Chicago - Mayoral Race - Rahm Emanuel Wins

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by ardecila

I think it's all a moot point until we actually know who mounts a campaign and who fails to mount a campaign...

Somebody like Manny Flores, for example, has the open mind to listen to new, promising ideas and to push for them, but I don't think he has anywhere near the political savvy or the inflated ego that's necessary to get this city in line. On the other hand, somebody like Jesse Jackson Jr. seems fairly inflexible and closed-minded in his conception of what the city is and could be, even though he might be skilled enough and self-confident enough to influence others.

But neither of them are running. The ones who are running are largely coming from positions where their track record says approximately zilch about how they would run the city as mayor.

I agree that we need to see who is ultimately running and who isn't. We also need to see how they manage their campaigns and what coalitions they can put together. I think the best bet is an African American or Hispanic reform minded mayor who can pick up votes on the North, Northwest, and Southwest sides. But I am still waiting to see who will run - and Flores will be announcing at Lazo's tomorrow at 10AM.

[ardecila]

Yea, I think the analysis on the last page is too cynical - black and Latino candidates aren't necessarily a huge turn-off for the North Side/central area voters. Certain specific black and Latino candidates are, though.

I'm happy that Flores is running, but it seems like he's not getting nearly enough media attention. I noted his shortcomings already, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't grow into the brutal world of the fifth floor.

I was involved in the New Orleans mayoral election last spring, and I know firsthand that candidates who don't have name recognition or don't garner it fairly quickly won't do very well in the election, no matter how good their ideas are. We got lucky... the candidate I worked for was not elected, but he did impress the winning candidate enough that he was tapped to lead a housing task force.

[10023]

I just hope for Chicago's sake that it doesn't end up being someone from the "Daley focuses too much on the lakefront" crowd who then goes the other way. Chicago needs to remember which side its bread is buttered on... and downtown and the north side lakefront neighborhoods sustain that whole city.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by 10023

I just hope for Chicago's sake that it doesn't end up being someone from the "Daley focuses too much on the lakefront" crowd who then goes the other way. Chicago needs to remember which side its bread is buttered on... and downtown and the north side lakefront neighborhoods sustain that whole city.

i.e. hopefully we don't pull a DC.

[ardecila]

DC is arguably small enough that it's hard not to focus on the central area. It doesn't have fringe areas like Jefferson Park, Austin, and Chatham to worry about.

In fact, it's gotten to the point now where most of the big new developments in DC are proposed for outlying areas because the core is already built out.

I don't really see how Gray will "pull the focus away from downtown" when most of the big stuff planned under Fenty (school reforms, streetcar lines, etc) benefit outlying and poor/middle-class areas. DC'll probably end up with a less ambitious civic agenda, not of substituting neighborhood spending for core spending, but of scaling back the existing plans for a future that is closer to the status quo.

[alex1]

Originally Posted by 10023

I just hope for Chicago's sake that it doesn't end up being someone from the "Daley focuses too much on the lakefront" crowd who then goes the other way. Chicago needs to remember which side its bread is buttered on... and downtown and the north side lakefront neighborhoods sustain that whole city.

Couldn't disagree more.

Chicago needs a mayor that can focus on bettering the city. Nothing could do more good for the city than bringing down crime rates city-wide, and improving city schools.

[pip]

^and with that you need money.

The downtown area brings in 50% of the revenue for the city. You know how many tens of thousands of people are employed from all over the city in non white-collar jops in downtown? It's a staggering number. I would venture to say easily over a hundred thousand. Chase that away and you will have those very people going to the burb's to work instead and eventually moving out there as to be close to work.

The amount of money Chicago puts into downtown, while substantial, is certainly way way way less then the amount they recieve in revenue from downtown. Gotta throw a bone to the areas that pay the bills.

You ever seen a city with no tax base? Beg for even more from Springfield and DC as the resource for money? That will get you no where. Yup you will get a small bite of the cookie once in a while though.

