Mayor Lori Lightfoot vowed Wednesday to put teeth and penalties into future tax-increment-financing subsidies to prevent companies from taking taxpayers’ money, then abandoning Chicago neighborhoods the way Target skipped out on Chatham and Morgan Park.
Lightfoot essentially declared herself the new and tougher sheriff in town after a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony at Morgan Park Center — a new community health center and office space that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois is opening in the shuttered Target store at 11840 S. Marshfield Ave.
“We shouldn’t let people take our money and not treat us with respect. That’s exactly what happened with Target. We’ve got to have tighter controls over the way in which TIF dollars or other resources are spent — whether it’s a big box retailer or otherwise,” the mayor said, to applause from the sympathetic audience.
“If you take our money, then you’ve got to invest in our neighborhoods and you’ve got to stay. ... Part of the frustration … when Target closed is there was no notice. There was no communication. They just said, `We’re done’ and left. ... I hope to establish better relationships, but also have more accountability in the contracts.”
In October 2018, Target announced it was closing stores in Chatham and Morgan Park — two of five it had on the South Side.
Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel burned up the phone lines to Target’s corporate office, urging the Minneapolis retailer to reconsider.
When that didn’t work, Emanuel signed an executive order that, in essence, would empower the city to recoup city subsidies from developments that lease space to retailers that open stores in one Chicago neighborhood while also closing them in another.
Had Emanuel’s order been in effect, it may well have stopped the retrenchment — or at the very least, prevented Target or the developments in which it is located from receiving or maintaining city subsidies.
The City Council had recently approved $13M in assistance for the Edens Collection, a center at Foster and the Edens that will have a number of retailers, including a Target.
Lightfoot is promising to get tough up front, not just after the fact.
“There was nothing in the agreement … at the time that prevented Target, even after having received TIF dollars, from just leaving,” the mayor said.
“We’re looking at ways in which we can make sure that the agreements we reach with vendors … actually require them to give us significant notice so we can make the case for why they should stay. And if they’re not gonna stay, then there’s got to be some monetary consequences for them taking our money and vacating the premises.”
Joining Lightfoot at Wednesday’s ceremony was local Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), who told reporters she was “devastated” by the Target closing and hasn’t set foot in a Target store since.
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The last time Austin and Lightfoot were together on the South Side — announcing a summer jobs and recreation program — the feds were raiding Austin’s ward office.
This time, Austin got a hug from the mayor who dumped her as chairman of the City Council’s powerful Budget Committee.
Afterward, Austin said she is confident the ongoing federal investigation of her finances and latest home purchase will not culminate in any indictments — either of her or her relatives, employees and associates.
What makes her so sure?
“Faith. … I try to live my life above-board. If I haven’t, then I have to reckon that with God — not man,” she said.
“I don’t look at [it as] a federal cloud at all. ... I haven’t been charged with anything. They’re looking to see if am I associated with something. I am not.”
Austin maintained her innocence even after being reminded the feds don’t get a warrant to raid a politician’s ward office without convincing a judge a crime has been committed and there is evidence of that crime inside.
“They were investigating,” the alderman said.
“I knew you were gonna segue into that. So, it’s over. … If you don’t want to talk about this [Blue Cross project], then I don’t want to talk. I’m not gonna let you worm me into that conversation,” she added.
“Let’s talk about this situation. Not about anything else.”
So, what about the Blue Cross and Blue Shield project? Wouldn’t she prefer Target or a big box store like it, instead of a community and wellness center — even one creating 550 jobs?
“We had it and they left. They didn’t appreciate us. ... They saw somewhere else they wanted to be where they can make a bigger profit. They weren’t making enough money off of us,” Austin said.
“They’re gone,” she added. “I’m a Target shopper....[But] I don’t shop there now.”
