ICPPC
Illinois Coalition to Protect the
Public Commons
Join with Us to Take Charge
of our Commons!
SAY “YES” TO PUBLIC CONTROL.
Privatization
Affects Us All!
Keep our Commons in Public Hands
Keep our Communities Strong
Ensure that needed Public Services
Are Accessible and Affordable to All
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:
- Schools
-
Transportation
- Water
System
-
City Services
-
Parking Meters
-
Healthcare
-
Libraries
-
Social Security
-
Elections
-
US Post Offices
-
Legal Services
-
Policing/Security Services
-
Medicare and Medicaid
-
Highways
-
Infrastructure
-
Public Artworks
-
Parks
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.
CPS :
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 appreciably 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.
Resources
Coalition to
Protect the Public Commons:
On the
Commons:
Protect Our Pubic
Assets:
Our Demands
- Keep public assets, paid for by public
funds, in public hands
- Public assess and a place at the table
- A statewide bill protecting the public
commons
- Transparency in planning
- Adequate public review of any plans
affecting public assets
- End of secrecy in planning - timely notice
of any plans that affect the public
commons
- A city ordinance protecting the publicly
owned city assets
- Expand, not contract, public services
- End of
cronyism which wastes
taxpayer
funds.
Things
you can do
- Widen your
sources of information
- Talk with
your friends and
neighbors
about these issues
- Visit our website:
- Host a
networking party
- Invite a
speaker to your local civic or
religious
group
- Sign a
petition, such as:
- Urge your elected representatives to
oppose
privatization and protect
public assets
and services
- Get active in civic engagement –
attend local townhall meetings or city
council meetings
- Join a
campaign or action to protect
the commons
- Join and
support ICPPC
JOIN US
ICPPC meets the 4th Monday of every
month, alternately by teleconference or
in-person meetings.
See: "Meetings" page for info.
