U.S. Gov't Considers Financial Support For Chicago Olympic Village

Chicago, White House Officials Reportedly Have Met To Discuss Financing Options For Village

Chicago and the Obama administration are "exploring ways the federal government can bolster the city's bid for the 2016 Olympic Games with financial support" for the $1B Olympic Village, according to Paul Merrion of CRAIN'S CHICAGO BUSINESS. Sources said that White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett and Chicago 2016 President Lori Healey "met this month with top officials of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to discuss financing options for the village, the single biggest project -- and question mark -- in the city's bid." Jarrett said it is "premature to talk about what funding might be." Jarrett: "A proposal has not been made to the federal government, but the administration is not closing the door." Merrion noted in other countries host governments have "picked up or guaranteed most or all of the tab to house athletes," so "merely a promise of federal help for the village could be an important talking point if questions about the city's plan for housing athletes are raised" during Friday's bid presentation to the IOC. Chicago "proposes that the village be built on the former site of Michael Reese Hospital," and while the city has "received non-binding letters of intent from several developers and their financiers, no agreements have been reached." Obama administration officials have said that they "plan to take an interagency approach to urban problems, so coordinated federal housing and transportation support for the Olympic Village could help address long-term needs of the South Side" (CHICAGOBUSINESS.com, 9/28). Fox Business' Eric Bolling said he does not "love the whole idea of taking federal dollars" for funding if Chicago wins the '16 Games and then "transferring them to the state and then down to the cities and local municipalities" ("Happy Hour," Fox Business, 9/29).

OUT AT HOME? SI.com's David Epstein writes under the header, "Financial Risks Loom As Chicago Awaits Olympic Fate." Chicago Mayor Richard Daley in June agreed that the city would cover any financial shortfalls the '16 Games may incur, after "repeatedly promising taxpayers that they would not be on the hook for an overrun." His reversal "did not sit well with many Chicagoans struggling through the recession as they watched the city impose three furlough days for municipal employees where the city forgoes such luxuries as garbage pickup and a staffed City Hall." So it is "no surprise that some windy citizens are recoiling at the thought of shelling out for the Games." While a report from Chicago-based watchdog The Civic Federation claims the city's bid "provides adequate protection for taxpayers," many Chicago residents "do not see the Olympics as a justifiable financial risk" (SI.com, 9/30).