IOC protest draws curious, too
Pat Flynn
Issue date: 3/13/09 Section: Chicago 2016
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Many different groups of the coalition that makes No Games Chicago were in attendance and made it abundantly clear through handheld signs, t-shirts and a manikin of Mayor Richard Daley in a prison jumpsuit, that they were highly opposed to hosting the 2016 Olympic games, and that Chicago had enough problems to worry about already.
Like most rallies, there was no shortage of passion and enthusiasm.
But not everybody in attendance had a strong opinion on the matter. "I am just trying to learn about it to form an opinion," said 22-year-old Hallie Boyer. "I heard about it (the rally) in a newsletter. I'm still undecided about whether or not the Olympics should be here, so I just came to hear more about it."
Boyer heard from more than a dozen different speakers at the rally who spoke on a variety of subjects, such as the privatization of public parks, environmental issues, public housing and education.
Patrick McDonough, a city employee of the Department of Water Management, and author of chicagoclout.com, said he spoke on behalf of city workers. McDonough spoke of corruption, and told his interesting story of how Mayor Daley has unsuccessfully spent over one million dollars trying to get him fired.
"The problem is there is a lot of people who don't understand how corrupt it is in Chicago," McDonough said. "It's blatantly corrupt, and they waste tons of money on this (large group of police at the rally). But they're not spending the money on the poor people out west, and fixing the roads - all the basic things they're supposed to do."
Deborah Dickinson said she had not protested anything since her college days at anti-Vietnam rallies. But some recent events led to her getting involved with No Games. "I feel so strongly because, we have so many problems in this city already," Dickinson said. "My personal property taxes went up over a $1,000 last year. Property taxes!"
Dickinson echoed No Games Chicago's plea to keep the games out of Chicago, and put the money towards education, transportation and hospitals.
Dickinson couldn't help but laugh when a couple walked by her during the rally and said, "We're from Madrid. We don't want it either." Madrid, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro are the other cities vying to host the 2016 games.
The IOC will be inspecting Chicago from April 2nd through April 8th.
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