 "Photo: Photo courtesy of Juliette Cardenas")
Cook County Commissioner Tony Peraica came to UIC on October 9th as part of the Future of Chicago lecture series where he talked about reforming our local government. Peraica is a UIC alumnus that was inspired by Professor Dick Simpson to pursue a career in public service.
Peraica began his lecture by discussing the financial hardships of the city of Chicago. He started by discussing the city's many deficits such as the CTA's 3 million dollar deficit and Chicago Public School's 500 million dollar deficit. Peraica summarized this with an analogy. He stated that although the flowers on Michigan Avenue may look pretty and although Mayor Daley may assure Chicago that there is nothing to worry about, the people of Chicago should think of the saying: "When your mother says she loves you, check it out."
Peraica stressed that our local government is being run by individuals that are practicing a "I will take care of you, if you take care of me" mentality that has led to a corrupt climate. Peraica then noted several ways that the people who run our local government use unfair measures, such high taxes, to mend the government's deficits. Considering downtown's 11.5% sales tax or local hotels' 16-17% sales tax, he said, "No wonder Chicago did not get the Olympics."
Peraica saw this as only the beginning of the city's increasing tax problems, such as Governor Quinn's plan to raise the income tax by 50% and rising property taxes that are becoming some of the highest in our country. Peraica pushed his listeners to take action against a local government that has "a sickness that can only be diagnosed with political revolution."
A majority of Peraica's lecture was based around warning his audience and our generation that everyone is responsible for their own future and that no one should expect our current leaders to solve the corruption of the city. He stated that the most effective way to deal with important issues is to become involved and vote. Peraica expressed that he is frightened by the low voter turnout and the fact that many of Chicago's current leaders have been elected and re-elected by people who want to keep their pension and severance packages.
Peraica urges students to take matters into their own hands and voice their own opinions. Issues like high taxes and the loss of the MAP grant are issues that tremendously affect UIC students and the surrounding community.
Peraica further suggested that students voice their concerns to Mayor Daley, Governor Quinn, Senate President Cullerton, and House Speaker Madigan, who all live in the city of Chicago, in order to "keep them up at night and put them to shame."
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