This past Monday night the Park Ridge City Council did something unusual.  It actually struck a blow for good government. 

Not that superficial, namby-pamby, lowest common denominator, compromise-your-principles-away-and-then-lie-about-it, kumbaya “good government” that most politicians practice, the kind that has put our local, state and federal government finances in iron lungs with no hope of exiting any time soon. 

We’re talking honest-to-goodness, principled government – the kind that looks out for the long-term well-being of the entire community instead of jumping at quick-fixes that grease the skids for some special interest or other. 

And they did it unanimously, with all six current aldermen voting to reject the tax-sharing proposal by the developer of the proposed Whole Foods site at Touhy and Washington.  Given the discordance usually displayed by this crew, that in itself is a minor miracle – although we’ll give a big assist to former ald. Tom Bernick, whose absence once again likely contributed more than his presence.

Our aldermen turned a deaf ear to the duet sung by Park Ridge 2004 LLC principal Lance Chody and his high-powered lawyer, about how they couldn’t close the “economic gap” between what they need to get out of the development deal and what Whole Foods wants to pay to lease the developed property from them.  They warned that, without some serious money from the City, Whole Foods would have to accept more of the “burden” of the deal.

Boo hoo.

Remember “gap” and “burden.”  Those were the two watchwords of Monday evening, and you can expect to hear them again and again as this Whole Foods deal continues to unfold.  Also expect to hear them if/when Mariano’s Fresh Market and its developer decide to make their move on their favored Touhy and Cumberland location.

Chody and Whole Foods want their money “gap” bridged by dumping the “burden” on the backs of Park Ridge taxpayers, while blowing smoke up the City’s kilt about all the money the propsed sales tax-sharing might/could/should/will provide in return.

As Gomer Pyle used to say: “Sur-prise, sur-prise, sur-prise.”

Letting business shift its risk and economic burdens onto the taxpayers is what’s become known as “corporate welfare,” “crony capitalism,” or “crap-italism,” and it’s increasingly the rule rather than the exception whenever superficial bureaucrats conspire with gutless and unprincipled politicians to throw scarce tax dollars at any and every shameless business that threatens to go elsewhere unless it gets greased.

In the most polite or clueless quarters, that’s called “bargaining.”  In others, it’s a game of “chicken” or “blink first.”  In still others, “bribery” or “extortion.”  But whatever you choose to call it, it has worked like a charm for all those businesses that have gone on the public dole under the guise of “sales tax sharing” or “property tax abatements.”

Not surprisingly (at least to us), the Council’s decision immediately caught flak from the City’s new Economic Development Task Force, which reportedly barbecued Alds. Jim Smith and Sal Raspanti at its meeting Tuesday night (5/15/12).  At least one of the ED-ers reportedly demanded that Mayor Dave Schmidt make a pilgrimage to Chody and/or Whole Foods and seal a deal – even though none of those ED-ers were willing to say exactly how much of an “incentive” is enough and how much would be too much.

That would actually take some serious thinking, and thinking is hard.  Worse yet, someone might even try to hold them accountable for their opinion if it turned out to be wrong. 

The ED-ers and their Whole Foods sycophants want the City to figuratively grab its ankles, damn the cost.  No thought about the public policy consequences of giving Whole Foods a clear economic advantage over Jewel, Dominick’s and Trader Joe’s.  No thought about what these kinds of concessions will lock us into for new businesses considering Park Ridge (e.g., Mariano’s).  No thought to first establishing some type of benchmark or guideline to replace the worthless Council Policy No. 31 for objectively determining the kinds and amounts of incentives, if any, that would be acceptable; and under what specific circumstances.

And no thought whatsoever to why Whole Foods or developer Park Ridge 2004 LLC is deserving of what could end up being millions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies that other businesses – like the new locally-owned Garden on the Run – aren’t getting.  Or why City government should be using our tax dollars to effectively help pick and choose winners and losers in this marketplace.

Other than the idiotic: “That’s what everybody else is doing.”

We would like to see a Whole Foods in Park Ridge.  We’d also like to see it at the proposed site, even if other sites in town might be preferable.  But we think concessions like Chody and Whole Foods are demanding are a Pandora’s Box that, once opened, will not be able to be closed.

The City Council so far has gotten this nettlesome issue right.  Here’s hoping that it doesn’t get bull-rushed into selling out fundamental fairness and a level playing-field for thirty pieces of silver.

Or 20 years of sales tax revenue-sharing.

UPDATE:  One of the things we hope this blog does is cause people – including the folks over at 505 Butler Place – to actually think about the issues our community faces rather than just react in knee-jerk fashion, often based on minimal and incorrect information.  A good example of that is the number of comments this particular post already has received critical of the City Council’s vote on the Whole Foods sales tax revenue sharing proposal and its failure to “negotiate” or “compromise” with Whole Foods – but without offering any suggestion for what the “compromise” deal should look like, and how much “bribe” money should the City throw at these “crap-italists”…and all those who may follow with their hands out. 

That goes in spades for members of the City’s Economic Development Task Force who have come on like gangbusters in ripping the Council for saying “No” to Chody’s/Whole Foods proposal.  Yet none of these self-styled business people have, to our knowledge, offered any alternative to the Council’s “no” – other than just saying “yes” to whatever the crap-italists demand. 

Former British prime minister Tony Blair nailed it with: “The art of leadership is saying no, not saying yes.  It is very easy to say yes.”

To read or post comments, click on title.