What Else is Closing? (Money/No Money)

It certainly seems that certain segments of Chicago don't believe all the tripe coming out of City Hall about how safe it's going to be during the week-plus of G8/NATO.

Now Rahm is promising money for business losses that haven't even happened yet:

• Businesses that suffer losses during the upcoming NATO and G-8 Summits because they’re located within the “inner-most” security perimeter could be in line for financial compensation.

  Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday the NATO and G-8 Host Committee is working on a mechanism to compensate businesses for lost revenues during the May 19-21 summits at McCormick Place.

  The mayor was asked whether businesses located within the inner-most security perimeter will have a process to recover lost profits inccured incur during the event.

  “The Host Committee is working on it. They’ll have a process for that,” he answered.

Government reimbursing private entities because they cannot guarantee the safety and security of their buildings, property and employees. And look what else is closing:

• The potential for claims is staggering.

  Already, DePaul University has decided to close its Loop campus on the day before and the day after the summits and deny access to classrooms, labs, the cafeteria and offices in the Loop campus over a four-day period.

  The Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago has said it has “extensive contingency plans” that would allow its employees to “work from home” or from an “off-site location” in the event that demonstrations turn ugly during the summits.

  The bank is located at 230 S. LaSalle in the heart of Chicago’s financial district.

  And the Chicago Sun-Times reported earlier this week that the civil courtrooms at the Daley Center — an integral part of the nation’s second-largest court system — could be closed down for security reasons in the days surrounding the unprecedented gathering of world leaders.

How about fencing off all of downtown for the duration, then sending in the street sweepers afterward?

UPDATE: Now there is no money:

• For a short time it appeared that Chicago area businesses would be entitled to reimbursement for any unscheduled closures due to the upcoming NATO and G8 summits.
  
  Protests and security restrictions at previous summits have forced stores to close.
  
  At an event Thursday, reporters asked Mayor Emanuel whether Chicago might compensate businesses for any disruption during the summits; Emanuel said there is a process in place for determining whether reimbursements are warranted.
  
  But shortly after the mayor's remarks, Chicago's G8-NATO Host Committee said there is no plan to reimburse businesses.

This entire city is a comedy of errors.