Brochure

ICPPC

Illinois Coalition to Protect the Public Commons

SAY “YES” TO PUBLIC CONTROL

Privatization Affects Us All!

Keep our Infrastructure in Public Hands

Current Legislation Authorizes the 99 Year Sale and Lost Control of Public Property

About Us

ICPPC was founded in September 2011 by a group of citizen advocates from a variety of issue groups, all concerned about the growing national trend to privatize the public commons. We joined together in order to share information, support each other’s issues and actions and create a stronger force to fight for the public interest. We are committed to promoting our goals through public education, research, forums, outreach, actions and lobbying.

Why form a new Coalition?

Nearly every aspect of our public commons has been, or is being threatened with, privatization:

What’s at Risk?

When public assets or the public commons are privatized, citizens relinquish control of our communities to the corporate state. We lose good jobs, money, access, our sense of community, accountability and legal recourse. The corporate state grows while democracy shrinks. Whose rights are protected in an ownership society?

What Happens When Public Assets are Privatized?

As we saw with the Chicago parking meters, when public assets are privatized the public pays and the private companies profit. Private companies invest for fast profits and fat bonuses. To do this, they quickly raise prices, reduce services and/or quality, replace public workers with fewer, less-skilled workers, cut back on long-term maintenance, and exploit public grants and tax exemptions. This is socialism - reverse socialism. It is socialism for the wealthy.

High Costs of Privatization

- Soaring costs and fees

- Cuts in services and sites

- Poorer quality

- Regulatory capture

- Loss of flexibility for public policy making

- Less transparency and accountability

- Loss of pensions for workers

- Loss of job security for workers

- Loss of valuable revenue streams

(as in the case of the parking

meters deal)

- Weaken unions, the backbone of

the middle class

- Hollows out the public sector and

increases corporate control

Failures of Privatization

Skyway Bridge: In 2005 Mayor Daley assigned the Skyway Bridge connecting the city to Indiana to a consortium owned by Spanish and Australian companies for $1.15 billion for a 99 year lease. The private companies stand to reap way more - between $5 to $15 billion.

Parking Meters: In 2009 Mayor Daley gave a group of investors led by Morgan Stanley a 75-year lease on the city’s parking meters for $1.5 billion. The investors, including the state-owned investment arm of Abu Dhabi, will earn some $11.6 billion - the city nothing.

Chicago Public Schools: The mayor created much community dissatisfaction and anger with the forced closings of local schools. Studies show that, despite claims to the contrary, charter schools do not outperform public schools.

Water System: Atlanta terminated a 20-year water privatization contract after four years, citing service problems. Nearby Homer Glen in Will County, which had contracted with Illinois-American Water Co. had water rates about three times more than in neighboring communities.

Don’t We Learn?

In spite of these failures and many others at the local and national levels, our current mayor is pressing for more privatization of public services, particularly schools and health centers. He also is hinting at selling public library buildings and our water system.

Our Demands

- Keep public assets, paid for by public fund in