Ask voters about taxpayer subsidies for Bears, Sox stadiums, former Gov. Quinn says

Armed with a new poll showing overwhelming opposition to taxpayer-subsidized stadiums for the Bears and White Sox, former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn is launching the political version of a goal-line stand.

Quinn plans to push for a proposed ordinance Wednesday that would direct the City Council to put an advisory referendum on the November ballot asking Chicago voters a question similar to what he asked 448 voters in the statewide poll he paid for:

“Do you support or oppose the Chicago Bears or Chicago White Sox receiving state or local taxpayer subsidies in order to build a new stadium or real estate development?”

It could amount to a rebuke of public funding for a Bears or Sox stadium, if the referendum results mirror the poll conducted March 13-15 by Blueprint Polling, a Democratic public opinion research firm. Quinn’s poll has a margin for error of plus or minus 5.4 percentage points.

Nearly 66% of those surveyed oppose taxpayers subsidies, with nearly half of those people calling themselves “strongly opposed.”

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

Opposition to taxpayer subsidies for stadiums or the surrounding “real estate developments” was strongest among Democrats (69.6%), followed by independents (62.4%) and Republicans (61.6%), though all those numbers are within the margin of error of each other.

The strongest opposition came from voters age 50-65, with nearly three-fourths (72.8%) against. Next were those 65 and older (69%), 30 to 39 (62.6%); 40 to 49 (59.9%); and 18 to 29 (55.5%).

There was no real difference between men (65.7%) and women (65.6%).

Among specific ethnic groups, the strongest opposition came from Asian-American voters (80.8%), followed by white voters (68.1%); Black voters (60.9%) and Hispanic voters (57.3%) .

The firm first built a sample of 348 voters from across the state, though weighted heavily toward the densely populated Chicago area, then added another 100 Chicago voters. Those polled were contacted via text messages as well as live calls to mobile phones and land lines.

The advisory referendum would have to pass the Council’s Rules Committee and then the full Council to be placed on the November ballot.

Another hurdle, however, is that Mayor Brandon Johnson could ask allies to shoot down or crowd out the stadium referendum, fearing voters will give a thumbs-down to public funding even as he negotiates with the Sox and the Bears, who want to build stadiums in the South Loop (Sox) and along the lakefront (Bears).

But Quinn said Johnson should “want what the people of Chicago want.”

“Politicians understand one language: votes at the ballot box. That’s what this is all about. It gives people of Chicago a chance at the ballot box … to send a message to the mayor, and frankly, to other elected officials on what the people think is appropriate when it comes to the owners of franchises,” Quinn said.

“This is the best way to have open, transparent, participatory government,” he said.

A referendum would prevent the Bears from continuing to play hide-the-ball with their ambitious plan to build a domed stadium along the lakefront at the site of the Waldron parking deck south of Soldier Field, the former governor said.

“It requires the Bears to tell us, ‘What exactly are you talking about by demolishing Soldier Field that we just spent $660 million remodeling?’” Quinn said. “It’s very murky what they’re proposing. “

The Bears say they are prepared to invest more than $2 billion in private money in a domed stadium, but experts have said the stadium could cost $500 million to $1 billion more than that, and Bears President Kevin Warren has refused to say where money for those additional construction costs would come from.

Nor has he said whether tax-exempt public bonds would be used to finance the stadium, which public entity would issue those bonds, what tax would be used to back the bonds and who would be asked to pay the formidable cost of demolishing everything but the historic colonnades and war memorial at Soldier Field.

Friends of the Parks, an advocacy group that fights for lakefront preservation, recently met with Bears officials and learned that a new sports museum, a pedestrian bridge to Northerly Island and a lakefront hotel could be built in conjunction with the stadium. But the team has refused to say how those improvements, as well as a public infrastructure price tag of at least $1 billion, would be paid for.

The White Sox’s financing plan for the vacant South Loop parcel known as “The 78” relies on a 35-to-40-year extension of bonds issued by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, backed by hotel taxes; part of the sales tax revenue generated within the project boundaries; and a $450 million subsidy from the tax increment financing district created to fund infrastructure improvements needed to develop the site.