Stop making key Chicago decisions behind closed doors

As one of the hundred thousand or so South Side residents who will be affected by the proposed repurposing of Jackson Park, I’m writing to beg for big change, change on a scale neither the Obama Presidential Center, the Park District nor the mayor have imagined.

I want the city to stop doing business as usual. I want an end to top- down decision- making that affects our lives in fundamental ways. I want an end to forcing us to pay for decisions that are made without our input.

I’ve lived in Chicago for 51 years and every decision, whether to close schools, sell street parking rights, give contracts to waste haulers or close roads and turn half of Jackson Park’s acres over to private interests, has been done behind closed doors. “Trust us, you’ll love it,” is the mantra.

In the case of Jackson Park, my neighbors and I have been begging for over a year to see plans that show environmental impact, traffic flow changes, realistic community investment prospects and a host of other matters. We’re accused, instead, of seeking to deny the South Side the golden opportunity to host the Obamas’ private foundation, of opposing change to the park that would give almost all of it south of 63rd street to a PGA golf course, and we’re told to trust the city because they will do the right thing.

We’re told that when they close two major roads, traffic in the neighborhood streets will increase by as much as 400 percent, but not to worry about congestion and pollution: We can trust them to deal with that.

We’re told that when they plow under the nature sanctuary to make room for a golf hole at 71st Street, they will create a better sanctuary elsewhere. Will it be on the lakefront? Who will pay for it? No answers, except, “Trust us.”

Chicagoans are Charlie Brown. The city, the Park District, and even, in this case, the Obama Presidential Center, are Lucy van Pelt. Trust us, trust us, this time, we really won’t take the football away. We won’t leave you flat in the mud while we help ourselves to your wallet to pay for what we’ve decided.

But I’m ready for real change. I’m ready for the neighborhoods to hold the football and for the city to show up with full details of what they propose. When they’ve done that, and we have a chance to evaluate the plans and veto them if they don’t meet our needs, then we’ll give them a chance to kick.

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