19 minutes ago, WBWSF said:

I'm surprised that Ishiba is going to the meeting. I would imagine its going to be a very hostile crowd.

Give him points for having the stones to be there, JR certainly wouldn't.

And when all is said and done as others have pointed out, Ishbia holds all the cards, I'm sure he'll make some smaller concessions like a good negotiator but the citizens group has very little leverage in the matter.

1 hour ago, WBWSF said:

I'm surprised that Ishiba is going to the meeting. I would imagine its going to be a very hostile crowd.

58 minutes ago, Lip Man 1 said:

Give him points for having the stones to be there, JR certainly wouldn't.

And when all is said and done as others have pointed out, Ishbia holds all the cards, I'm sure he'll make some smaller concessions like a good negotiator but the citizens group has very little leverage in the matter.

Yep, and he certainly knows he'll be walking into the lion's den at the meeting. I can't imagine what he could say that's going to change their mind on their opposition to Amtrak moving in and (possibly) the Sox moving out. Hopefully he's more diplomatic than tone-deaf Jerry ever has been.

As Lip says, he and Amtrak have the upper hand because they don't need city approval for this. But I'd imagine they want to quell the outrage that's been getting lots of local media coverage over the last couple of weeks. If they go in offering transparency on the process, efforts to mitigate noise and pollution, and perhaps investments in the community, that might take the wind out of the sails of the effort to stop this.

10 hours ago, 77 Hitmen said:

Yep, and he certainly knows he'll be walking into the lion's den at the meeting. I can't imagine what he could say that's going to change their mind on their opposition to Amtrak moving in and (possibly) the Sox moving out. Hopefully he's more diplomatic than tone-deaf Jerry ever has been.

As Lip says, he and Amtrak have the upper hand because they don't need city approval for this. But I'd imagine they want to quell the outrage that's been getting lots of local media coverage over the last couple of weeks. If they go in offering transparency on the process, efforts to mitigate noise and pollution, and perhaps investments in the community, that might take the wind out of the sails of the effort to stop this.

I think its fair to say that most people wouldn't go the meeting if they were in Ishiba shoes. Its bound to get ugly and I'm sure the TV stations will show that.

One of many local news stories about tonight's public meeting.

While I know this will trigger the anti-union folk on this site, the Chicago Federation of Labor supports this project. But the CLF agrees that the residents have raised valid questions and deserve clear answers.

Edited 1 hour ago1 hr by 77 Hitmen

3 minutes ago, 77 Hitmen said:

One of many local news stories about tonight's public meeting.

While I know this will trigger the anti-union folk on this site, the Chicago Federation of Labor supports this project. But the CLF agrees that the residents have raised valid questions and deserve clear answers.

I'd imagine they would support it. The Amtrak maintenance facility and the future stadium will result in loads of union construction work.