Sunday, April 15, 2007

USOC Selects Chicago over Los Angeles for 2016 U.S. Candidate


Ah yes, be careful what you wish for, you might get it...the USOC's 11-member Board of Directors selected Chicago over Los Angeles to be the U.S. candidate for the 2016 Olympic Games.

We believe Los Angeles had a much more reliable plan, there are some serious issues with Chicago's temporary stadium concept and we think there are many aspects of the bid that must change in order to win internationally.

However, we want to also give credit to those responsible for Chicago's Olympic dream, starting with the founder and visionary of this process, Akif Malik and the Chicago Metro Organizing Committee. If it weren't for his initiatives, we wouldn't have an Olympic Games debate going on in Chicago.

We aren't sure whether Mayor Daley understands what he has got himself into. Now, how the city works is going to be under the scrutiny of the world. For all these years, he can do what he wants, but now outsiders will have a laser eye into everything that is good and bad in Chicago, including the corruption that is embedded everywhere in the Daley regime.

The USOC must take a very aggressive approach toward controlling this process if it is going to be a success. That means being in charge of the bid. As we stated elsewhere, anything less would be a disaster based upon the track record of the City of Chicago under Daley.

It is rare for first-time IOC candidates to win an Olympic Games, but it can be done (Atlanta 1996). We always have believed Chicago has great potential, but now the question is whether Daley can step back enough to allow that to happen.

As for Los Angeles, we think the main lesson they should learn is that the next time (perhaps in 2009) they seek the bid, they need to figure out how to combine the spirit of the Olympic Games along with the technical and financial components.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Did King Daley and Aides Knowingly Mislead and Lie About Taxpayer Funds?



Did Chicago Mayor (King) Richard Daley LIE to everyone the last several months or was it just incompetence? Did he know there was a financial guarantee for the host city or did he not?

(Photo from Sun-Times)

Oops...Is Chicago Already Violating IOC Rules with Logo?

It appears the Chicago 2016 logo, whether you like it or not, may violate the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules on potential bid cities for 2016.

Specifically, the rules state that cities cannot use any Olympic-related symbols, including the "flame" concept, which clearly was the intent of the Chicago 2016 logo. Chicago 2016 has used the logo to solicit sales of merchandise.

The logo from Los Angeles 2016 does not seem to be in violation.

Click for a PDF of the rules and guidelines to see for yourself.

Chicago vs. Los Angeles | Our View

After extensive consultation with experts and review of virtually ever possible document, plan, design and discussion, we have come to some basic conclusions on the wisdom of choosing Los Angeles or Chicago as a U.S. candidate for the 2016 Olympic Games.

LOS ANGELES

We strongly disagree with those who believe Los Angeles is at a disadvantage because they've "been there, done that." The 2016 Olympic Games will be 32 years after the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, which was a clear success on every level.

Those who believe the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would not approve a candidate that hosted the Olympic Games previously twice only need to look at their most recent selection. 2012 will be the third time London has hosted the Olympic Games.

More relevant is how IOC members will view ANY candidate from the United States. The same people who believe Los Angeles is at a disadvantage for hosting the Olympic Games as recently as 1984 seem to bypass the issue of the United States being host to the Summer Olympic Games in 1996 (Atlanta) and the Winter Olympic Games in 2002 (Salt Lake).

There is validity to the concern the IOC wants fresh hosts, but that includes fresh countries and fresh continents such as South America, Africa and other parts of Asia.

The existing venues of Los Angeles and lack of need to build everything translate to low-risk. A review of Athens and what is happening in London is a reminder of what that means financially.

If Los Angeles is selected as the U.S. candidate for 2016, all IOC members from the United States and Peter Ueberroth, the Chairman of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and former head of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, reside in southern California, all who will be critical to lobbying for a successful U.S. candidate. Which city do they know best?

Los Angeles clearly has "star power" and international appeal inside and outside the Olympic world.

If the USOC chose Los Angeles as a candidate, it would be the lowest-risk choice. And, we have no doubt if Los Angeles were selected for 2016, there are solid reasons why to expect it be a success.

CHICAGO

Chicago has its own Olympic history. It was originally supposed to host the 1904 Olympic Games, but thanks to city politicians, it ended up going to St. Louis. We see some problems repeating itself when it comes to City of Chicago politics, but more on that later.

Daniel Burnham famously stated "make no little plans..." and is considered the visionary for modern Chicago. Pierre de Courbertin is considered the founder of the modern Olympic Movement and apparently was impressed by Chicago.

If you combine Daniel Burnham and Pierre de Coubertin, you get Akif Malik. He is the visionary behind the Chicago Olympic bid idea. In the early 1990's, he and the Chicago Metropolitan Organizing Committee (CMOC) launched the effort to once again connect Chicago with the Olympic world.

