The Chicago Citizen Newspaper has a One-on-One with Mayor Rahm Emanuel

Deborah Bayliss | As of Thursday, February 19, 2015 , Lee Edwards | As of Thursday, February 19, 2015

Deborah Bayliss | As of Thursday, February 19, 2015 , Lee Edwards | As of Thursday, February 19, 2015

Rahm Emanuel
Rahm Emanuel

The Chicago Citizen Newspaper spoke one-on-one with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Monday for a discussion on the $300 million funding hole in the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program , why Chicago has an appointed school board, his thoughts on term limits for elected office, his economic development plans for blighted areas like North Lawndale and Austin, his relationship with the African American community, a lack of trauma centers in African American neighborhoods, technology and much more. An abbreviated transcript of the discussion follows:

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: As you know, the Illinois Child Care Assistance Program faces a $300 million budget hole if not funded. This will negatively impact Chicago families who rely on the childcare assistance. You’re a big proponent of Early Childhood Education, so will there be any city subsidies available for parents who need them?

Mayor Emanuel: This is a state cut and I’ve been very clear with the Speaker (Ill. Speaker of the House, Michael Madigan and the Sen. President (John Cullerton) and told the new Gov. (Bruce Rauner) that this is not of your making but it is your responsibility. I told him that I’m running into a number of parents who are going to school and who are working… trying to be good parents and provide for their children’s education. I told them that this is an unsustainable cut. You’re forcing them to choose being a parent and an employee and that’s not where we want to be given what I know about (Ill.) first lady, Diana Rauner, that’s not where she wants to be. So my recommendation is you find the money to restore these cuts. The $600 million the city received for Early Childhood Education is over a five-year period, a minimum $125 million a year and it’s put into our toddler and pre-kindergarten program.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: Why Does Chicago Have an Appointed Versus and Elected School Board?

Mayor Emanuel: Chicago has a hybrid which is we do have an elected school board at the neighborhood school level and I’ve laid out ideas to energize that. In the last election, 85 schools did not have a single parent run. I’ve talked about what more we can do and what training we can do to energize that. We also have a school board that’s held accountable for making changes. The first time ever we have a CEO who is a former teacher and principal (Barbara Byrd Bennett). We have two school principals on the board…so it has a democratic process.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: I read recently that you received the endorsement of former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley. Would you like to serve as long as the Daley’s who served more than 20 years each or do you think term limits are appropriate?

Mayor Emanuel: I’ve always said elections are about term limits. I mean voters have a decision. I think it’s premature to have a discussion about anything….I’m running for the election for the next four years and that’s all I’m setting my sites on…I do believe this election is about the next generation and are we willing to do the tough things necessary to make sure our kids have a better future… So as for how long I want to serve, that’s up to the voters to decide. They’ll make the decision as to whether I deserve another four years.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: Are there any City-led economic development plans for blighted areas like North Lawndale and Austin like the ones we’ve seen for the Englewood and Bronzeville areas?

Mayor Emanuel: The CEO of Mariano’s attended Ald. JoAnn Thompson’s funeral. He just left my office and we talked about economic development for the city as a whole and around that store. When I was in Pullman I laid out a Neighborhood Strategy. The things you’ve identified are all part of our Neighborhoods Now Strategy where we’ve made public investments and encouraged the private sector to come along…We’re working a call center. I’ve met with community leaders in Austin about a similar strategy for Austin. They have a blue print. My basic view is our libraries, transportation, education, parks, creates the kind of atmosphere for private sector to come along and I’m excited about what Austin is already developing. I’m looking very favorably for creating a Neighborhood Now Strategy for Austin as well as one for North Lawndale but you’ve got to have the blueprint. I’ve lain out that we are going to do seven more.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: Many in the African American community feel as though your administration has not served them. If elected, how are you mending relationships with those voters?

