Lightfoot softens $54 million ‘payoff’ charge against Uber

Instead of calling it a payoff, as she did Wednesday, the mayor on Thursday used “investments” to describe the offer she said was made to African-American ministers enlisted by Uber.

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Mayor Lori Lightfoot noted that “parenthood doesn’t come with an instruction manual” as the city unveils its new program Tuesday targeting families with newborns.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot talks to reporters after Wednesday’s City Council meeting.

Fran Spielman/Sun-Times file photo

Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday pulled back from the political bombshell she dropped this week about a publicly traded company: that Uber offered black ministers a $54 million “payoff” to kill her $40 million congestion fee.

Now, the mayor is using the term “investments” to describe Uber’s offer to African-American ministers. And the ministers are demanding a “clarification” from the mayor.

“My understanding, as I said yesterday, was that they offered up $54 million in — I’ll put in air quotes — ‘investments.’ What they’re trying to do … is divide and conquer and pit one group against another. We’ve seen that happen historically in Chicago. We’re not gonna tolerate that,” Lightfoot said.

“My values and the ministers’ values are aligned — which is, bringing equity and fairness to communities that have been left behind. … What we need to do is focus on what Uber and Lyft are trying to do and why it’s important to regulate them because of the congestion that’s caused.”

In shooting down what Uber called the mayor’s “categorically false” charge, Uber’s director of public policy Josh Gold accused the mayor of “confusing the $54 million in revenue that one of our proposals would have raised for her own budget.”

For the first time, Lightfoot seemed to acknowledge as much.

No proposal by Uber, Lightfoot said, “whether it’s the $54 million or a more recent counter-proposal,” allows the ride-hailing giant “to be regulated and deal with the congestion. They offer nothing to deal with congestion.”

A statement issued by the mayor’s office three hours later — apparently in response to the ministers’ demand for a “clarification” — used the same $54 million figure to describe the “investments” Uber offered “to certain neighborhoods as part of their alternative proposal” in an effort to “use these communities and their leaders as pawns to further the company’s own interests.”

Without saying how, Lightfoot argued media coverage of her original charge was “not quite accurate.”

She accused Uber, whose investors include former Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s brother, of trying to “divide and conquer and use scare-mongering tactics among black communities” to push an “utterly false … narrative.”

That is, that her $40 million congestion fee would somehow “disproportionately impact in a negative way black and brown communities.”

“In trying to divide and conquer, they offered up potential, quote-unquote ‘investments,’” the mayor said, steering clear of the word “payoff” she had used so liberally the day before.

“One thing I’m not gonna let Uber do is divide me from black ministers, or them from me. I know a lot of these ministers. I’ve worked with them for a number of years. They are good, honorable people. And they want exactly the same thing that we do.”

Lightfoot said the controversy isn’t about black ministers. It’s about Uber and Lyft “trying to avoid any kind of regulation and putting out a false narrative that they are somehow not responsible for the unbelievable congestion that we see every single day” downtown.

“Those cars are their drivers. And they have not been regulated and they’re going to be. And frankly, what I hear from City Council is not, ‘Is this fair or not?’ What they tell me is, ‘Charge `em more.’ So, I think we’ve struck the right balance,” the mayor said.

“What Uber and Lyft should do is work with us in partnership and avoid these diversions in an effort to try and divide and pit one community against each other. We’ve seen enough of that in Chicago. And it’s not gonna work.”

The mayor’s decision to substitute the word “investments” for “payoffs” appeared to be a calculated attempt to extract herself from a political controversy of her own making.

Not only did the remark risk offending black ministers who are a powerful political force; the payoff charge also had the potential to impact the stock of a publicly-owned company. If the former federal prosecutor was truly accusing Uber of attempted bribery and had evidence of such a crime, she had an obligation to report that charge to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Bishop Larry Trotter of Sweet Holy Spirit Church said he’s “confident” Lightfoot “did not intend to infer that all black ministers are being paid by the Uber company.”

But, he argued, African-American ministers essentially accused of being for sale are owed a “clarification.”

“Ride-sharing has become a valuable asset to our community. To that end, there should be no stereotype against any clergyman raising this issue,” Trotter was quoted as saying in a statement.

Trotter noted the congestion fee issue is of paramount importance to the black community because taxicabs have been historically hard to come by inner-city neighborhoods.

“I’ve known Pastor Walter Turner my entire adult life. He’s an upstanding gentleman who has an incredible background in fighting for the upward mobility of our people,” Trotter said of one of the ministers leading opposition to the mayor’s congestion fee.

“But I also know Mary Lori Lightfoot. And I know she would never purposely stereotype the entire black clergy of Chicago. However, I do think a clarification should be made by her in this regard.”

Uber spokesperson Kelley Quinn said it doesn’t matter whether Lightfoot uses the term “payoff” or “investments” to describe Uber’s $54 million offer. Neither charge is true, Quinn said.

“Our [alternative congestion tax] proposal includes $54 million in designated revenue for the city,” Quinn said.

“She can do whatever she wants to do with that money: Close the budget gap or invest in neighborhoods. That’s not up to us. That’s up to the city.”

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