The last time a Park District advisory council weighed in on the Olympics, it didn’t come down on the side Mayor Daley wanted. That was back in July, when the Jackson Park Advisory Council passed a resolution against the city’s proposal to build a temporary 20,000-seat field hockey arena in the south lakefront park, part of its bid for the 2016 Olympics.
The Park District is essentially an extension of City Hall. The mayor appoints its whole board, and Mitchell was once his deputy chief of staff. Winning and hosting the games is contingent on Park District support. The events will be held on Park District property and be will be paid for in part by Park District funds. Mitchell and other Park District leaders are the ones who’ll take the heat for interrupting regular park activities—softball, soccer, football, tennis leagues—to get the facilities ready. As one former board member recently told me, “It’s all about the Olympics, my friend.”
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Jill Niland, president of the Lincoln Park Advisory Council, calls the proposed conditions “preemptive strikes” designed to make advisory groups less likely to rebel against its policies. Ross Petersen, president of the Jackson Park Advisory Council, agrees: “They’re trying to create an atmosphere to discourage any type of whistle-blowing,” he says. “I have to think that our opposition to the Olympics has something to do with this.”
On Friday, April 4, Park District officials will meet with select park advisory councils to discuss the new proposed guidelines; we’ll see how their input is heeded.
