Wonder how will this will impact development:
http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/...y-council.html
Smith, Shiller won't seek re-election to Chicago City Council
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Posted by John Byrne at 4:14 p.m.; updated at 5:30 p.m.
The Chicago City Council's two longest-serving women both will step down at the end of their terms.
Lakefront Alds. Helen Shiller, 46th, and Mary Ann Smith, 48th, each said today that they will not be on the February ballot for re-election.
Smith, who chairs the Parks and Recreation Committee, has been on the council since 1989. She was the first of many aldermen Mayor Richard Daley got to appoint.
Smith said she wants to devote more time to water quality issues that have been her passion while serving on the council. Daley has done enough to make "green issues" a priority that Smith said she doesn't worry attention to such things will suffer without her voice to speak up for them.
"The mayor is looking for innovation in these areas, and he has brought in a lot of innovative people," Smith said. "We're in good hands in that regard."
Smith said she has been approached by several groups interested in her help with land use and water quality work, but declined to discuss her specific plans. She mentioned her love of the Indiana Dunes and the development of Chicago's south lakefront as areas she may focus her attention.
Possible successors will soon make their names known, Smith predicted.
Shiller, who was first elected in 1987, said she has accomplished what she set out to in her North Side ward. Shiller said she believes she can be a better advocate for things such as diversity and equal rights in housing and economic opportunities for all Chicagoans if she is unburdened of the time-consuming responsibility of running a ward office.
Though Shiller has been criticized in recent years by some Uptown neighborhood groups opposed to the pace and direction of development in the ward, Shiller said she isn't stepping aside because of a possible tough re-election fight.
"Re-election has always been like that, every time I've run," said Shiller, 62, who chairs the Human Relations Committee. "I just feel there's very little serious discussion going on about how to solve the issues facing us in this city, and I believe I can more effectively address that outside the arena of the council."
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