The Friends of the Parks should remember previous political promises, i.e., the Cultural Center, which was given to the city after the Chicago Fire with the stipulation that a Civil War memorial be maintained in the structure forever — a display was removed in the ’70s; the agreement and court order obtained by Montgomery Ward that the lakefront be free of structures, before it became a glitter dome; the Lottery, which was promised to take care of education to infinity, and the toll roads, which were promised to convert to free roads.
You would have to be naive to expect Rahm Emanuel, or future politicians, to keep their promises regarding the Lucas ego structure.
John Culloton, Norwood Park
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Angry millionaires
Wow! Mayor Rahm Emanuel is mad at Friends of the Parks (and anyone who doesn’t do his bidding), and his fellow millionaire former buddy Gov. Bruce Rauner is mad at CPS and the CTU (and anyone who won’t bow down to his pontificating on shutting down human services).
It is so sad when spoiled wealthy bullies don’t get their way because all the rest of us suffer tremendously from their tantrums and narcissism.
Edward D. Juillard, Morgan Park
A genuine threat?
So, just that I understand — are Uber and Lyft truly threatening to withdraw service from the city rather than have their drivers undergo drug tests and background checks?
It’s difficult to find ANY legal employment in 2016 where such inquiries aren’t routine. I find great comfort knowing that the counter help at fast food restaurants have passed such exams.
As long as we’re raising the bar a bit, let’s require shared-ride drivers to also pass the type of test that cab drivers to in terms of knowledge of the city — without Garmin assist.
I work in the hospitality field and can share dozens of horror stories of Uber and Lyft passengers whose drivers circle and circle and circle the downtown streets as the GPS systems try to recalculate. Note that the drivers’ attention is on the device rather than the traffic in which they’re lost.
So, if the City Council wimps out and doesn’t pass the pending bill for background checks, let’s apply the same standard to drivers of taxis, CTA buses, L trains, and truck drivers — perhaps even pilots.
Dwain Thomas, River North
Require stickers
I see a majority of Uber and Lyft vehicles without Chicago vehicle stickers nor Illinois license plates.
Why doesn’t the City of Chicago require the ride-hailing vehicles to have special vehicle stickers?
Think of all the new tax revenue the city could receive.
Michael Sullivan, Irving Park
How to cut costs
Self-driving cars and Uber and Lyft can show the way in manpower cutbacks at Pace and the CTA by greatly reducing payroll and pension costs. San Francisco’s BART trains have been operating for years without engineers or drivers by utilizing computers from the operations control center.
Thomas Cechner, Lockport
Look at history
The press did a good job reporting on the devastating long-term effects of socialism on Venezuela recently. Remember when Venezuelan leaders threw out capitalism and nationalized businesses? Short term taking from the producers and redistributing to the takers was popular. Now look what happened. The country is falling apart.
Those who felt the Bern should look at long-term history and recent history in Venezuela before they jump on future band wagons. Socialism is a loser. Capitalism and our form of government is what has made our nation prosper faster in the last two centuries than has been seen in the previous 3,000 years. We need to protect our nation from being destroyed from those from within and abroad who want to import their failed philosophies and ideologies here. We also can not succumb to out-of-control political correctness. Let’s use common sense and stick with what works.
Jay Kinzler, Glen Ellyn
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