A little more than a month ago, I began my first full term in office by challenging the status quo in City government and government agencies.

The truth is, we have no choice.

The urban landscape is changing. The old plans and blueprints no longer apply.

American cities face greater problems — crumbling infrastructures, soaring crime rates, and troubled schools. We face new and heart-breaking dimensions of poverty.

Federal and state assistance is shrinking. And our taxpayers — struggling to balance their own checkbooks — are crying for relief.

These are the indisputable facts of life in Chicago and other urban areas.

But out of this changing landscape can rise new hope.

Standing here today, I am hopeful because these tough challenges have sparked a new creativity in Chicago's City government.

In the Budget Office, in the Departments of Revenue and Health, Police and Planning, we are looking at the same equations from different angles.

Slowly but steadily, we are finding new solutions. And we are replacing wasteful bureaucracy with leaner, more efficient management strategies.

One important tool is privatization.

By turning car towing over to a private company, we turned an expenditure into a revenue source. The City now collects $25 for each car towed, and our streets are being rid of dangerous eyesores.

By privatizing addiction treatment, janitorial services and sewer maintenance, we are getting better services for less money.

And that's what good government is all about.

Another key strategy is aggressive revenue collection.

By cracking down on parking ticket scofflaws alone, we raised over $40 million in 1990 — a record high. We're now booting 500-600 vehicles per week, and we expect 1991 parking ticket revenues to pass $50 million.

We have started suspending business licenses where outstanding permit fees and other city bills are owed. In this way, we have collected $3 million in delinquent state and city taxes from our liquor licensees — just in the last six weeks.

We're funding capital improvements through motor fuel revenue bonds. And leveraging more private funds for Community Development Block Grant programs.

I am hopeful today, because we are learning how to maximize every available resource, in every corner of government.

An outside panel will soon begin a study of operations in our Police Department. They'll look for ways to turn Chicago's finest into the most efficient, effective force in the nation.

Getting the most from every resource includes one of our most critical assets — City employees.

Last month, we announced a major crackdown, led by my Inspector General, Al Vroustouris.

Thirty-seven employees in the Department of Streets and Sanitation found out the hard way that we expect a day's work for a day's pay. The crackdown has just begun.

82% of Chicago's corporate budget goes to salaries and benefits for our employees.

So workers who cheat the City timeclock are cheating every man and woman who pays taxes here.

I simply can't — and won't — allow that to continue.

Our number-one goal is to serve the people of Chicago to the best of our means and ability.

That includes meeting the needs of our people today — and looking ahead to developments that will serve Chicagoans in the future.

That's why the City is helping create a new west side sports stadium that's privately funded, and aimed at preserving and enhancing the neighboring community.

That's why we're supporting another international airport, doubling the size of McCormick Place, and designing a new downtown transit system.

I am hopeful today because we are making plans —and making headway.

Last year, we saw a significant change in the opera-

July 1991 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 19

tion of Chicago's public schools, under the local school councils.

But it's only a fragile start.

There are two opposing forces at work in our schools — school reform, with all its potential, and the resistent counter-weight of a cumbersome school board bureaucracy.

The Civic Federation voiced a similar concern last summer, warning that "some things still look like business as usual" at the Board of Education.

I think we have all been getting mixed messages from Chicago's public school administration.

The struggle between the progressive force of the local school councils, and old-fashioned school board politics, is destructive and costly.

On the sidelines, with the most at stake, are Chicago's children. For their sake, the school board and Superintendent must be willing to make the same kind of tough calls we've had to make in City government.

The cuts that have been proposed so far barely make a dent in the estimated $315 million shortfall. The Board of Education has a long way to go.

One thing is clear — we can't cheat our public school teachers. Keeping their salaries competitive is like paying into a trust fund for the next century.

I'm realistic enough to know that a large infusion of cash from the Illinois General Assembly isn't likely. Nor will it solve the board's many problems.

But the schools are one of the main reasons I'm fighting to extend the state's income tax surcharge. It's a fair and practical way to provide critical funding for a critical need.

These funds are more than numbers on a ledger sheet to the people of Chicago and our children. We are depending on a significant share of the income tax surcharge — or a replacement for that lost income.

I know the surcharge won't be discussed in a vacuum.

In Springfield, our state government is up against its own budget crunch. Our governor and state legislators are looking for ways to cut costs.

But they must not try to balance the state's books by shifting their responsibility to the people of Chicago and other cities across Illinois.

We simply cannot bear additional mandated programs without the resources to fund them.

New York City tried that, and nearly went bankrupt.

The State must face its responsibility, and remember that the concerns of the city of Chicago are the concerns of most municipalities in Illinois.

As I have said many times, government can't solve every problem by itself. We depend on input from you, the private sector.

Powerful allies like the Civic Federation are another reason I'm hopeful about Chicago's future.

The Civic Federation is Chicago's oldest and most respected reform organization. It remains a trusted guardian of the public interest, and a passionate advocate for our taxpayers.

In the last two years, the Civic Federation has informed and inspired my administration.

Your priorities are our priorities. To make sure government works, first and foremost, for the people who support it.

I want to join the members of the Civic Federation today in saluting Stanton Cook.

Over the last twenty years, he transformed the Tribune Company from a local media interest to a national Fortune 500 Company.

He accomplished this without once losing sight of the paper's most important mission — service to the community. He did it with an abundance of vision, talent and heart.

Stanton Cook is most deserving of the award that bears the name of the Civic Federation's esteemed founder, Lyman J. Gage.

As Chicago moves forward, I welcome the ongoing advice and friendship of the Civic Federation.

With your help — and the continued support of civic and business leaders in our city — Chicago will not be another New York.

To the contrary, Chicago will be a guiding light for other cities attempting to navigate through the changes and challenges of the nineties. •

Belvidere Wastewater Treatment Plant Designed By RJN Receives State of Illinois Award

Belvidere Wastewater Treatment Plant in Belvidere, Illinois was recently awarded the Plant of the Year Award for 1990 by the Illinois Water Pollution Control Operators (IWPCO). The Wastewater Treatment Plant was given this award because it successfully met Illinois Environmental Protection Association (IEPA) standards in conjunction with a plant compliance project. The design of the plant and engineering services during construction were provided by RJN Environmental. •

Page 20 / Illinois Municipal Review / July 1991