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel: Part of my effort was to make sure we had an educational system that provided for every child in the City of Chicago. I did not think it was right that half of our kids only received two hours a day of kindergarten and the other half seven hours. The kids that received two hours a day, their whole education was stacked against them. That’s why I made sure that every child in the City of Chicago had a full day of kindergarten and I would venture that if you go look at the 12,000 that received two hours a day those were kids in need. I made sure that our kids no longer received the shortest school day and the shortest school year in America because then that stacks the system against them. I turned our community colleges, not a 5th and 6th year of high school, but a career building job opportunities university system witnessed now by the employment growth and the graduation growth that we’re seeing there. I just noted that we’re going to start seeing the Chicago Stars Scholarship that if you get a B average college is going to be free. Those are key investments because education is your passport to a great career and a great life and there were things embedded in the system [that] in my view, a failed status quo. that held our kids back. The first amendment I made was on the Red Line South, not only an investment in upgrading it and modernizing it, but hiring in a template people from the community both businesses and individuals to work on it. The Red Line South participation by the community is a stark contrast to the rebuilding of the Dan Ryan or how Metra lent its contracts. We actually created businesses, individuals with the trade skills; hired people through Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) that now provide jobs for people in the city. I’m going to continue to make sure we make the educational reforms, the investments in key infrastructure in areas that were denied those investments in the past, and provide for people an educational system that buys them a ticket to a job or a career.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: Some of your critics, including those in the community, have expressed dissatisfaction that you have not been present at community forums on the south and west side such as the mayoral forums hosted by Chicago State University, the NAACP Chicago Southside branch, and the NAACP Chicago Westside branch. Would you speak to why you weren’t at these community forums?

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel: Well, I know I participated in the [Chicago] Urban League debate that was held at the Urban League/WVON debate. I do a lot of what I call Mariano meetings, Walmart walk-ins… I’m at “L” stops all throughout the area because I want to talk directly to voters. I don’t know that other candidates walk the aisles and talk to folks in Target, Walmart, Mariano’s, Jewel, all of the grocery stores, to meet people individually one-on-one. Just Sunday, I was at Bishop [Larry D.] Trotter’s church through the 9:30 a.m. and the 11:30 a.m. service. I was down with [Ald.] Michelle Harris opening a new senior center, talking to the seniors there. There’s a lot of different forums and a lot of different ways to keep me informed and for me to express my views and for me to hear other people’s take on what we should be doing.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: Speaking for the African American and the Hispanic youth throughout the Chicagoland area, would you speak toward how you convey the message of fair, balanced and effective policing to the Chicago Police Department that leaves everyone feeling safe and secure especially in the wake of incidents in Ferguson, Mo.?

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel: One of the things I fundamentally believe in is community policing. I pledged when I ran that we were going to return to it. When I came to be mayor, community policing, although formed here in Chicago, became out of an office and bureaucracy not a philosophy. So the first thing I did was take 400 plus officers that were sitting behind a desk [and] returned them to the community to practice community policing. I eliminated these roving task forces and put them back in the neighborhood, back in the community practicing community police. The CAPS office downtown in the central office had become bigger than the ones in the district with the neighborhoods so I eliminated the CAPS office downtown and returned everybody to the district commander and the beat officers operate. I fundamentally believe community is about trust so community leaders, neighbors, religious leaders, school principals know the officers and the officers know the community because when God forbid something happens you don’t want it to be the first time you have a conversation. We have to build trust 24/7, seven days a week, 365 days a year. If there’s trust and a good relationship between the community and the police, which is what community policing is about, you’re going to have a safe community because it means people are working together on a common goal.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper: On the south side of Chicago, there are few trauma centers. Would you speak to how you plan to change and why did you decide to support University of Chicago’s bid for the [Presidential] Library even though it does not have trauma center?

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel: Well, as you know, the UC put a plan together that was pulled back in October and I’ve encouraged them to more ambitious which is what they’re doing now and I expect them to be presenting a plan to the community, a much more robust plan that addresses the need for trauma care.

I still believe that if you want to have the economic development in our neighborhoods and communities there’s nothing like a Presidential library which is why I’ve been fighting so hard for it. Other candidates oppose it on the south side. I oppose it in New York. I am for it on the south side or west side. This is a multi-hundred million dollar investment that creates jobs and opportunity, it’s once in a lifetime and we should not let it slip through our hands and play politics with it. Or UIC is the proper place for the president to pick. The U of C knows they have an obligation on health care and they’re going to be addressing it in the months ahead.

Chicago Citizen Newspaper What are your plans to work toward the fiber optic network for the city’s infrastructure specifically increasing the neighborhood broadband access to high speed internet?

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel: There’s a couple things and not to run down a list of accomplishments but we’ve made our libraries hubs for connectivity with the internet. You can go to any neighborhood and see that it’s not just a place for books anymore, it’s a place to really research the future and that’s what’s happening there. We have done extensive stuff at both Garfield and other parks to make them WiFi fully operable. Just the other day, I announce that we’re going to put 4G in all of our public transportation system; we’ll be the first city to do it. Then we had a strategy for both broadband and connective in our advanced manufacturing. Each of those assets are being used so we can actually have the economic vitality throughout the City of Chicago. It’s a big part of what we’re trying to do in our public transportation, public libraries and in our parks.

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