CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Officials from Uber are denying it, but Mayor Lightfoot says the ridesharing company was offering money to African-American ministers to help fight her administration's proposal for a congestion tax.
The mayor said African-American ministers told her that Uber was offering as much as $54 million to help them in blocking her proposed congestion tax.
However, a statement from Uber said that her claim is not accurate. The sum of money is how much the company's alternative to the mayor's tax plan would bring into the city.
"The Mayor is entitled to her own opinion, but not her own facts," Uber said in the statement. "Weeks ago, we shared a proposal that would have raised $54 million more for the city — she is confusing this figure. For months, we worked on a proposal that would have raised more money for the city in a more equitable way."
Lightoot said Uber and other rideshare companies will go to great lengths to make it seem like she is against black and brown communities and that her new plan will adversely affect them, which is not true, she said.
"They keep throwing up all kinds of things against the wall, claiming that somehow this mayor is against black and brown communities or will do somethig that has an adverse impact on them," Lightfoot said. "That is complete nonsense and that is the most polite word I can say to it."
She said Uber's numbers don't add up. She argued that the company's plan, "doesn't hold any water and, tellingly, what it doesn't do is address congestion."
"We're gonna keep seeing Uber throwing lots of Hail Marys, because what they don't want is to actually be regulated by the city of Chicago because they have had virtually free rein [since> the inception of this new industry," she said.
In a separate statement, the mayor's office said she is open to dialogue with the company to make sure Chicagoans are treated fairly by the new tax plan.
"What we want residents to know is that under the Mayor's plan, we're not only seeking to cut down on excessive traffic congestion downtown, but we are also providing cheaper alternatives for those in the communities by incentivizing shared rides and other eco-friendly mobility alternatives," said Lightfoot Press Secretary Anel Ruiz.
