Daley angrily defends big-box veto

Daley angrily defends big-b
Mayor questions why nobody objected to big retailers in other parts of city

AP — A day after he vetoed an ordinance that would require mega-retailers to pay their employees higher wages, Mayor Richard Daley on Tuesday angrily denounced the measure, saying it is a misguided effort that will cost the city jobs and hurt the people - particularly black workers - it aims to help.

"The result of this ordinance would not be better wages and benefits for workers in Chicago," Daley said during a speech at the site of a proposed Target store on the city's South Side. "Instead it would drive out business, jobs and revenue from our city."

Daley stressed that he was not questioning the motives of proponents of the so-called "big box" ordinance. But he said he wondered why nobody objected when the giant retailers were building stores in other parts of the city and are now objecting to proposals to build on the city's South Side, where much of the city's black population lives.

"It was all right for the North and southwest side to get the big boxes before this. It was all right. No one said anything. But all of a sudden we talk about economic development in the black community, there's something wrong there," he said.

Daley told the crowd that he'd decided to issue his first veto in 17 years as mayor only because he thought it was the best thing to do for the city. He said that while he supports an increase in the minimum wage, it must be done by state or federal lawmakers and that a city ordinance hurts residents because it means they will have to drive to stores in suburban locations if they want to shop or work there.

The ordinance was approved by the council in July and requires so-called "big box" stores to pay workers at least $10 an hour plus $3 in fringe benefits by mid-2010. The rules would only apply to companies with more than $1 billion in annual sales and stores of at least 90,000 square feet. In Illinois, the minimum wage is $6.50 an hour, while the federal minimum is $5.15.

The veto sends the ordinance back to the council. Thirty-four votes would be needed to override the veto, which could be addressed as soon as Wednesday.

A few aldermen who voted in favor of the ordinance said they would change their votes, and there is widespread speculation that Daley would not have issued the veto if he wasn't sure he'd be successful.

The veto also has political ramifications, as both Daley and the members of the City Council are up for re-election in February. Daley is seen by some as weakened by federal investigations into City Hall, though the mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Daley's opposition to the ordinance and his comments about how it would adversely impact black Chicagoans might prove particularly significant in the mayoral race where his only official opponents - Cook County Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown and William "Dock" Walls, a one-time aide to Mayor Harold Washington - are black, as is Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who is considering a run for mayor.