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After I wrote a story I got an irate letter from the leader of the local chamber of commerce, whose members included the merchants I had quoted. Was she mad at the city for making life difficult for her members? Not at all. She was mad at her members for criticizing the local alderman, Tom Tunney. I suggested that she’s supposed to serve the interests of her dues paying members–not the alderman.
Anyway, I thought about that chamber leader as I read today’s Sun-Times story about the proposal by aldermen John Pope and Anthony Beale to give security guards the right to write tickets. The security guards, like the chamber leader, are paid with funds generated from Special Service Area districts, which are like mini-TIFs. They’re set up by the local alderman in conjunction with the mayor in order to pay for additional local services, like street cleaning or security guards, by slapping an extra tax on local property owners.
