Brookins still wants a Wal-Mart

This post yesterday (new link - http://www.chicagoreader.com/Bleader/archives/2008/11/20/brookins-still-wants-a-wal-mart) from Clout City offers this blog a plug. Anyway Alderman Howard Brookins who represents the neighborhing 21st Ward is still talking about that Wal-Mart that was supposed to be located in his ward on 83rd Street...

“Out of all the retail stores, all of their profits are down except for Wal-Mart, whose third-quarter profits are up 10 percent,” Brookins said. He noted that Wal-Mart stores are thriving in suburbs that border on Chicago and cited studies estimating that tens of millions of dollars in spending and potential tax revenues were “leaking” out of the city. “Six hundred people could be employed right there in my community. Six hundred people!” he said. “As the economic times get worse, we will continue to see an increase in crime, and it’s already happened in a lot of our wards—we’ve seen an increase in garage burglaries; we’ve seen an increase in stick-ups and robberies. Until that trend turns around it’s unfortunate that we’re going to have to brace for the worst. But we can stop or prevent a little bit of that leakage.

“Had that Wal-Mart passed in our ward the city would have had an additional $21 million, by my estimate, by today’s date. Sixty-four million dollars would be spent with union tradesmen–plumbers, pipe-fitters, electricians, carpenters, right now, when the city of Chicago is experiencing a 29 percent decrease in commercial building starts.

“There’s been an unprecedented spirit of cooperation with the unions and the city to come up with new ideas so we would not have to lay off a bunch of city workers. I implore you to come up with that same creative idea, with labor and Wal-Mart, so that we can put people to work. Unfortunately this train is not going to turn around anytime soon, and the only sure bet I know in the 21st Ward to employ 600 people immediately is that retail store who still wants to come to the 21st Ward in the city of Chicago.”

The reaction to his remarks was minimal—except for Mell, who followed up with an appeal for a casino, and powerful finance committee chairman Ed Burke, who said Wal-Mart workers should be able to organize, no other aldermen responded on the floor. In an interview later, Brookins said a few others approached him afterward and complimented him. He's now thinking about talking with the potential developers of the project and, if they're on board, introducing a new request for approval in the council.

Can't argue with these revenue projections. Not that anyone should be under the illusion that having a second Wal-Mart in Chicago would solve the city's budget crunch.