BRIDGEPORT — Less than two weeks after telling a roomful of neighborhood folks he was undecided on Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s controversial budget, Ald. Patrick D. Thompson (11th) voted “yes.”
When the City Council approved the budget, Thompson didn't give a speech explaining his decision.
But the rookie alderman recently sat down with DNAinfo Chicago to talk about what led him to vote for a budget that includes an historic property tax hike — almost $600 million that aims to catch up on payments to pension funds some say were left depleted by the administration of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, the alderman's uncle.
“I believe we have a moral obligation and a legal obligation to pay our municipal employees their pensions,” Thompson said.
If the city defaulted on the payments, Thompson said, a law would force the state to withhold the city’s share of collected sales taxes in order to make the payments.
That would have led to a $544 million budget hole, he said, likely requiring the city to lay off workers and shut down firehouses or police stations.
Thompson voted in favor of the alternative last week: Raising property taxes. Starting in the summer of 2016, Chicagoans with homes worth more than $250,000 will have to pay an extra $588 a year.
“It’s a hard decision when you have to ask people to pay more money,” Thompson said. “What’s really hard is when you have to look somebody in the eye and say, ‘We have to let you go, not because of your performance ... I can’t afford you.’”
Slashing city services would be the wrong thing to do, Thompson said, because “the quality of life in the city would go down."
The extra money generated by the tax hike isn’t for fun and games, Thompson said: “We’re not a tangent here, spending money recklessly here. It’s very targeted.”
Throughout the city’s contentious budget negotiations, Thompson had to navigate around an obstacle most aldermen don’t have: Family ties.
The grandson of former Mayor Richard J. Daley and nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley, Thompson has witnessed a steady stream of blame directed at his uncle’s administration for creating a debt burden by putting off pension payments.
Though he counts his uncle and grandfather among his heroes, Thompson said the criticism of his family is a part of city politics — and a waste of time.
“In this business, you put yourself out there and you’re susceptible to criticism,” Thompson said. “You get out there and you get dirty and you get roughed up, but hopefully you’re moving forward towards a goal and a vision.”
Thompson believes his uncle's administration helped shape Chicago into a great city.
“Chicago is much better off because of the previous administration’s commitment to the residents," Thompson said, "and a lot of the work that they did.”
Entering his sixth month as alderman of one of the city’s most storied wards, Thompson said it's important to move forward and don’t look back.
“How do we improve the quality of life going forward and not to turn around and figure out who to blame?” Thompson said. “OK, great. We blamed them. That doesn’t help us."
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