That process initially targeted the 2008, then 2012 Olympic Games. A task force commenced and sometime around 1997, Mayor Daley pulled his support from the independent process because of the financial guarantee issue--the same one that he now supports with a half-billion dollars.

Malik's original vision was grand, ambitious, bold, innovative and created a dyamic legacy for the Olympic Movement and the entire region directly and indirectly. It included various options for the current Olympic Stadium debate. One of those was for a retractable-roof multi-purpose lakefront stadium connected to McCormick Place that would not only justify the investment for an Olympic Games, but create incredible opportunities for conventions and other major events such as the Super Bowl and Final Four.

In 2005, after New York City was eliminated for 2012 when London narrowly defeated Paris, Malik again pursued the potential. This time, Mayor Daley reversed his stance and embraced the idea.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR...

We agree with the cynics who say the primary motive for Daley's reversal was political and under the cloud of corruption and torture scandals and a faltering legacy that could still end up with an indictment by U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald in the near future. But, who cares why, right? As long as Daley cooperates, that's good enough.

However, then we noticed something and partly blame the USOC for allowing it. While making sure the Mayor of the potential host city is totally cooperative, it opened the door for the City of Chicago to control the bid process and reshape it into what is in Daley's best interest, not necessarily the best interest of the region or the Olympic Movement.

And, that is when all the red flags started to be raised. Those who believe the City of Chicago and Mayor Daley know how to "get things done" haven't looked carefully into the incompetence and costs ranging from O'Hare to Millenium Park to Soldier Field. If an objective review were done of how Daley's regime has managed anything, one would conclude there are serious side effects of how Daley "gets things done." That's aside from the corruption and questions of telling the truth and straight facts the Chicago media consistently has to battle Daley with.

BILLION DOLLAR MISTAKE

Thus far, Daley has not taken responsibility for the billion dollar mistake of Soldier Field's renovation. That mistake shrunk Soldier Field's dimensions and seating for the interests of the Chicago Bears, partly owned by Patrick Ryan. No more track-n-field potential and it created the need for a new stadium.

Even if you took the proposed version of the temporary stadium proposed by Daley for Washington Park, something we find completely unappealing and believe the IOC will find even less appealing, that will make the Soldier Field mistake worth more than a billion dollars. Who's accountable for that?

The experts we have talked to all say the same thing. The temporary stadium idea is a stripped-down plan that lacks even basics of restrooms and a press box, then gets dismantled later. This is not going to be competitive on a world stage.

More importantly, the experts tell us the best solution hasn't been explored by Daley. That may include a permanent stadium and making Soldier Field the "temporary" stadium or a variety of other solutions that may be in the best interests of the Olympic Games and the region, but not necessarily the best interests of the City of Chicago.

"COMPACT GAMES" = CONTROL

That brings us to the other problem. This Chicago-centric plan, under the guise of making it a "compact Olympic Games" appears to disregard practical issues and strengths of the region. For Daley, all things are about control. And, it seems to us that is what is happening here. The original vision had no artificial boundaries for what would be best. The city's current plan seems to intentionally block non-city ideas while putting city interests ahead of the Olympic Games and region.

The reality is the vast majority of the Chicago area's population live outside Chicago's city limits, but the current process has failed to include anyone else, which is typical of the Chicago vs. suburb history, but not constructive to create the best possible Olympic bid.

If Chicago is selected by the USOC, it is critical full control over the rest of the bid process be managed by the USOC and not the City of Chicago. Anything less is a recipe for disaster.

WHY 2016?

Even if Daley magically let go of control and cooperated, is it likely that any U.S. candidate can prevail no matter how great the bid was when the U.S. is involved with two ongoing wars? Due to the invasion of Iraq, the credibility of the U.S. is at a low-point. One of Daley's talking points about how Chicago would be a great "American city" may actually work against us. Chicago is culturally diverse and that is much bigger selling point to international voters than being American. Those IOC voters are mostly accountable to their national populations that aren't very happy with America right now. President Bush will leave office in 2009, only a few months before the IOC chooses for 2016.

CHICAGO vs. LOS ANGELES

On paper, Los Angeles has a better current plan, lower risk and proven experience. However, under the original Burnham-Malik type of vision, Chicago has much greater potential if it could be a regional approach with strong legacy. At the moment, we have the Chicago-centric plan and that has some open-ended questions involving the stadium and village, among other things.

We believe Chicago and its surrounding region would be an incredible host someday, but under the current plans submitted, Los Angeles would be the safer choice, if we MUST proceed with either city as a candidate. In the Olympic bid process, losing has consequences. We think it would have been better to wait.

