In an attempt to raise revenue, the city of Chicago and the Chicago Park District have developed a plan to privatize publicly-owned meter operations throughout the city. The move would be the first major publicly-owned parking meter service in the nation to be subject to long term privatization.
A contract by the city will grant a privately-owned party the right to maintain parking meter operations in exchange for an upfront fee made payable to the city of Chicago.
The move will most likely result in rates initially rising after the sale (parking meters raised $22 million for Chicago last year). The attempt by the city to move from public to private is simply another example of government outsourcing its responsibilities at the expense of the city’s taxpayers. What good is a government that can’t handle its basic commitment to its citizens?
You’re probably saying to yourself, “where have I seen such irresponsible acts involving local government before?” The obvious answer: Robocop 3. The film’s plot revolves around the Detroit police force being outsourced by a brutal mercenary force called “the Rehabs.” Spoiler alert, Robocop teams up with unarmed urban civilians in an effort to thwart the mercenaries and restore justice to the city…and, of course, prevails.
While Robocop 3 serves as an exemplary model of government privatization gone awry, the city of Chicago is yet to outsource its police force. However, with recent privatization of other large public works projects such as the Chicago Skyway and the underground parking garages beneath Grant Park and Millenium Park, we may be headed in that direction. Unfortunately for us, Robocop is a fictional character.
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You know, a tight end for the Chicago Bears in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Jim Thornton’s nickname was “Robocop”. Yep. Never knew why, but it was.
As for a substantive response, I agree with your overarching sentiment - that subsidizing government services to outside companies is not a good thing. Especially when it involves a decade long contract and thereby no potential for outside competition (the very thing that makes the private sphere so successful). On the other hand, I always smile when I see items like these…b/c it’s an explicit demonstration of government incompetence, and thereby, more evidence that it’s just not the answer…to most anything.
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