Dave Mansfield

“I’m gonna cry, guys. Never thought this day would come.

You know, 27 or 28 years I’ve been here and it’s time to move on. My eyes opened up to what was happening. And I realized, do I really want to invest that kind of money in a home in Chicago and the state of Illinois where I don’t know the future of the city or the state?

I look at people less fortunate than me, they’re not getting raises, they’re paying too much in taxes, the cost of everything is going up. I wonder how are they going to make it? And I don’t see how they are, so I worry about it.

I get the sense there are people out there who don’t understand basic math. You’ve got to fix the pension mess. None of us here, unless we work for the government, has the defined-benefit pension plan anymore. We all have defined-contribution plans, if we have one … [but] they will not change that. I’d be OK with higher taxes if I knew they were going to do other things but they’re not doing that …

I give up. I’m finally leaving Illinois. Goodbye.”

Dave Mansfield
Chicago, Illinois