When Chicago businessman and Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz’s transition memo to Mayor-elect Lori Lightfoot came to light earlier this week—characterizing the business community’s relations with Mayor Rahm Emanuel as “frequently strained, often contentious and disappointingly counter-productive”—Crain’s offered Mayor Rahm Emanuel an opportunity to respond.

Since day one, I have been clear that what other cities have done with respect to public subsidies for privately owned sports teams is a mistake. Taxpayers should not be viewed as ATMs for wealthy owners and investors. Predictably, when powerful private interests who were accustomed to dictating public policy did not get their way, they became dissatisfied.

For example: My administration may have ruffled the feathers of Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz when we refused to accede to his repeated requests for an extension of a sweetheart property tax arrangement he had at the United Center, which he argued was necessary to construct a new practice facility. He said, “After the last few meetings with the mayor, I found out what it feels like to be checked."

My administration further piqued Wirtz’s ire when we ended the tax exemption on skyboxes that had been in effect since 2005. Closing that loophole brings more than $4 million into the city’s treasury annually, and effectively ended a corporate welfare program that had been in place for a decade.

Finally, when we eliminated the amusement tax on neighborhood theaters and concert spaces, put the amusement tax for concerts on par with sporting events at large arenas like the United Center, and used those resources to support arts programs for Chicago’s children, Wirtz was particularly displeased.

Likewise, I denied the Ricketts family’s repeated requests for breaks in the amusement tax, which they argued were necessary for the modernization of Wrigley Field. And when Ald. Tom Tunney put the concerns of his constituents in Wrigleyville ahead of the appeals of the Cubs’ ownership, they mounted an expensive and ultimately unsuccessful campaign to defeat him at the ballot box.

At the end of the day, the Blackhawks’ and Bulls’ two new training facilities near the United Center, new office and retail space on the Near West Side, and the Wrigley renovations were all completed. And unlike recent cases in Milwaukee and Atlanta, the owners paid for it without any taxpayer subsidies. When you own something, you pay the costs and you reap the benefits. Welcome to capitalism and the private sector, Rocky.

Look, I get it. For those who have become accustomed to the rules of the road of crony capitalism, and have had sweetheart deals and special arrangements no one else receives, it is tough when you are forced to play by the same rules as everyone else. While I am certainly not against using public investments in infrastructure as a catalyst for economic growth, I believe we must draw the line at outright corporate welfare.

It is because we have invested in our economic fundamentals, not because of crony capitalism, that Chicago has led the country in corporate relocations and foreign direct investment every year for the last six years, a first for the city of Chicago.

My message to the private sector has always been clear: Chicago is open for business. We welcome your investment and job creation. My message to all those who sought favoritism and public benefits to amass more private wealth has also been clear and consistent for eight years: The answer is no. See you in the marketplace.

Rahm Emanuel is mayor of Chicago.