When Chicago spent its pension money on the mayor's pet projects A decade ago, city leaders acted like we didn't have a care in the world.

As we all prepare for Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed property tax hike to pay off billions of dollars in pension obligations, I thought I'd take a trip down memory lane to a not-so-distant era when our leaders acted like we didn't have a care in the world.

The year was 2004—and what a glorious time it was!

We were in the midst of a fabulous real estate bubble that sent property taxes flowing into the city's coffers like champagne at an Emanuel fund-raiser.

Amid the good times, a few wealthy friends of then mayor Richard Daley threw a lavish party in the Pritzker Pavilion at the recently completed Millennium Park.

"Women wearing serious jewelry and stunning gowns were welcomed upon their arrival by 'Adam and Eve' greeters draped in leaves and dragging a snake," the Sun-Times reported about the $1,000-a-ticket fund-raiser for the park. "In two big tents, Wolfgang Puck Catering served a dinner of beets and goat cheese, asparagus with prosciutto, potato leek soup with caviar, lobster and beef tenderloin with truffles. Tables were topped with white cloths and tall silver urns holding magnolia leaves; 10-foot-tall water walls were placed through the tents."

Ah, yes, the good life.

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