Foodie Rant - Properly Sauced? Try Properly Ripped Off.
Oprah-geddon: Winfrey To Quit Show In 2011
Daley Blames - Who Else? - The Media For Oprah-geddon
NYT Preps For Chicago Edition
Chicago Gets Googled
Reacting to the violent holiday weekend that saw 11 people killed in over 60 shootings (and a stabbing thrown in for good measure), Mayor Daley took to the defensive, citing other reasons rather than the diversion of police to cover the Taste of Chicago (which had its own issues). Namely, the mayor blamed alcohol and the warmer weather for the outbreak.
“Anytime you have a long weekend -- weekends are very difficult -- especially big holiday weekends,” the mayor said.With Weis crediting a cool spring for a drop in homicides, Daley was asked if hot weather could be blamed for the surge in homicides.
“We always have hot weather during the summer. That’s one thing we always do. I hope the mayor doesn’t have to make that announcement,” Daley said sarcastically.
Turning serious, he said, “Hot weather always does. ... Let’s be realistic. People are drinking more.”
We're not going to harp on the unseasonably cool weather we had over the weekend because there's definitely truth to the "(warmer weather + booze) x holiday = outbreak of violence" equation the mayor laid out. Still, given the uproar over last year's Taste of Chicago violence and our general sense of cynicism that comes with anything involving the Mayor, there may be a kernel of truth in the idea that redirecting the majority of an over-worked and under-staffed police force towards one specific area may have led to an uptick in violence in outlying parts of the city. [WBBM]
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
but no one could have anticipated that the 4th of july was going to include ... heat and drinking?
this sort of response by the mayor (and the ONLY sort of response he always gives to everything always) is why i can't believe ANYone -- in our city, in our country, in the world -- thinks we should host an olympics. i've never seen someone shirk more responsibility -- except maybe someone who is drunk themselves. he's always got some excuse.
so, the distribution of police was bad? what about the fact that there aren't enough police or they're not getting paid enough to start with? and the list goes on ....
I was hot and drunk, but I was not violent.
Me too. The only violence here was the incredible headache due to the self inflicted consumption of draft beer...
And the ban on handguns in Chicago is working so well, isn't Richie?
When Chicago gets the Olympics the weather will be perfect, and violence will go down, and taxes will fall, and jobs will be a plenty, and the CTA will magically fix itself, and on and on and on....
When someone gets it in their mind to commit a violent act they're going to wait for an opportunity and do it. A long weekend with large crowds and large amounts of booze consumed is a great opportunity.
I hate to defend Daly, a mayor should have a "the buck stops here"-type attitude in terms of violence, but short of a financial windfall that allows us to hire a lot more cops or putting chemicals in the water to pacify its citizens Chicago has a long way to go.
Solutions, anyone?
-Emphasis on smaller, more neighborhood-focused events throughout the city.
-Charging admission to taste and using money for security. Also keeps the wandering idiot element a bit lower. 10 bucks for adults, 5 for kids over 5 is pretty reasonable.
-Better crowd management. This a pet peeve of mine as a friend works in event management and says that Taste was designed to accommodate about 1/2 the people who actually show up on any given day. Angry, jostled people tend to get into more altercations.
-Full open and independent review of the city security and facilities contracts for Taste. Find the waste, put it into making a better, cleaner, safer event.
And if Mayor Mumbles does even one of these I will be enjoying my Sox cap with a nice country gravy.
Last I checked there were plenty of neighborhood festivals every weekend - even on a holiday weekend.
If you charge admission to Taste, far fewer people will go. This may reduce violence, but it certainly reduces profits for the restaurants taking part. Why would they continue to participate?
Charging admission to the fireworks is, quite frankly, ludicrous. How are you going to process a million people descending on the lakefront? So much for "forever open, free, and clear."
Last I checked there were plenty of neighborhood festivals every weekend - even on a holiday weekend.
Yes, and if there were more of them, perhaps sponsored in poorer neighborhoods at the same time as opposed to one big messy fest in the middle of the city, that's a solution.
If you charge admission to Taste, far fewer people will go. This may reduce violence, but it certainly reduces profits for the restaurants taking part. Why would they continue to participate?
You really think that the people to whom a minor admittance fee is an impediment are going to be dropping huge coin on stick pickles and elephant ears? Charging admission would create a fund for better facilities overall, encouraging more businesses to participate and perhaps defray costs/make the event more profitable over all.
Charging admission to the fireworks is, quite frankly, ludicrous. How are you going to process a million people descending on the lakefront?
Did I say that you dissembling little toadstool? No, I said to charge for the Taste.
You can divorce the two events, I know that's quite a leap in logic and might require a helmet, having Taste earlier or later. Stacking the two events is just asking for logistical problems.
So much for "forever open, free, and clear."
Oh please. So concerts in Grant Park should always be free? Wedding events? Festivals? How dare they charge for food at Taste? Misappropriating Burnham's lofty sentiment is just foolish.
Easy with the name-calling. There's no need.
My point is two-fold:
1) Taste and the fireworks don't work if you charge admission. The former ceases to be a value (the opportunity to try/eat lots of different food for relatively low cost is its big draw) if you tack on $10. It's not about admission costs being prohibitive - no one's gonna go if they don't think it's worth it. The latter just strikes me as impossible. (and no, you didn't mention the fireworks, but given that this is a discussion of the July 4th weekend and that much of the conversation surrounding the violence involves the fireworks, I thought it wasn't a huge leap. apologies, i guess). You can't regulate access to a public place when a million people are trying to get there.
