Mayor Emanuel: Im Not Done

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Mayor Rahm Emanuel (right) held a roundtable discussion at City Hall on Monday afternoon. The mayor was joined by Office of New Americans Director Adolfo Hernandez (left) for an on-the-record roundtable to discuss his plans for the city moving forward. (Photo by Thelma Sardin)
Mayor Rahm Emanuel (right) held a roundtable discussion at City Hall on Monday afternoon. The mayor was joined by Office of New Americans Director Adolfo Hernandez (left) for an on-the-record roundtable to discuss his plans for the city moving forward. (Photo by Thelma Sardin)

Dec. 16 will mark seven months since Mayor Rahm Emanuel was sworn into office. During that time, Chicagos chief has worked to reform public education, public safety and spur economic development.

In an effort to stay in contact with Chicagos communities, Mayor Emanuel invited several community newspapers to an intimate roundtable discussion on Monday afternoon.

Held in the City Hall Media room, the 45 minute conversation consisted of the mayors ideas for moving the city forward in 2012.

The Chicago Citizen asked the mayor what are his administrations plans for 2012 regarding public safety, education and job creation.

I ran on those three things and I am not done dealing with those three things. I got to continue to improve our schools, not only K-12 but obviously the City Colleges because I think its essential for the individuals that live here and its essential for the city, said Mayor Emanuel.

He continued by saying he will carry on his commitment to public safety and will fulfill his promises to voters.

I talked in the campaign about public safety and we will continue to work on our community policing, after school programs for our children, stiffening our gun laws and cracking down on gangs, the mayor said. Im not done doing what I need to do on the basic fundamentals that I promised to voters.

Among the mayors priorities for next year is reforming the City Colleges of Chicago.

During a speech at the Economic Club of Chicago Monday evening, Emanuel revealed that City Colleges of Chicago is introducing an groundbreaking program titled College to Careers to guarantee Chicago residents are prepared for occupations in high growth industries - jobs that remain unfilled because of a skills gap.

The initiative will create a partnership with City Colleges and companies to increase Chicagos competitiveness in the workforce.

We need skilled workers to rebuild our infrastructure, we need them to care for the sick; we need them to welcome the millions who visit Chicago each year in our hospitality industry; we need them to make the products people want to buy and to write the code that powers new technologies. But employers cant find skilled workers and workers cant find jobs. Like the rest of the country, Chicago has a skills gap, said Mayor Emanuel. By making a diploma from our community colleges into a ticket to the workforce, we will make them a first option for job training and not a last resort.

In the beginning, the partnerships will focus on two fields: healthcare and transportation.

The healthcare program will be featured at Malcolm X College because of its close proximity to the Illinois Medical District.

The transportation and logistics partnership will focus on improving current programs and creating new offerings usually found at Olive-Harvey College.

In regards to public safety, the mayor recently joined police superintendent Garry McCarthy and Chicago Public Schools CEO, Jean-Claude Brizard to announce an initiative that will increase safety for Chicago youngsters.

The program called, School-Based CompStat is designed to lessen crime in and around schools.

CompStat is a crime control strategy used by the Chicago Police to track crime and provides law enforcement with the ability to identify crime patterns, repeat offenders and available resources in a particular area.

School-based CompStat and CPD CompStat will differ slightly because information about in-school violations will be reviewed in addition to community incidents. The occurrences will be observed in relation to the violence that occurs around the school and in the adjacent community, giving educators and the police department a comprehensive picture.

The first school-based CompStat meeting was held on Dec.13 at CPD Headquarters.

Lastly, the mayor has also made several job announcements during his time in office. Most recently he announced that Sara Lee will relocate part of its corporation to Chicago. The company is currently based in Downers Grove, Ill.

A total of up to 650 jobs will result from the move.

Mayor Emanuel called the Sara Lee venture a huge win for Chicago. The new company will bring these high-paying jobs to the city, as well as its first-class brands and leadership in this key sector, said Emanuel.

by Thelma Sardin

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