When people visit a doctor with a health problem, they expect a diagnosis of the problem before the doctor starts prescribing a treatment or cure.  That’s because in medicine, like in so many other areas of life, you can’t come up with an effective treatment or cure until you’ve figured out the problem.

Unfortunately, in politics the opposite is often the case – as we saw last Wednesday afternoon at the mayoral candidates’ debate held by the Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce.  Not surprisingly for a business group, the main topic of the debate was business, specifically retail…and why Park Ridge doesn’t have more of it.

Mayor Dave Schmidt made it clear that he wants more retail, while at the same time pointing out that retail has picked up over the past four years by about 25%, as reflected in the approximately $1 million increase in annual sales tax revenue.  He also talked about the burdens of an Uptown TIF which, contrary to what its proponents promised back in the late 1990s and early 2000s, has turned into an economic black hole so deep that the City might never recoup the $40 million-plus that it borrowed to finance the City’s portions of the project, even if the TIF is extended beyond its intended 23 years.

The chief culprits and apologists for that TIF debacle?  Former mayors Ron Wietecha, Mike Marous and Howard Frimark, who have endorsed challenger Larry Ryles for mayor.  And the Chamber of Commerce itself, whose members clamored for something, anything, that might juice their own businesses with little regard for the consequences on the entire community.

At last Wednesday’s debate, Ryles – as he has done throughout this campaign season – showed how he is like a doctor writing all sorts of feel-good prescriptions without bothering to make any diagnosis.

He reiterated his promise to become “the face of economic development in Park Ridge” and to “sell Park Ridge” at local and national conventions, using tools like a promotional DVD.  Reinforcing his “heart and hugs” platform, he talked about making existing businesses feel “appreciated” with “just a hug and a handshake.”

If that sounds vague and silly to you, join the club.

What it’s lacking is a “diagnosis” of what, if anything, is “wrong” with Park Ridge that is preventing the kind of retail this community wants from coming here – assuming anybody has even bothered to figure out exactly what kind of retail that is.

Ryles sure hasn’t, unless his website’s display of the logos of Urban Outfitters, Forever 21, Ann Tayor, Clarks and GameStop are his oblique attempt to do so.  All he’s been actually talking about are unspecified “local brands” and “national brands,” which apparently leaves out unspecified “international brands” and “intergalactic brands.”

But we digress.

What, if anything, is so “wrong” with Park Ridge that desirable retailers avoid us – and why should we believe that it can be cured with “just a hug and a handshake”?

Is there something inherently “wrong” with the old Napleton property on Greenwood between Busse and Northwest Highway – or is the problem with Park Ridge generally?  That’s a decent-sized parcel right across from the Jewel that’s been vacant for a couple of years, apparently with no interest from any notable retailers.  Could “just a hug and a handshake” turn that parcel into thriving retail?

Is there something inherently “wrong” with the former Napleton site at Northwest Highway and Meacham, just west of Trader Joe’s and the Uptown complex – or is the problem with Park Ridge generally?  And let’s ask the same question about the Mr. K’s Garden Center property just east of the Big Ten headquarters on Higgins, which has been rumored to be on the block for the past several years but where nothing seems to be happening, either.  Could “just a hug and a handshake” change that?

Even smaller existing space hasn’t proved a big draw.  The former Dominic’s Kitchen Store at 116 Main St., a decent-sized space, has been vacant for the two years since Park Ridge native Dominic Cimilluca closed his doors and filed for bankruptcy because his specialty store “just didn’t get the support we needed from the locals” – according to a 03.16.11 story in the Park Ridge Herald-Advocate.  “We love Park Ridge.  We love the people.  It’s just a hard place to do business,” Cimilluca said.

Not surprisingly (at least to us), Dominic voiced no complaints about City government being “unfriendly” to business, so that takes away one of the convenient scapegoats.

Could “just a hug and a handshake” have saved Dominic’s?

Ten years ago all we heard was that Park Ridge couldn’t attract desirable new retail until it had the kind of space the new Uptown project was going to provide, and which would reinvigorate the entire area and turn all of Uptown into a “vibrant” commercial and retail mecca.  We were told going $40 million in the hole (with bonded debt) was a small price to pay for all the benefits that would flow from the TIF and the project.

That was a prescription without a diagnosis.  And as an economic “cure,” it has turned out to be the equivalent of trying to cure lung cancer by applying a dozen leeches to the patient’s ankle – leeches that not only won’t cure the disease but which will keep sucking up millions of taxpayer dollars for years to come.

Mayor Schmidt seems to be advocating a measured wait-and-see approach based on an overall economic recovery, although we think he’s off-base when he talks about the City hiring another economic development person.  He’s dead-on, however, when he notes that Whole Foods found its new site at Washington and Touhy despite the City Council’s rejection of WF’s request for over $2 million of tax revenue sharing, and without even any City official offering “just a hug and a handshake.”

What did Whole Foods see in Park Ridge that other retailers haven’t seen?

While Schmidt hasn’t offered a specific answer, Ryles doesn’t seem to have a clue.  But that hasn’t stopped him from writing a flurry of “prescriptions” while still not offering a credible “diagnosis” of what, if anything, ails Park Ridge in its quest for more and better retail.

There’s a name for doctors who do that.

Quacks.

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