s people—expects the city to effectively police itself. The only way this Plan Commission will end up protecting the lakefront is to screw things up so badly that a judge will overturn its decision.v
