Was the event space measure an attempt to drive voter participation?
Chicago voters enthusiastically passed a measure last week that asked if the city should build a permanent festival grounds to hold events such as Lollapalooza, Riot Fest, and other outdoor events. But how meaningful was that ballot measure, anyway? Not very, it turns out.
In July, Chicago Contrarian reviewed the three ballot measures that were set to be put before voters on Election Day this month. And even then, it was clear that the festival measure was meaningless.
The wording of the Permanent Outdoor Event Space Measure was very simple, and read: "Should Chicago develop a permanent festival and outdoor event space for large-scale events?"
Voters were excited by the measure and passed it 68 percent to 32 percent. But, while voters may have liked the idea, the measure is non-binding and has no force of law.
In fact, it's even worse than that. It has no meaning at all. Indeed, the measure contains no actual information, no road map, and no details.
The measure leaves any thoughtful person with a million questions.
Perhaps the biggest question is the festival ground's location. The measure did not suggest just where the huge amount of land need for such a facility would be located.
The measure also did not inform voters of the costs of securing this land. Speaking of costs, the entity that would operate the facility was not mentioned, nor was the budget for it brought before voters.
It is also completely unknown who will benefit from it. Will it be a partnership with private organizations or management companies? Will it be wholly owned and operated by the city? What department will ramrod this venture? How will it get insurance for rainouts? It also didn't mention any sort of timeline.
As The Center Square pointed out, the city already made a hash of a pervious deal to use city property for an entertainment venue when it rented the Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island to LiveNation with a sweetheart deal below market-rate — and without even engaging in any serious negotiations.
The city gave LiveNation a great deal, and then never even bothered to ensure adjustments for inflation, meaning the city got less and less in relative terms as the years progressed into LiveNation's nearly 10-year deal.
The deal brought the cocked eyebrows of both the Department of Justice and Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul.
That raises yet another question about this ballot measure. What safeguards for this permanent festival facility would be put in place to make sure the city doesn't just hand some private company a sweetheart deal that ends up shorting the people of Chicago any vital revenue that might come out of the events?
But let's face it. The truth is, all these questions will be answered in the normal way that the city does business. Through ordinances and legislation. In other words, the ballot measure doesn't really mean a thing.
Either the City Council will sit down and write up an actual, serious proposal for such a facility ... or it won't. This ridiculous ballot measure won't have any part at all in the process.
So, why did City Hall waste everyone's time and energy with the ballot measure in the first place?
Was it just pandering to make it look like the city cares what voters think?
You can probably answer that question on your own and you don't need a ballot measure to do it.
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