Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s decision to privatize the Alaska Psychiatric Institute came almost 10 years to the day after an eerily similar deal was made in Chicago — one that continues to haunt the Windy City.
In February of 2009, Chicago inked a contract with private investors, including JPMorgan Chase and from as far away as Abu Dhabi, not for managing a psychiatric hospital but for operating parking meters. The deal was championed by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley, who announced it publicly before City Council members knew the details.
Once the dust settled, Chicagoans quickly learned the bad news. Parking rates quadrupled within the first year of the contract, which lasts until 2083. The city’s inspector general eventually found that taxpayers lost at least $1 billion in the deal.