No Games Chicago

Tom Tresser is a Chicago-based civic educator and public defender. He has spent 50 years doing grassroots democracy, community organizing, and work in the defence of public assets and services. He has started or led 14 nonprofit enterprises in the arts, community development, and civic engagement. In 2008 he co-founded Protect Our Parks which successfully fought the privatization of Lincoln Park. In 2009 he was a co-leader of the No Games No Games Chicago campaign to stop the 2016 Olympics from coming to Chicago. In 2013 he co-founded the CivicLab, America’s first co-working and maker space for social justice. In 2016 he edited and published “Chicago Is Not Broke: Funding the City We Deserve” which outlines $5 billion in progressive and sustainable annual revenue solutions for Chicago. Tom has taught community organizing, civic engagement, public policy, creativity, and nonprofit management classes at six Chicago universities.

Contents

Preface

About the author

Acknowledgements

1. How to Use This Book

2. Introduction

3. Background - The Olympics Are BIG Business

4. Chicago Makes Its Play

5 .What Was at Stake - Chicago Loves "Big Plans"

6. The Players – The International Olympic Committee

7. The Players – For the City

8. The Players – The Opposition

9 .The Battle for the Bid Begins - No Games Goes Public

10.What Did the Bid Actually Propose?

11.Insights and an Insider Drives Strategy and Tactics

12.The Research - What Was Learned

13.Tactics and Tools

14.Going Public, Part 2 – April Rally & March - No Games Meets the IOC

15.Going Public, Part 3 – Operation Cheese - No Games Goes to the IOC

16.Star Power and the Bid

17.No Games Grows on the Media

18.Arrogance, Missteps, Scandal, Attempted Bribes

19.Mayor Daley Must Sign the Blank Check - Aldermen Briefed in Secret – No Games Tells All

20.50 Wards in 50 Days and No Games Was There

21.Major Push for a Community Benefits Agreement - To What End?

22.Who Backed and Paid for the Bid?

23.Chicago 2016 Economic Impact Study a Work of Fiction

24.How's This for "Oversight" - Carrie Austin & Ed Burke

25.The Battle for the Bid’s Last Days – A Flurry of City Activity - Whining & Whitewashing

26.Heading to Decision Day – Emailing the IOC 70 Days in a Row

27.The Tide Is Turned - Chicagoans Say "No Games!"

28.Going Public, Part 4 - A Protest at City Hall

29.Going Public, Part 5 – Operation Mermaid - What Happened in Copenhagen – The End of the Battle

30.Immediately After the Decision - The Media Get It Wrong Again

31.Did No Games Make a Difference?

32.Delusional Post-Mortems & No Mention of No Games

33.The Police Spied on No Games

34.The Pricey Legacy of the Bid

35.Post Battle Research – The Olympics Are Always Way Over Budget

36.The No Games Ripple Effect - No Games Organizer Deported

37.Lessons for the Future

38.Closing Thoughts

39.Strategic Playbook

40.Online Extras

41.Select Literature in the Field

Index