By Margaret Burke
To say that I read with interest the article in yesterday’s Tribune about the outsourcing of Olympic bid work to China is an understatement. I’m livid.
The City of Chicago has a residency requirement; anyone who works for the city must live in the city. If I remember correctly, the defense for this requirement was that the taxpayers are paying these people; these people should also be taxpayers. While I don’t necessarily agree that the city gets the best value, as many talented people for many reasons live outside the city limits, there is some value in seeing the taxpayers get something for their money.
I guess that doesn’t go both ways. The Olympic bid committee needs animations. Do they go to local graphic designers and video artists? Do they call the faculty at Columbia College, requesting student submissions? I’m sure there are any number of talented people in Chicago who would have been able to do the work and happy to have it. Some of the best computer graphics minds in the world are right here in Chicago; did anyone consider calling the Electronic Visualization folks at UIC? No, of course not – the bid committee just sent it off to China.
As for the assertion that the animations had to be produced quickly: Did this bid idea come up overnight? This bid has been publicized for months, but I guess the probability of lead time never occurred to anyone.
I’m sure one argument for going to China would be, this was privately funded, so the committee can go anywhere they see fit. Shouldn’t the donors’ money at least stay in this country? Are any of the donors Chinese nationals? I have no problem going elsewhere when the work truly cannot be done here; however, I cannot believe that there is no one in Chicago, to say nothing of Illinois and the United States as a whole, who could have done this work.
Even assuming that the bid is completely privately funded, should Chicago get the Olympics, the mayor and the governor have both admitted that tax dollars will be spent to fund the Games. Shouldn’t we be looking for ways, no, shouldn’t there be a requirement, like the city residency requirement, that any work done on the bid be locally produced? Yes, it’s cheaper to go to China, but it’s also cheaper for a Chicago teacher or police officer to buy a house outside the city limits. Ethical consistency, a foreign concept to this administration, demands that if the city that requires its workers to live in the city, any other work done for the city should also be produced locally.
I hope the committee realizes that, as jobs fly overseas, there are fewer people able to pay taxes, to buy products, and to get enthusiastic about the Olympic bid. The publicity surrounding the bid said that jobs would be created right here; that job creation must begin now.
My first thoughts, on seeing any announcements relating to the Olympics, should be: Wow, this is exciting. What a great thing this will be if the city gets the Games! Instead, my first thought will be: Was this work done in China?
*
Comments? Send them through our Contact form. You must provide a real name to be considered for publication.
*
1. From Eric Bowden:
If we’re going to outsource to China for the Olympics, why don’t we get a few of their athletes for our team while we’re at it?
Posted on April 23, 2007