To Sell or Not to Sell?
Chicago is no stranger to privatization: the city has successfully liquidated assets from local parking garages to the Skyway Bridge. But recently its magic touch has waned. A proposal to sell off Midway Airport to a private owner fell through earlier this year. And back in December, when Chicago Mayor Richard Daley pushed through a $1.15 billion deal to put the city's 36,000 parking meters into the hands of a private company, Chicago Parking Meters LLC, it quickly became apparent that both sides had rushed into the deal, as Chicago Parking Meters proved unprepared to handle its new assets (and the meters proved to be in less-than-mint condition to begin with). City officials have now ruled that a longer transition period is needed before sales are finalized.