Proper safeguards are key to the proposed Midway Airport public-private partnership.
As Chicago explores the potential for a public-private partnership to manage Midway Airport, Mayor Emanuel and the Midway Advisory Panel I chair are charged with determining if a suitable contract is possible — one with a sensible transaction structure and a fair, competitive process that provides taxpayers the best value. Unless and until those concerns are satisfied, no deal.
The city has hired Credit Suisse and Mayer Brown, firms with the experience and skills to go toe-to-toe with any party. The advisory panel will have an independent adviser to monitor the public’s interest, including upholding the Traveler’s Bill of Rights.
The mayor has committed to a 30-day period for aldermen and the public to review and comment on a potential deal, and the panel’s adviser will provide an independent report — time and insight that no past Chicago privatization agreement has had.
Unprecedented transaction parameters require that the city remain a partner with the private operator over the entire lease, limited to 40 years, and receive payment over time rather than upfront to align the interests of the city, taxpayers and the private operators.
We have learned from the past and are putting the proper safeguards in place to evaluate a Midway Airport proposal on sound economics and good public policy.
Peter Skosey
Executive Vice President
Metropolitan Planning Council
Chair, Midway Advisory Panel
This piece originally ran as a Sun-Times op-ed letter on Feb. 27, 2013.