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Daley also has big plans to do some job creation with some of the parking meter money. He wants to use $20 million of the meter lease proceeds to fund technology training and temporary city jobs for more than 10,000 laid off professionals. That includes paying professionals $450 a week to do 30 hours of work a week for six months in city, public school and non-profit jobs that benefit Chicago. The plan also calls for Auburn Gresham, Chicago Lawn, Englewood and Pilsen to be declared "digital excellence demonstration communities", flooded with technology to demonstrate the transformative power of the internet. "There are a lot of people unemployed or who [have] lost their jobs -- not just laid off. How do you get 'em back to the work force as quickly as possible?" Daley asked rhetorically. "We want to create a pool . . . so any company looking [for] talent can come to Chicago and they can say, 'I can beat Europe for 10, 15, 20, 30, 50 years because of the talent that is not only presently here and retrained, but also with the school system.' There's more and more talent coming out in technology."
And as far as the CTA is concerned, Daley has a two part plan: demanding more money from the state in lieu of fare increases and ending free rides for seniors. That funding plan involves shifting 2009 capital construction funding to pay for 2010 operations expenses.
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Wow. I thought the parking meter money was earmarked for other uses. I can't even keep track any more.
A government-created training program? Wow, I can just imagine the efficiency. This will basically amount to a $450 payment for doing nothing.
Government is the next bubble to burst on the local and state levels. The Machine is out of money and is going to have to face some tough choices over the next few years. They can cut ridiculous public employee salaries/benefits and lay some of them off, or they can continue to jack up taxes and fees and chase the tax base right out of this town. Having grown up here, my instincts tell me it will be the latter. Power is the most important thing for the city politician.
Worst idea ever!!!! You use the parking meter money (which is bs in the first place) and buy out all the pensions GE style. You force the unions onto a plan similar to the 401K. Next you cut government waste. You stop paying for bottled water, pop and whatever else you buy for the employees on tax payer dollars. Next you hire independent foreman that watch over construction workers and make sure that they are working at a proper pace, and only have time and material contracts. And if the contractors you hire to do the work go over budget, don't give them extra money. If the average job goes overbudget you don't pay them more, you let them take a loss. Finally, fire all the people at the CTA stations. If you can't figure out how to use the trains your loss, that is how it is in Europe and other cities around the world.
*** GM style
Talk is cheap, dumbass.
This whole pay "professionals" bribe to vote for me scheme might just work. The problem is the real work that needs to be done is street repair and classroom teaching, both of which can't be done by temps that are non union and untrained in what to do. Hopefully people see this for what it is.
And what the hell is this quote (beside the fact that it makes no sense), "I can beat Europe for 10, 15, 20, 30, 50 years because of the talent that is not only presently here and retrained, but also with the school system." A little latent hostility over the results of a recent trip to Europe? The school system? A fifty percent drop out rate is reality in today's CPS and we are going to take on "Europe." I hoping the mayor is just showing his ignorance about the state of his school system and not thinking of literally beating Europe in some sort of cage match.
"digital excellence demonstration communities"
lol