On April 14th, as much as we would like to see the Olympic Games come to Chicago eventually, we have objectively determined that Los Angeles is the better choice for now and would encourage the USOC to look for ways to build on the existing strengths of Los Angeles and create a dynamic international bid.

For those in Chicago, we urge everyone to look at this objectively and look forward to a post-Daley opportunity to do this the right way at a better time. Chicago and the surrounding region can and should be an Olympic host someday.

But, for now, we believe Los Angeles would be in the best interest of the Olympic Movement and even the best interest of Chicago, which could pursue a much better plan later if Los Angeles is not selected in 2009.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Blago Dangles $150 Million Letter of Good Wishes While Schwarzenegger Signs Actual Legislation

This is what happens when you allow the King Daley to control the bid. Important things are left out that affect the region and, in this case, the State of Illinois.

In a last-second "oops, we need to do that?" effort, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagjoevich has written a letter pledging he will TRY to get $150 million of taxpayer support from the State of Illinois General Assembly, just after city officials noticed the State of California's financial guarantee was officially signed by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The problem with this is that why all of a sudden when we've all known for the past year this was necessary? It goes back to the problem of Daley's micromanagement. This has become Daley's process, not an independent process that looks at the full picture. That means that everyone sits on the sidelines unless Daley chooses to invite them. That's not how successful bids have worked in the past or will work in the future.

The State of Illinois has a very huge deficit and massive financial problems, not to mention the proposed biggest tax increase in history being pushed by Gov. Blagojevich. Maybe the State of Illinois should kick in funds, but not if this is a Daley-Chicago process that excludes the 7 million people in the Chicago metropolitan area that surround the City of Chicago. Thus far, the region has been excluded, which is poor planning and actually goes against the original vision back in the early 90's, which smartly was inclusive of the region.

We hope the USOC is thinking through these things carefully. The question isn't whether Los Angeles or Chicago is a viable host. The question is also about trust in the process. Thus far, Daley has miserably failed when it comes to trust.


ABC7 I-Team Exposes Daley Administration Incompetence, Negligence and Lies

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said Chicago was one of the worst prepared when it came to emergency communications and being prepared for disasters.

Like many issues, this goes to the heart of the ongoing problem with the City of Chicago and King Daley's regime. The CITY of Chicago's obsession with control and doing things that are exclusively in their best interest as opposed to the best interest of the region.

The latest debacle involves the high-tech emergency communications vehicle the City of Chicago used for various media hype, except that is hasn't been operational. What does the Daley administration do when confronted with facts and questions?

They lie.

This time, they did it to ABC7's I-Team investgative reporter Chuck Goudie. We commend Mr. Goudie for not falling for the tricks of King Daley.

From the Daley administration's terrible management of Chicago O'Hare, making it the nation's WORST on-time performance to the crisis of the Daley-run CTA to having one of the WORST emergency communication systems, we think issues like transportation and communication for staging an Olympic Games are not to be taken lightly. This is what happens when you put Daley in charge or control of anything. That's the track record and that isn't even touching the whole corruption regime or torture scandals.

The question for us is whether the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) is going to fall for the Daley's smoke-n-mirrors on Saturday. That doesn't mean Chicago isn't a great choice to host the Olympic Games. It's just that a process controlled by King Daley has very serious issues and we've learned that the one thing we can count on of the Daley regime is a lack of integrity and honesty.

See inside for Mr. Goudie's transcript or see the video story...

Monday, April 2, 2007

Daley Throws Police Chief Under the Bus; What Did the Mayor Know and When Did He Know It?

In a classic situation of damage control and finding the fall guy for scandals that were meticulously supposed to be kept quiet until after the election and Olympic bid, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley threw the Police Superintendent Phil Cline under the bus in an attempt to save the Mayor from further worldwide embrassment from the revelation of videotaped beatings by Chicago Police officers.

What puzzles us about this situation is the presence of mayoral aide Monique Bond in the middle of all this. If you believe Mayor Daley at his strange press conference expressing shock and dismay at the misconduct, one would think this is the first he's heard of all this and he had no phone during the last two weeks of vacation to call up Cline. In a city where Daley micromanages and controls everything, apparently Ms. Bond either completely failed to inform her boss OR the entire cover-up of the scandal was orchestrated with knowledge of the mayor's office.

What does this have to do with the Olympic bid? Everything. We continue to be extremely concerned with any bid process that is controlled by the City of Chicago under Mayor Daley. There are very serious issues of integrity and credibility. It appears the best interests of Mayor Daley are put ahead of everyone and everything else, no matter what expense.