[Peace-discuss] Kraft TIF

[David Green]

Let me conclude my comments for now on this topic in the following way: When I learned about the Kraft TIF, I didn't necessarily relate it to the mythical $50,000 jobs with no qualified applicants. But of course they are related, in that the taxpayers are expected to fund both training and the warehouse, and politicians--Gerard mentioned Dick Durbin as well as Ramage at the meetings he attended--love to take credit for both "education" and "jobs." This is a package deal when it comes to political obeisance and corporate welfare. We need some decent investigative reporting to expose all of this. In the Chicago Reader, Ben Jarovsky exposed the TIF scams under Daley Jr. quite thoroughly, which you can search for online.



On Wednesday, January 22, 2014 12:34 PM, David Green <davegreen84 at yahoo.com> wrote:
  
Durl Kruse presented his argument against TIF last evening to the Champaign City Council, followed by me. There is, of course, a 5 minute limit to democratic speech. In this case, there was only the two of us attempting to express our views. Durl read the first 3 minutes of a prepared presentation, and then was interrupted by Tom Bruno and Don Gerard for a total of 5 minutes of debate about the length of his presentation. Then Durl read for another 3 or 4 minutes before being firmly halted. 
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>His case was persuasive. The research of TIFs have revealed that they are ineffectual or scams and corporate/developer welfare to greater or lesser degree. In this case, there is simply no pretense that Kraft has demanded taxpayer funds (2.9 mill) to build a warehouse, and the city parents dutifully complied. I hope Durl will post his full comments, a copy of which he presented to each of the city council members and the mayor.
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>I followed Durl with a few general comments pertaining to the "shareholder" vs. "stakeholder" model of our society. The former appeals to the totalitarian nature of corporations that seek maximum profit with a minimum of contribution to the communities in which they reside. The latter claims that in good faith, business and community members should decide fair levels wages and taxes and profits that meet individual and social needs.
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>Besides the 5 minute limit, another stipulation projected on the screen beside us is that during public comment, citizens are not allowed to direct questions at our elected representatives. Nevertheless, Mayor Gerard thought it appropriate to express his dissatisfaction with the comments of Durl and me after each of us had returned to our seats--without a chance for either of us to further respond and engage our muted representatives. 
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>Gerard claimed that he had previously heard nothing of our concerns and that his number is in the phonebook, thus implying that our expressions of concern at a public hearing called specifically to address this issue are somehow illegitimate. He continued to praise the relationship that the city and Parkland College have with our corporate masters and job creators at Kraft. I remain clueless as to what the democratic purpose of this hearing might have been.
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>He repeated a claim that has assumed the status of urban legend: Kraft has $50,000/year jobs that go unfilled for lack of skills among the proletariat, and that Parkland is cooperating to address needed job training--Mayor Gerard his very important self was at a meeting with the legendarily famous Tom Ramage where this was discussed. I first heard of this legend during a debate among those running for Community College trustees; it is also dutifully repeated on George Gollin's website. I only wish I could count the ways in which this claim is vague, meaningless, deceptive, misleading, or just plain untrue. Or at least be provided with actual documented evidence that there is some trivial truth to this oft-told legend that among the 20 million individuals seeking fulltime employment, Kraft Inc. may prove to be a major player, all while expanding the availability of cheese product and fattening salad dressing to add to our society's nutritional
 prosperity.
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>Mayor Gerard doesn't seem to have a whole lot of respect for either the democratic process or citizens who might sincerely disagree with the wisdom of the city parents. He's arrogant and imperious when confronted with those who disagree with taxpayer money being handed over on dubious pretenses.
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>My basic point to the City Council was this: I can understand your asking how high when Kraft says jump--we are over a barrel, to mix metaphors. This may be the best of the worst possible world. But don't pretend it's anything else. Don't pretend it's democratic, or that we don't run our country or city on the basis of totalitarian corporations playing off communities, towns, cities, and states against each other in a race to the bottom, and that this does not simply perpetuate a system in which half the population struggles to have any sort of decent living and will continue to do so, all while corporate profits boom. Let's just be honest about the kind of society we've got, and that it's not a democracy. Let's go "outside the box" and consider a democratic and social alternative.
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>I don't know what chance the citizens of Champaign have had over the past year or so to be involved and actively engaged in this cooked-up and cheesed-up process. I don't know how public the process has been--as Durl pointed out, the consultant for the TIF was hired by Kraft itself. But Mayor Gerard's officious and dismissive behavior last evening certainly gives the lie to whatever image he may have cultivated among local "progressives." Democracy is more than the mayor having a listed phone number.
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>What a fraud and phony--dare I say asshole--this man truly is, if there was ever any doubt.
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>By the way, notice that this morning's NG article on last evening's meeting concerned honorary street names.
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>DG
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>     
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