So, When Is McDonald’s Leaving?

It always catches my attention when national media outlets take note of Chicago, almost always in a negative light. This time it’s the editors of the Wall Street Journal, reacting to remarks from the CEO of McDonald’s:

McDonald’s Corp. calls Chicago home, with its corporate headquarters and some 400 restaurants, but CEO Chris Kempczinski issued a frank warning Wednesday about the city’s crime and social deterioration. “Everywhere I go I am confronted by the same question these days: ‘What’s going on in Chicago?’ . . . There is a general sense out there that our city is in crisis,” he said, and he’s right.

The fast-food chain moved its headquarters to the Loop from the suburbs in 2018, and Mr. Kempczinski estimates its economic contribution to the city at $2 billion a year. But lawlessness is taking a toll. “It’s felt most significantly every single day in the restaurants,” he told the Economic Club of Chicago. “We have violent crime that is happening in our restaurants . . . we are seeing homelessness issues in our restaurants, we are having drug overdoses that are happening in our restaurants.”

Calling Mayor Lori Lightfoot. When residents no longer feel safe at a major restaurant chain and a CEO issues a public plea, social order is breaking down.

The comments won’t surprise residents who have watched their city on Lake Michigan slide into a mess of public disorder. Tent cities sprawl across lakeside parks. Crime that was once confined to certain neighborhoods now threatens the downtown business district.

Overall crime in the city is up 38% in 2022 over 2021, according to Wirepoints, and a new city policy this summer made it harder for cops to pursue criminals on foot for minor offenses. Mayor Lightfoot has given little support to the beleaguered police force that has shrunk to 11,600 officers from 13,300 in 2019.

As if crime were not enough of a problem there are economic issues as well:

“It has become increasingly difficult to operate a global business out of the city of Chicago,” Mr. Kempczinski said, owing in part to a tax climate that the Tax Foundation says now ranks Illinois 36th of 50 states. “There are fewer big companies headquartered in Chicago this year than last year. Fewer this month than last month.” Among those fleeing have been Boeing (Virginia), Caterpillar (Texas) and Citadel, the giant hedge fund (Miami).

Ms. Lightfoot and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker will be tempted to dismiss Mr. Kempczinski’s remarks, but they do so at the city’s peril. They might not get another wake-up call as clear as this one. “Make no mistake . . . McDonald’s commitment to Chicago is not corporate altruism,” Mr. Kempczinski said. “It’s not open ended, it’s not unconditional. As a publicly traded company, our shareholders wouldn’t tolerate that.” Chicagoans shouldn’t either.

That looks to me as though Mr. Kempczinski is firing a shot across Chicago’s bow. I wonder if anyone is paying attention?

IMO there are several different strategies that either the state of Illinois or Chicago might employ. One is a growth strategy. Reduce corruption. Lower taxes. Streamline government. Enforce the law.

Another strategy would be to just keep right on doing what you’ve been doing. Call it an IGBYBG strategy.

A third strategy would be the one that Mr. Pritzker attempted to put in place. Raise taxes. Give more power to the public employees’ unions. Call it the “double down” strategy. The people of Illinois rejected Gov. Pritzker’s attempt to impose a graduated state income tax. Will they reject granting more power to the public employees’ unions, too?