Mayor Richard Daley says he will not run for re-election in 2011, saying it’s “time for me, it’s time for Chicago to move on.”
“The truth is I have been thinking about this for the past several months,” Daley said at a City Hall news conference that stunned the city. “In the end this is a personal decision, no more, no less.”
His wife Maggie stood by his side with the help of a crutch, smiling broadly as the mayor continued: “I have always known that people want you to work hard for them. Clearly, they won’t always agree with you. Obviously, they don’t like it when you make a mistake. But at all times, they expect you to lead, to make difficult decisions, rooted in what’s right for them.
“For 21 years, that’s what I’ve tried to do,” he said. “But today, I am announcing that I will not seek a 7th term as mayor of the city of Chicago.
“Simply put, it’s time,” said Daley, 68. “Time for me, it’s time for Chicago to move on.”
The mayor said that “improving Chicago has been the ongoing work of my life and I have loved every minute of it. There has been no greater privilege or honor than serving as your mayor.
“Working alongside seasoned professionals, incredibly committed business and community leaders, and some of the most dedicated public employees you will ever expect, I have had the opportunity to expand, to build, to create, unite and compromise for the betterment of Chicago.”
“I am deeply grateful to the people of this city, more grateful than I can fully express,” Daley said. “I have given it my all. I have done the best.
“Now, I am ready with my family to begin the new phase of our lives. In the coming days, I know there will be some reflecting on my time as mayor. Many of you will search to find what’s behind my decision. It’s simple. I’ve always believed that every person, especially public officials, must understand when it’s time to move on. For me, that time is now,” he said. “The truth is that I’ve been thinking about this for the last several months. And in the last several weeks, I’ve been increasingly comfortable with my decision. It just feels right.”
“In the end, this is a personal decision, no more, no less,” he added. “For the next seven months, I assure you I will work as hard as I have for the past 21 years, for all the people of Chicago.”
Daley spoke for less than five minutes and took no questions.
His announcement comes as he faces a record $655 million budget shortfall. Last month, the mayor said he’s looking at hiring private firms to take over more city functions, including potentially running the Taste of Chicago, as a way to cut costs.
Daley limited his options this time around after raising property taxes in 2007, selling off parking meters and raising fees in 2008 and spending reserves last year. The mayor reiterated late last month that he won’t be increasing taxes or fees or auctioning off more city assets.
The mayor joins at least a half-dozen aldermen already have said they won’t seek re-election next year.
His decision also comes as Maggie continues to battle cancer. In March, she underwent surgery to strengthen a leg damaged by cancer and the resulting treatment.
The city’s first lady has been battling metastatic breast cancer since 2002. In December, the mayor announced his wife would use a wheelchair to get around while undergoing radiation treatment for a cancerous bone tumor on her right leg.
Daley’s decision sets off a major power scramble following more than 20 years of stifled political ambitions in city politics.
Daley was first elected mayor in 1989 following a failed bid in 1983. The mayor won re-election every four years since then, always with little to no opposition.
But Daley’s public approval rating had dipped recently, with a Tribune poll earlier this summer showing that more than half of Chicago voters said they don’t want to see him re-elected.
The poll found only 37 percent of city voters approve of the job Daley is doing as mayor, compared with 47 percent who disapprove. Moreover, a record-low 31 percent said they want to see Daley re-elected, compared with 53 percent who don’t want him to win another term.
The mayor’s administration has been buffeted by a spate of summer violence, a weak economy and a high-profile failure to land the 2016 Olympics. Dissatisfaction abounds, the survey found, over Daley’s handling of the crime problem, his efforts to rein in government corruption and his backing of a controversial long-term parking meter system lease.
A few aldermen are shopping themselves around as potential candidates, and some politicians with broader political bases have been glad to see their names tossed into the ring — but none had shown a willingness to challenge Daley.
Among aldermen discussed as potential mayoral candidates are Robert Fioretti, 2nd; Sandi Jackson, 7th; Thomas Allen, 38th; Scott Waguespack, 32nd; Brendan Reilly, 42nd; and Thomas Tunney, 44th.
Earlier this year, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel voiced his mayoral ambitions. But the former North Side congressman quickly added that he wouldn’t take on Daley, for whom he served as a strategist and fundraiser in the mayor’s first winning bid.
www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20002900-503544.html
Likewise, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said he won’t run for mayor unless the office is open.
Outgoing Cook County Assessor James Houlihan, by contrast, was considered a potential candidate whether or not Daley runs again. Former Chicago Inspector General David Hoffman also has been mentioned, but he just lost a grueling Democratic U.S. Senate primary.
Hit the bricks Daley.What an boob he was.All he had was a name the overdosed fluoride bumpkins that lived in his crime capital recognized.This wretch allowed as much crime as he could get away with.His corporation council (50 insane lawyers) runs that scuzhole of a city not Daley.Mr.Daley I fart in your general direction for all of your gun grabbing,crime increasing paranoia.
I will never forget your veins popping out of your head pounding the podium enacting your Un Constitutional anti loitering law preventing people from standing outside of their own homes.Thanks to great PR most people don’t remember you snapping out or telling people to shove a gun up their rear end to see how dangerous it is.I remember when you got taken away in your Lincoln with your big crazy hat when they decided to medicate you.Whatever this Daley guy says ….it’s just the meds talking.I won’t forget the man you sent to death row as an alleged States Attorney,and college students got the DNA proof the man was innocent,and you fought his release from prison.What a disgusting fool Daley was.How sad for the people of Chicago for buying his brand of flotsam,and the violent homicides ensuing from his “crime fighting”brainstorms rivaling the Afghan war death tolls.Most will forget how you sent bulldozers to Meigs Field,in the middle of the night and bulldozed all the airstrips closing the airport like a madman with you paranoia that the tiny airport would be capable of launching an Al Queda 9-11 type attack with a Piper Cub.What a fool.What fools the people who supported you have been.Yes as a rat you have eaten all the cheese you could stuff in your medicated gullet.Your threatening Un Constitutional red light are terrifying.You start off with how the jackals will come after scofflaws of it including liens on their homes for a little more than a half a second past one of your amber shortened red light cash registers while you were busy fertilizing the crime fields. I am surprised you just didn’t explode like a bag of pus like King Herod.It’s a shame it took so long for you get off the pottie and “move on”.You couldn’t come up with any more scams? Or do your pollsters tell you you stunk the place up so much even the fluoride heads in Chicago are aware how much of a detriment you are? Whatever…don’t let the door hit you in your flat rump.Well,I could care less if it does.Scram stupid!