2) Even if Taste and the fireworks were 100% violence-free, there would still be violence somewhere in the city that weekend (in part for the reasons Daley mentions). I'd rather civic leaders focus on reducing crime everywhere (including neighborhoods and their festivals) through smarter police intervention and more just economic development of underdeveloped areas than try to make a small section of the city completely crime free for two days a year. Measures intended to make sure gang fights happen in the ghetto rather than at Taste don't strike me as responsible public policy.
1) Taste and the fireworks don't work if you charge admission. The former ceases to be a value (the opportunity to try/eat lots of different food for relatively low cost is its big draw)
I don't believe you've been to Taste lately. The food is over-priced, the ticket system is pure rookery. You'd be better off taking your money to the individual restaurants.
if you tack on $10. It's not about admission costs being prohibitive - no one's gonna go if they don't think it's worth it.
Frankly, it's not "worth it". Like most large scale public events it's a mad money expenditure even in good economic times. If you really want to sample Chicago's cuisine wander any neighborhood in the city on an afternoon. This is about an experience. Charging a nominal fee to make that experience run more safer and more smoothly is no unreasonable.
You can't regulate access to a public place when a million people are trying to get there.
You can separate a large outdoor festival from a once a year fireworks show that draws additional numbers, many of whom aren't coming to Taste. The event is too large and too unwieldy at this point. It would better serve both to separate them.
Even if Taste and the fireworks were 100% violence-free, there would still be violence somewhere in the city that weekend (in part for the reasons Daley mentions).
Even though it was rainy and cool this weekend? The man is clearly lying through his teeth to conceal his own incompetence, not a solid basis for reasoning of any kind.
I'd rather civic leaders focus on reducing crime everywhere (including neighborhoods and their festivals) through smarter police intervention and more just economic development of underdeveloped areas than try to make a small section of the city completely crime free for two days a year.
Absolutely.
Measures intended to make sure gang fights happen in the ghetto rather than at Taste don't strike me as responsible public policy.
I completely agree. The problem is, this administration is essentially following the "Bread and Circuses" model of governance. The city is so broke, so corrupt and so mismanaged that they only way to keep the ball bouncing along is to have these large scale "events" to sop up the public attention. The Olymipics is another. The Mayor is buried up to his neck in federal investigations and he's selling the city piece by piece. Focusing on making the city safe for tourist traffic and once a year events is a means to keeping the wolf from the door.
But wolves, they hunt in packs.
here's the thing/s: first of all, i don't really think the type of violence that upswings around holiday weekends is pre-planned. i don't think people sit around thinking, "you know ... i would get in some crazy fight with my neighbor/brother-in-law/rival gang member tonight, but i'm going to wait until this weekend when it will slip by unnoticed."
secondarily, the thing that makes my heart ache is that for the last 12 years i've been hearing life-long chicagoans sigh and roll their eyes, telling me that "that's the way city government works!" when scandal after scandal goes down and *maybe* a mid-level daley crony is given the boot or some jail time. and months turn into years, and he and the rest of the aldermen keep getting re-elected, and we keep getting the same old tired shit.
that is NOT how "government works."
I know it sounds like Chicagoans don't care when they say that, but belive me, when give a better option, or at least one they think is better, they will vote for it. That's what got Jane Byrne in, that's what got Harold Washington in. Who have been the "better options" in the elections against Daley? He's worked the system so that most of the viable opposition is rendered mute and don't even bother to run. That's why you get a virtual non-entity like Bill "Doc" Walls running against Daley. The voter here may sigh but that's only because they have no one better to vote for. If you want an indication of how the people feel about the current administration, don't judge them by their tired sentiment, judge them by the fact that the number of people turing out to the polls keeps dropping. There hasn't been any candidate willing to run who fires up the populace. Give them a candidate who presents a better way of life than Daley and they will strongly consider voting for them. As Washington showed, even the Machine can't stop a motivated people.
Can't this guy ever talk without sounding like a six year old?
Oh yeah, when the cameras aren't around.
The whole mumbling/bumbling act is just that, an act. The guy has a fucking vice grip on city politics, has for decades now. He stammers and mutters and disagrees with himself to look like he's just an honest, decent guy. Unpolished and unfinished. Then he goes into his office, bends the city over his desk and commences with a lengthy buggering.
Looking at those taste vidoes( filmed by youth) I noticed two things. Young people way out of control with out adult supervision and young people looking for some way to be creative i.e the young people dancing and free style battling in the cypher circle.
Well, what if our city government pulled out all stops to invest in youth jobs and summer programs like it does say with the Olympics?
Maybe some of the kids who filmed the thuggery at the taste could one day end up at Cannes instead of in the Can?
I hate to pull that "back in the day" sh*t, but I remember back in the day when a latch key kid could enroll in summer programs at the park because hanging out all day got tired after a week or so. But now you gotta pay even for open gym at the park. And forget about finding a summer job, sh*****T now you will end up at the back of a long line of unemployed adults
amen, amen, amen!
Misappropriating Burnham's lofty sentiment is just foolish.
Not Burnham. It's from the original city charter and was used in various court cases instigated by A Montgomery Ward to keep Grant Park from being developed.