Also fyi. the Chicago Public Schools already out spends about every suburb in per student spending at over $13,000 per student per year. Don't get me wrong I would love more education spending but CPS is certainly no slouch in spending. It keeps pace with the wealthier of suburbs in spending per student.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by 10023

I just hope for Chicago's sake that it doesn't end up being someone from the "Daley focuses too much on the lakefront" crowd who then goes the other way. Chicago needs to remember which side its bread is buttered on... and downtown and the north side lakefront neighborhoods sustain that whole city.

^ While true, I wouldn't give too much importance to the Mayor's ability to affect this legacy.

The 80's saw Chicago begin to hit its stride as a global financial center. Eugene Sawyer was supposedly the first Mayor to start describing Chicago as a "global city". During many of those years Chicago had black "reformer" Mayors.

During the downtown-centric Daley years Chicago did well, for sure. Kudos to him--Daley did a lot for the city. But in the end, I can't help but believe that huge, external economic forces carved out Chicago's legacy far more than he, or Washington, or Byrne, etc etc ever could.

That all said, I have said before that I don't want Chicago's Mayor to be in the business of charity and social change. I really don't. Cities cannot be great if they don't function first and foremost as economic centers. A mayor who doesn't get that and instead tries to turn his position into one that effects social change is a mayor who will drag down the city to promote his agenda. Daley understood that you could help the poor but only up to a point--he is a pragmatist. A corrupt pragmatist, but a pragmatist no less. Chicago doesn't need an idealogue.

[10023]

Originally Posted by alex1

Couldn't disagree more.

Chicago needs a mayor that can focus on bettering the city. Nothing could do more good for the city than bringing down crime rates city-wide, and improving city schools.

That's the usual view, and it sounds more "fair", but it's incorrect.

The fact is that concentrating city resources on making suburban commuters and shoppers, business people, and tourists feel as safe and as comfortable as possible is essential to the city's tax base. I'm not saying that outlying neighborhoods should be ignored, but it is entirely appropriate and beneficial for the city as a whole to concentrate disproportionately on Chicago's "money centers".

It may seem callous, but the city's fate will rise and fall based on what it does for those residents (and corporations, and tourists) that have the choice to go elsewhere.

[VivaLFuego]

High-income residents pay far more in local tax revenue than they require in government services, so investing in ensuring they constitute a part of the tax base ensures you have money to take care of lower income populations. Granted, it's important to walk the fine line between the two extremes of always focusing on making high-income people feel comfortable and actually using the money for public services, but a mayor at least needs to be cognizant that the money has to come from somewhere, and that somewhere ain't gonna be West Englewood or North Lawndale.

[dennis1]

JJJr fooling on his wife

http://bossip.com/288116/like-father-like-son-jesse-jackon-jr-is-messy-too30346/

[dennis1]

Originally Posted by ardecila

DC is arguably small enough that it's hard not to focus on the central area. It doesn't have fringe areas like Jefferson Park, Austin, and Chatham to worry about.

In fact, it's gotten to the point now where most of the big new developments in DC are proposed for outlying areas because the core is already built out.

I don't really see how Gray will "pull the focus away from downtown" when most of the big stuff planned under Fenty (school reforms, streetcar lines, etc) benefit outlying and poor/middle-class areas. DC'll probably end up with a less ambitious civic agenda, not of substituting neighborhood spending for core spending, but of scaling back the existing plans for a future that is closer to the status quo.

He's Marion Barry's best friend.....

[dennis1]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/mitchell/27...kCurrentPage=6&sid=sitelife.suntimes.com

What's going on with U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is the kind of thing that gives a black woman a migraine.

It's bad enough that this once promising elected official was tarnished by Rod Blagojevich's corruption scandal.

[M II A II R II K]

The Seven High Pillars of Daley’s Success


Sep 23 2010

By Neal Peirce

Read More: http://citiwire.net/post/2293/

But seven dramatic policy shifts of the Daley years elevated Chicago’s fortunes to the top tier of world cities.


1. Livability. Chicago’s handsome park setting along Lake Michigan, where white sails sparkle on a summer day, has always been a major plus. But Daley expanded the lakeside beauty inland, to create a new green alchemy, not just in the city’s heart but also its historically neglected neighborhoods.....


2. A vibrant new century economy — past the smokestack era, past Carl Sandburg’s legendary “hog butcher to the world” and “city of big shoulders” — to a “hot” modern-day urban center of advanced financial, legal and specialized services to the Midwest and wider world.....


