Regarding your article about moving the Taste of Chicago to Navy Pier: So the mayor’s office did not know the NASCAR event was going to happen at the same time as the Taste, which had been scheduled there since 1980, and just now came to realize it?
What were they thinking? One would think they would know what’s going on in the city before agreeing to anything. I think the mayor’s office was blinded by dollar signs and did not consider Chicago residents, as well as suburbanites and tourists, who enjoy the prime time of summer in the city and enjoy these Fourth of July activities and the beauty of Grant Park.
I’ve attended almost every Taste but am concerned about its fate this year and future years. Navy Pier cannot handle it. There is not enough room to do it justice. It is not easily accessible, parking is limited and expensive, it would be a nightmare of a traffic jam, plus there’s no space for the concerts, which are part of this popular food fest.
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Moreover, not only is the Taste compromised, but what about the well-attended annual Fourth of July concert by the Grant Park Orchestra at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park? And let’s not even mention the Chicago softball teams that will not have access to their ball diamonds at Hutchinson Field at the south end of Grant Park.
NASCAR should have been scheduled in September, not in July. You would have one group of tourists coming to enjoy July and the Taste, and another different group of people coming for NASCAR. A win-win for both.
Mario Caruso, Lincoln Square
Paid leave for all workers could cost jobs
Paid leave benefits for Illinois workers sounds great, however, the potential repercussions are lacking in your recent article.
The legislation basically mandates a 2% raise in pay for 2% less production. I can fully understand the plight of families who live paycheck to paycheck. I lived that as a child for many years.
This is nothing more than an extra one week of unscheduled vacation time. As an employer of three to six employees for 30 years, giving everyone paid time off can be a real problem. From my own experience of being self-employed, I learned very early on that any time I did not work, I lost money.
Can anyone imagine having a haircut appointment and having the barber call the day before the appointment to state he/she needed the day off, but the fee for the haircut would still be required?
Certainly ridiculous, but the equivalent of receiving pay for no production. Unfortunately, this bill does nothing to encourage people to save money for emergency needs.
The second unstated deficiency of the legislation is the fact that increasing the cost of employment reduces the incentive for an employer to hire people. The great economist Milton Friedman told us many years ago things that do not happen cannot be measured. Will job creation be reduced by this bill?
James Bergschneider, D.D.S., La Grange
