I Am A Public Defender

A CALL FOR PUBLIC DEFENDERS

July 4, 2014

The very notion of “public” is under attack in Chicago. Public education. Public transportation. Public space and parks. Public health. Public housing. Public service.

The very notion of the public way has been sold out from under us.

All these essential elements of a healthy, equitable and prosperous city are under threat and have been subject to a steady stream of budget cuts, closures and service lapses.

The Oxford Dictionary defines “public” as “Of or concerning the people as a whole.” We’re talking about everybody. As in “We, The People.” The public contains all the folks in Chicago – not just one neighborhood, not just one economic class or race or life-style adherent.

We need to remind ourselves that many important and vital aspects of our city belong TO and are supposed to operate FOR the public’s benefit. We built them. We pay for them and we expect them to operate for our mutual and collective benefit.

We use:

• Public streets and ways
• Public beaches, parks and recreational facilities
• Public libraries
• Public schools
• Public transportation systems
• Public health facilities
• Public housing

In addition, we rely on a wide array of public services, perhaps not usually thinking of ourselves as “customers” or “consumers.” Nevertheless, we “use”:

• Public protection services (police, fire, medical, rescue)
• Public courts of law and legal proceedings
• Public Internet, telecommunications, cable systems
• Public highways, bridges, airports, air safety control
• Public regulation of foods, banks (not so much lately), safety matters
• Public records and archives

There is more, but these are the essentials of our Public Sector. We rely on them every minute of every day. Without them, our society would collapse.

We’ve heard a lot lately about the importance of the Private Sector – business and commercial firms – as being the main drivers of success in America. We often hear of the Private Sector in glowing terms – as the source of jobs and opportunity.

And we as often hear that the Public Sector is a cesspool of corruption, incompetence and bloat. While it IS true that Illinois is one of the most corrupt jurisdictions in America and large swathes of local government in Cook County contain bad actors and wasteful practices, we need to remind ourselves that the Public Sector is not to blame for its abuse at the hands of corrupt and incompetent leaders.

We assert that the Public Sector is the true source of wealth in America. In fact, there can be no robust Private Sector without a sturdy, resilient and growing Public Sector.
Commerce in America stands upon the foundations of public infrastructure that we all have built, paid for and maintain.

Imagine commerce without roads, without laws, without clean air, without a literate population, without public transportation. It’s not possible.

This is true in a city or town that is clean and spotless with regards to corruption and it’s true for Chicago where 30 aldermen have gone to prison in as many years. Where a former City Clerk was imprisoned and where two Illinois governors in a row were tried and convicted on a wide range of felonies.

Chicago’s corrupt dance of politicians, insiders, big money and inter-locking large public service unions have made it hard to embrace the words “Public Sector.” But we must.
We need a strong and vibrant Public Sector in order to ensure prosperity, justice and opportunity for ALL Chicagoans.

We all must become Public Defenders.

There is a grave threat at work in Chicago that is undermining the very notion of “Public” and is threatening a most basic aspect of the America experience and democracy, itself.

Privatization. That’s the threat that is moving among us right now. Privatization in Chicago and many other cities across the planet is systematically strip mining the Public Sector – our stuff – and transferring the operation and revenues from these assets from public to private hands.

Can you say “parking meter”? Mayor Daley sold our parking meters to Morgan Stanley and the oil sheikdom of Abu Dhabi and a group of Scandinavian investors for 75 years.

He took us to the payday loan store for a quick $1 billion in ready cash and the new operators will make more than $10 BILLION back for their gift to us. One for ten. That’s like getting a loan from the Mob – or worse!

But the true evil of the Parking Meter Scam is that we’ve effectively surrendered control of the public way to Morgan Stanley. The bank that the public bailed out in 2008 demands payment from us when Chicago streets are closed for repair or festivals and when the disabled park and when their meter revenues are diminished in any way.

The Skyway Bridge and the Monroe Street parking garages were all privatized for quick cash that will net the new operators BILLIONS in monopoly profits.

Mayor Daley started privatizing our public schools and Mayor Emanuel has picked up the pace, closing 49 neighborhood schools and opening new charter schools at a dizzying pace.
What’s next? Midway Airport? Our water supply? Our libraries?

Chicago’s 154 Tax Increment Financing districts scrape almost $500 million in property taxes every year and send that public money into slush funds controlled by the mayor and a few powerful aldermen. Our tax dollars are then showered on insiders and giant corporations while essential city services are cut or slashed.

Enough.

We say NO to privatization.

We say NO MORE insider deals that take the money from the many and give it to the few.
SHUT down the TIFs and turn our property tax dollars over to the schools and other public agencies that desperately need those dollars to operate and expand.

We say TAKE BACK THE METERS.

We say REOPEN THE SCHOOLS AND CUT CLASS SIZE IN HALF.

EXPAND public transportation. No more service cuts.

MORE public health options. REOPEN the shuttered clinics.

MORE affordable housing. Stop gentrifying poor and working ...