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(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: Mayor Daley Predicts 1 Million At Obama Election Party Oct 28, 2008 2:21 pm US/Central Daley Predicts 1 Million At Obama Election Party CHICAGO (STNG) 53; Mayor Daley predicted Tuesday that more than a million people would descend on Grant Park for Barack Obama's election night "celebration" and said the city has no plans to screen people entering the park. The mayor said "everybody's talking about" the Obama celebration. How To Get A Ticket To The Event "It's gonna be surprising. There's gonna be a lot of people who will want to come down and celebrate…We hope it's a million or more. It would be wonderful." The Chicago Sun-Times reported this week that the Police Department's retired resident expert on security planning has been hired back-this time on contract—to quarterback logistics for the Obama rally. Neil Sullivan will be paid by the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications at a rate of $100-an-hour with a $60,000 cap. On Tuesday, Daley called that money well-spent, even as the city is laying off 929 city employees, eliminating 1,346 vacancies raising parking and amusement taxes and hiking a number of fees to erase a $465 million shortfall. Referring to OEMC, Daley said, "They lost two senior people just recently to other agencies. They saw fit, which I respect, to bring someone in immediately to fill that gap…That's smart, very smart. For an event like this, you need some of the experts that you want. You don't fool around with this." Last week, Daley put a $2 million price tag on the cost of city services tied to the Obama rally and said the cash-flush Obama campaign had agreed to cover every penny because of Chicago's financial crisis. The mayor also portrayed the Grant Park rally as a logistical challenge that would force the city to close Grant Park up to eight hours in advance, block streets, secure the CTA and "realign gas mains." He openly acknowledged that he would have preferred a more "controlled" venue like the United Center. The Obama campaign quickly pointed out that the United Center was booked on election night with a Celine Dion concert. Apparently concerned about putting a damper on the election night party celebrating Illinois' favorite son, Daley chose Tuesday to accentuate the positive. He portrayed the Obama rally as a family "festival" and a "highlight for America." "This is gonna be a wonderful festival—an event, a festival. It's gonna be a celebration," Daley said. (Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2006. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.) Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
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