Mayor Emanuel Says He Reformed The Parking Meter Deal But He Actually Sold Off More Of The City Streets

• Rahm Emanuel expanded the parking meter deal, but in this campaign flyer he attacks Bob Fioretti for it.

Throughout his reelection campaign Mayor Rahm Emanuel has boasted that he reworked the infamous parking meter deal and saved the city $1 billion.

“It’s beyond ironic that he’s slamming Fioretti for this,” says Alderman Scott Waguespack (32nd), a critic of the meter deal since it was introduced in 2008. “The mailers they’re sending out are hilarious. I just hope people don’t buy into them.”

Instead he ordered city attorneys to join CPM in fighting a lawsuit that challenged the agreement—a move that ended up killing the suit.

Nevertheless, it was clear to Waguespack, Fioretti, and their allies that the city wasn’t off the hook under Emanuel’s new deal.

In essence, Emanuel’s revisions locked the deal in place and ensured that CPM will continue to rake in cash from Chicagoans, says Clint Krislov, the attorney behind the lawsuit challenging the deal. “They just transferred the costs from the city onto the backs of average people who park.”