16-Nov-11 – On the eve of a city council vote on an ambitious 2012 budget, 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly reassured a business crowd at Palmer House last night the Rahm Emanuel administration will treat them better than did any previous mayor.

“I know that there are times when government can truly hurt business,” said Reilly, who at age 30 was AT&T’s youngest regional vice president, “and I know that with our new administration coming in, a brand new city council focused on progress, the City of Chicago is going to be treating businesses much, much better, moving forward. The City of Chicago is going to be doing business at a lower cost to taxpayers, and far more efficiently.”

About 170 people attended the event – hosted by River North Business Association, Chicago Loop Alliance, Greater North Michigan Avenue Association, and Streeterville Chamber of Commerce – to hear Reilly bring them up to speed on the 42nd Ward. According to RNBA president Sharon Romack, nearly 200 tickets were sold at $65 apiece.

He reminded the group of progress with Waterview Tower, a stalled project on Wacker Drive that he called “a monument to the global economic collapse in 2008.” Originally planned as an 88-story skyscraper, the unfinished building (left) will “soon be moving forward” as a state-of-the art rental property with some commercial and retail space. “Getting that complete in such a high profile location, such an important area of the central business district, I think, will not only lift morale in the Loop but send a signal to the folks that the City of Chicago is putting people back to work.”

County liquor tax hike makes city less competitive

Asked about a plan by Cook County Commissioners to raise the alcohol tax by 50 percent, Reilly called it “a terrible idea.”

“I know that they’ve voted to approve it and I hope they’ll consider maybe ratcheting it down a bit,” said Reilly, who claims more than 650 liquor licenses in his ward. “Because what that tax increase does to our local hospitality industry, it makes us the least competitive in the country. It makes our liquor costs the highest of any city in North America and I think that’s wrong.”

For Reilly, one indicator of an improving business climate is the number of ribbon-cutting ceremonies he attends. For the last several months, he says he’s been doing at least one ceremony a week and some weeks, four or five.

“I’ll show up at any ribbon cutting you got,” mused Reilly, “because as far as I’m concerned, anyone who’s taking that extra step to invest in the City of Chicago now, while I know credit lines are still very, very tight and capital is hard to get, god bless you. And the City of Chicago should celebrate that. We shouldn’t make it harder for you to open your doors, we should make it easier.”

After speaking for about 50 minutes, Reilly took questions from the audience, getting applause when he told them he is “not a big fan” of advertising on bridge houses, something the city started allowing on Monday.

He says the ads that he has seen are “not aesthetically pleasing.” “I think they do take away from our beautiful architecture. I think that the mayor’s interest in leveraging our public assets for advertising revenue is a good one. But I think there are certain assets we probably need to draw a bright line around.” (Right) An ad for Bank of America is installed on the Wabash Avenue bridge house. Photo by Jim Phillips.

He says putting an advertisement on the back of a city garbage truck or snow plow is one thing, “but when we start adorning our historic structures and major high-profile assets, that’s when we could run into some trouble.”

Reilly wants the city to adopt an advertising plan that respects city-owned structures. “We shouldn’t treat the Michigan Avenue bridge house the same way we do a dilapidated viaduct under the Metra tracks.”

(Left) 42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly (second from right) speaks with a constituent Tuesday evening at Palmer House in downtown Chicago. The alderman then delivered his annual “State of the Ward” address. Second from left is Madeleine Doering, Reilly’s chief of staff.

42nd Ward likely to be redrawn

With a population of about 90,000, almost twice the size of most of Chicago’s 50 wards, Reilly says the 42nd Ward is a candidate for redistricting. Every ten years, the city redraws political boundaries according to population counts.

“I don’t know how this will shape up. I’d love to keep every single household that I have in my ward today. I think the 42nd Ward is great because I do get to represent eight very distinct and different neighborhoods downtown and so the thought of losing constituents is not something I’m happy about.”

He does want to continue serving as “the downtown alderman,” something he’s done for four and a half years, since defeating Burton Natarus in 2007. “I do plan on representing most of the central business district after the map is adopted because providing for the business community downtown is not just my job, it’s actually a passion.”

Brendan Reilly… On Mayor Emanuel: “I will not be serving as a rubber stamp for this mayor. It just so happens that right now major policy goals are aligned between his office and mine. I happen to think he’s done a lot of good on his work in trying to craft a fair budget.” On the $640 million budget deficit: “If this budget passes as amended and proposed for tomorrow, you’ll see that a lot of the cuts that we’re making – the painful choices we’re making – are going to erase about 85 percent of that structural deficit. The City of Chicago has been carrying a structural deficit for at least 14 years and no one’s ever talked about it. Because we’ve always been able to grab some [tax increment financing] and throw that into the hole. Or grab some parking meters and throw that into the hole. The Skyway [toll road], throw that into the hole. Why don’t we try to sell Midway [airport] and throw that into the hole? We’re done with that. Frankly, we’ve run out of assets to sell and throw in the hole.” On preventative maintenance of water mains: “Little known fact, in the central business district, if you dig down about eight feet, you’ll find a 100-year-old sewer main. Pick a neighborhood. What happens when that infrastructure collapses, say, in February at three in the morning and all of your basements are flooding? City crews have to be dispatched to go and fix that with emergency repairs. We’re talking double time. We’re talking extra personnel on site, traffic management – you name it. The overtime costs alone are busting this budget. By going and proactively investing in our water infrastructure…that is a good, key investment in our future.”