3. A climate action plan that’s arguably the world’s most advanced. Based on careful scientific research and broad community consensus-building, it features 452 steps cross-cutting major segments of Chicago’s geography, economy and living patterns.....


4. Daley’s “Plan for Transformation” of public housing led to demolition of such projects of his father’s era as Robert Taylor Homes and Cabrini-Green, most of them located uncomfortably close to the Loop. The projects were a huge drag on the city — some of the most fearful spots on the continent, afflicted with gang turf wars, waves of homicides, deep poverty and bestial living conditions.....


5. Mayoral takeover of Chicago’s public schools. “I want to make the schools a beacon of hope for every child in the city– not [a] cold, hopeless, graffiti-scarred” environment, Daley asserted in 1990. He persuaded the Illinois legislature to put the system under his control, selecting his own school system CEO.....


6. The Metropolitan Mayors Caucus — 273 “your honors” from across “Chicagoland’s” five counties, founded at Daley’s initiation in the early 1990s. An historic outreach by a major center city, since emulated in Denver and Philadelphia, the caucus helps build alliances and accords with the area’s mayors in times of increased emphasis on entire metro regions.


7. Chicago and the world — Daley’s final outreach. Watching, checking for ideas, forging ties with world cities, he travels overseas often, reads foreign newspapers daily, fosters Sister City ties with 28 global partners, and holds an annual forum in Chicago for global mayors. It’s an outreach for learning and alliances — vital for this century — that no other American mayor has matched.

[dennis1]

http://www.cincouno.com/archivo/giovanna-huidobro

[bnk]

Originally Posted by dennis1

http://www.cincouno.com/archivo/giovanna-huidobro

That is nice dennis but I do not get your point. What does this have to do with the Daley mayor ship? I appreciated the link but there was little to the internal politics of the future of Chicago in a post Daley environment. Just today William [Bill] Daley [Secretary of Commerce in the second administration of President Bill Clinton, under POTUS W Clinton http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_M._Daley]
to make a press conference that he was not in the running for the position, regardless of all of the people that want to keep the dynasty alive and benevolent government style alive.

Frankly some of us were taken a bit off guard and did not expect him not to run in his 22nd year of leadership. This is hard for some of us to grasp for some of us thought that we had another 4-8 more years of his reign before we thought about the future of Chicagoland post Daley the second sometime after 2016.

This throws everything loose and well I myself am old enough to remember the years after the Elder died and the run and mix and mess of the Chicago counsel years. But that said there are entire generations of younger voters that know no other option or choice.

The second ruled for a generation and a half.... Think about that for a moment... This is not a small decision at all. This is a big thing...

[dennis1]

JJ wants to be mayor and now he can't because he cheated on his wife. Rahm screwed him. And I don't why he did.

[10023]

Originally Posted by dennis1

JJ wants to be mayor and now he can't because he cheated on his wife. Rahm screwed him. And I don't why he did.

First, if he can't be mayor because he cheated on his wife, how exactly did Rahm screw him?

Second, who cares if Rahm did screw him. If he wants to be mayor as well, he has every right to go for it. Why shouldn't Rahm screw him over? That's politics.

[Alliance]

Originally Posted by alex1

Couldn't disagree more.

Chicago needs a mayor that can focus on bettering the city. Nothing could do more good for the city than bringing down crime rates city-wide, and improving city schools.

I totally agree. It would be best for the city if the South and West sides became as much of the "bread and butter" as the North and downtown neighborhoods.

[10023]

Originally Posted by Alliance

I totally agree. It would be best for the city if the South and West sides became as much of the "bread and butter" as the North and downtown neighborhoods.

Gee, that sounds like a really nice idea. Too bad it will never happen.

I'm not saying the mayor should ignore the South and West sides. I'm saying that they reduce focus on downtown and the lakefront at their peril. For the millionth time, those affluent areas are what keep Chicago from being Detroit.

Some of the things that people criticize Daley for are EXACTLY why he has been the best big city mayor in the country. The beautification projects, for instance, have been tremendously important to the city and need to continue.