Could Raging Political Feud Derail Economic Revival In Pullman?

PULLMAN — My ward boss and the mayor don’t like each other, which is fine.

I’ve found the rift between Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Ald. Anthony Beale mildly entertaining, at times. Until, that is, their political feud started getting characterized as a potential road block to future economic development in my neighborhood.

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It happened Monday after Beale spread word that Amazon wants to build a $60 million package distribution center on a swath of abandoned steel mill property once pitched as the long-shot home for a Chicago casino.

Down on the far South Side, that’s a big deal. We’re talking 500 construction jobs and a couple hundred permanent gigs once the “fulfillment center” is up and running.

The project would also pump about $400,000 in annual property tax revenue into the Pullman tax increment finance district earmarked for future development of, say, a respectable hotel and nice sit-down restaurant, with waiters and everything, in my neighborhood, Chicago’s only National Monument.

But when a reporter asked Lightfoot about the project, the mayor didn’t respond enthusiastically even though it seems like exactly the kind of economic development that she’s promised to bring to forgotten neighborhoods like mine.

Intead, the mayor said Beale was “getting a little ahead of himself.” Lightfoot told reporters there “isn’t anything to talk about yet” because her administration hasn’t “heard anything from Amazon.”

Given their verbal sparring, I interpreted that to mean: Beale better remember who’s boss.

And my heart sank, a bit.

The last thing Pullman needs is a City Hall roadblock to stymie a decade of economic development momentum.

When I moved to Pullman in October 2005 (two days after the Sox won the World Series) the neighborhood was a food and job desert. Since then, Beale and developer David Doig, of Chicago Neighborhood Initiatives, helped usher in a revival on the abandoned Ryerson Steel property at 111th and Doty Road over the last 20 years.

First, we got a Walmart. Then Method Soap moved in with its wind-powered factory. Gotham Greens built a greenhouse on top of the “Soap Box” (that’s what Method calls its factory) that is the “World’s Largest Rooftop Farm.” Whole Foods built a distribution center behind the Soap Box, and a few months back Gotham Greens built a new indoor farm next door.

There’s Planet Fitness, a nail salon, a couple clothing stores, a dry cleaners and a couple places to get a bite to eat where once there was, well, nothing.

The Pullman Community Center, home to indoor turf fields and basketball courts, now doubles as the Midwest headquarters for AAU youth sports tournaments.

Beale and Doig recruited each of those projects and got them rolling without much help from City Hall. Then, former Mayor Rahm Emanuel took all the credit.

The Amazon “fulfillment center” appeared to be another Pullman success story.

“I’m out of the casino game. Instead of taking money out of people’s pockets, we’re putting money in pockets. It’s a continuation of a Renaissance going on,” Beale said.

“We’re aggressively making things happen. This is just another feather in the cap for all the hard work we’ve been doing over the years.”

Apparently, there’s a time crunch. Amazon needs the 150,000 square-foot building up and running by Halloween and in time for the holiday shopping season.

Beale said that’s why he’s pushing to expedite the City Council approval process to get construction started now.

Even that might not be enough. There's a chance that Amazon, like any mega-corporation, won’t move ahead if it means getting dragged into a rift between the mayor and Beale.

And, so far, Amazon isn’t saying a word.

'Without the mayor's help'

It’s no secret that Lightfoot doesn’t think highly of Beale, one of her supporters who quickly fell out of favor after she took office. For those who haven’t been keeping score, here are some highlights:

Beale, a 20-year City Council veteran, opposed Lightfoot’s pick to lead the powerful City Council finance committee and quickly became one of her harshest critics. Beale loudly complained about Lightfoot’s executive order declaring an end to aldermanic “prerogative,” a long-held City Hall tradition that gave ward bosses veto power over development and zoning issues

Lightfoot removed Beale as chairman of the transportation committee.

At City Council meetings, Lightfoot has used her gavel to silence Beale. In snarky emails, Lightfoot and Beale have jabbed at each other. Beale called for delaying a budget vote, writing “our hopes and wishes are not enough to approve a budget on.” Lightfoot’s response landed like an uppercut. “Unfortunately, as I understand it, you skipped many aldermanic briefings and then missed important days of the budget hearings while on a hunting trip,” the mayor wrote.

Political reporters seem to get a kick out the theatrics.

On Monday, the Tribune quipped that Lightfoot returned from Washington D.C. in time to continue her “standoff” with Beale, this time over the Amazon proposal.

In the Sun-Times, dispatches on the back-and-forth between Lightfoot and Beale drips with political drama, even speculating that the bickering hints at a brewing City Council “rebellion”which, by the way, hasn’t come to a boil.

The paper, on Monday, reported on the proposed construction of Amazon’s mini-distribution center by fanning the flames of political division, quoting Beale boasting that the Amazon project got done “without the mayor’s help," a dig Beale says he didn't say.

Beale quickly demanded a retraction in a statement titled, “To Set the Record Straight.”

“With full knowledge of past dust-ups created by your taking my comments out of context and in the interests of Pullman, the 9th Ward and the City, I want to make it clear that I never said, “And we did it without the mayor’s help,” as you have asserted,” according to the statement obtained by Patch. “Rather, you asked if the City was involved and I said no it had not been.” In bold print, the statement concluded, “Please correct.”

The alleged misquote has since vanished from the online version of the story.

But reporting on the feud as political entertainment — the kind of detail that only matters to gadflies — remains.

'If it's right for the people'

I couldn’t care less if Lightfoot and Beale shake hands and make up. Besides, trusted sources tell me, “That’s never going to f****** happen." My worry is that politics could stop a once vibrant South Side neighborhood from rising from its ashes.

A top city source told me that Lightfoot’s disdain for Beale — and the alderman’s penchant for pinging her in the press — has unofficially focused City Hall’s redevelopment spotlight to parts of neighborhoods that Beale doesn’t represent.

That’s a terrifying prospect for people holding on to hope that their forgotten part of town can make a comeback. We deserve to know whether Lightfoot and Beale can despise each other ... and push to revive poverty-stricken pockets of the 9th Ward.

So, I made some calls.

Tuesday morning, Beale, acknowledged having “differences” with the mayor, but insisted he isn’t trying to a pick fight with Lightfoot.

“I hope all that doesn’t stand in the way (of bringing Amazon to Pullman). I’m hoping that whatever differences there are can be put aside for the betterment of community and my ward,” Beale said.

“I’m going to continue to bring good projects to the ward and the city as I’ve done my entire career. I haven’t had any major projects or get derailed for political differences and I hope that trend continues. There’s a lot of potential in the Roseland/Pullman community. We should work together. There’s always room to mend any relationship.”

When I asked the City Hall spin machine whether the mayor’s cool reception to news about the Amazon project meant she might stand in the way of fast-tracking approval to meet the company’s target opening date, I got a typical non-answer, answer.

“The City welcomes opportunities to drive inclusive economic growth for our South and West Side communities, and Pullman is one of our priority areas. We remain committed to helping drive equitable growth throughout all of our neighborhoods, and this will continue to be a priority for the Mayor and her administration,” a spokesman said in an email.

So, I talked to the boss, herself, sharing my fear that bad blood might slow my neighborhood’s economic development momentum.

Lightfoot assured me, and my neighbors, that wouldn’t happen without mentioning Beale by name.

“Regardless of the local elected official we always support improved quality life and the vibrancy of neighborhoods,” Lightfoot said.

“I’d love to do that in partnership with the local elected official. If it’s right for the people, we’re gonna do it.”

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting and Emmy-nominated producer, was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docu-series on CNN. He was a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary, "16 Shots."

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