In what was a surprise to many in City Hall, as well as residents, voters defeated the proposal by a resounding “no” with voters by a 53.6 % vote and only 46.4% vote saying “yes”, this despite a publicized effort by Mayor Brandon Johnson, and supportive alder people such as Maria Hadden of the 49th Ward, and State Res. Kelly Cassidy, both Democrats.
As we have noted before opposition was fiercest by building owners and managers, and their group, Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago, mounted a vigorous campaign to first take the vote off the ballot, which they did with the cooperation of an appeals court, but when it reached the Illinois State Supreme Court they declined to hear it, saying that the Court could not interfere in the legislative process.
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The supporters despite some intense retail politics, including door knocking all over the city, and Hadden and Cassidy appearing at the polls, along with other elected city and religious leaders, were on hand at polling places to answer questions; all to no avail.
What is known is that the Association did mount a full court press of its own to malign, say some, in their efforts to defeat the measure which would have generated $100 million to fight the ever increasing homeless population of Chicago, estimated at the last point in time count to be 700,000.
While in some quarters there was sympathy for the building owners, they never offered an alternative, and the specter of a property increase amongst all classes of real estate is an unwelcome alternative that few want to see.
Had the measure passed the burden would have fallen on commercial properties and few homeowners. In fact, it contained a tax cut that would have benefited most of them on properties sold between $1million with a cut to 0.6 percent on the first $999,999, of the sale price, and 2 percent on the rest.
As The Chicago Sun Times reported, “The lowest turnout in at least 80 years for a presidential primary would have appeared to favor the Chicago Teachers Union, the CTU-affiliated United Working Families and progressive unions that had proven their ability to turn out their own voters in a low-turnout election by electing Johnson last year,” and largely driving this recent effort, after previous failed attempts in the past.
“Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), the mayor's former City Council floor leader, made no attempt to hide his disappointment”, added the Sun Times.
"This is not the result we wanted. We're gonna have to take a real hard look at what happened and figure out how to move forward from here," said Ramirez-Rosa, who was instrumental in getting the binding referendum through the City Council and on the ballot after years of failure.”
Also expressing disappointment, in their report, and a possible reason for defeat was, “Johnson’s First Deputy Chief of Staff Cristina Pacione-Zayas [who] addressed the referendum at the Northwest Side party of newly elected state Rep. Graciela Guzmán.”
“We’ll continue to work. The issue is not going away,” Pacione-Zayas said, attributing the results to the court battle over whether referendum votes would be counted, which could have caused potential confusion among mail-in voters.”
With over 95 % of the votes polled, supporters are hoping that the uncounted mail in votes, 100,000 can give them a “Hail Mary Pass”, but with that count not coming until early next week, at least, that hope might prove to be more of a wish than a hope,
The political loss for a Jonson supported initiative cannot be dismissed, although it’s early enough in his term to salvage defeat, but some who never wanted to see him in office, are smelling blood in the water as was noted by the report:
"Bad policy should be defeated, and voters saw that it was bad policy," said veteran political strategist Greg Goldner, who quarterbacked the campaign against the referendum.
"It can't build affordable housing. It can't solve homelessness. It can't provide mental health services. It can't solve the migrant crisis. It can't provide affordable housing for teachers and vets. It can't do all of those things for a revenue stream that has proven to be unpredictable," he added. In the end, Goldner said, voters agreed the referendum was "poorly constructed, poorly defined" and a "very cynical public policy initiative."
While Goldner’s remarks ignore the enormity of these problems faced in cities across the country, with “solution” being a relative term, nonetheless, his comments reflect a deep dissatisfaction with Johnson, especially by the local white business elite, who did not want, as noted before, another Black mayor, after the defeat of former Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
In a larger sense, the opposition to progressive politicians in Democratic led cities has surfaced as business communities nationwide have expressed what they feel is a “lurch to the left,” noted Richard Florida, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, in a recent interview with Crain’s Chicago Business, who added that while some companies left some larger American cities such as Seattle, and others, “they were trying to make statements, and say . . . “Look, Chicago and New York and San Francisco are no longer as well governed. They have been captured by a liberal elite.”
He added that when some of those companies moved to Austin, Texas and Miami, Fla.,they found much of the same problems with poverty and homelessness.
It’s easy, as the old cliché stated, that the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence, but tracing a different trajectory, albeit progressive, also takes partnership, as well as a reality check.
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