But after a morning shooting and police chase turned part of the
neighborhood into a crime scene, Daley took reporters to a nearby park to
explain his latest effort to rout drugs and gangs.
"Nothing can destroy the quality of life in a neighborhood faster than
a drug or gang house," Daley said at the hastily rescheduled news
conference at Augusta Park, 4433 W. Augusta Blvd., roughly a mile from the
incident. "It becomes a plague on the neighborhood."
Under a measure he will introduce at a City Council meeting, landlords
responsible for permitting or encouraging illegal activity in their buildings
would face a maximum fine of $6,000 a day, up from $500 a day
currently.
Officials said the decision to move the event from outside a former drug
house at 846 N. Drake St. after a shooting down the street was to prevent
disruption of the crime scene rather than to avoid exposing Daley topossible
danger. The incident took place more than an hour before the mayor's
late-morning announcement.
One man was shot in the foot in the incident, and two men were arrested
after a police chase.
A motive for the shooting was not immediately known, and a third offender
was being sought, said David Bayless, a police spokesman.
The original ordinance imposing penalties on landlords of problem buildings
was passed 10 years ago. Despite a fine schedule much lower than what Daley
proposed Tuesday, owners of 3,500 buildings have been assessed a total of
$10.5 million in penalties since then, officials said.
The enforcement efforts have prompted some owners to sell, according to the
city.
The house at 846 N. Drake St., which had been used to stash heroin sold on
nearby streets, was taken over by the lender, Citigroup, officials said.
After the city filed a complaint, the bank evicted the tenants and donated
the property to Neighborhood Housing Services, a not-for-profit organization
that now is rehabbing it.
On a related issue, Daley hailed the passage in Springfield of a measure
that would require criminal background checks of purchasers at gun
shows.
"We worked both sides of the aisle" to win passage, he said.
"We are happy with that. That is very significant."
Another measure that would require the destruction of most background check
records in 90 days "is the silliest law," Daley asserted. "If
you buy a car, we keep records longer than that."
Gov. Rod Blagojevich has said he will veto that bill.
On another subject, Daley made no apologies for continuing his legal effort
to void the federal Shakman decree, which prohibits political hiring, despite
recent city admissions that instances of favoritism in hiring have been
uncovered.
Only "a few" cases have been found, said Daley, who contends that
compliance with Shakman is burdensome and expensive and that the decree no
longer is necessary because of federal hiring protections now in place.
At City Hall, meanwhile, the City Council's Buildings Committee advanced a
measure that would permit the installation of mechanical car lifts in
high-ceiling garages of commercial and residential buildings, allowing two
autos to occupy space normally used by one. Supporters contend the devices
would be a boon to congested neighborhoods with limited on-street parking and
to condo owners who could create an additional parking space by purchasing a
device for about $14,000.