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2011, 08-24:
Report # 1 on: Chicago Mayor RAHM EMANUEL’s “FIRST 100 DAYS” TALK at WBEZ-hosted event, + other CITY OFFICIALS
On August 1, 2011, the CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM e-mail bulletin announced plans to hold a special DISCUSSION -- free to the public -- on the subject of Mayor RAHM EMANUEL’S “FIRST 100 DAYS” in office...
... Within 48 hours of the announcement, the available tickets were “SOLD OUT”, with a waiting list besides...
... Originally, it was announced that WBEZ’s ALISON CUDDY would host Mayor EMANUEL along with Chicago Public Schools CEO Jean-Claude Brizard & Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, with the idea being to “engage local leaders and residents in a dialogue about change within the city of Chicago and plans for the future in this dynamic, interactive discussion...”
... On August 24th, I ATTENDED the event with a schoolteacher, ED BUCHALO. The auditorium at the HISTORY MUSEUM was completely filled (with others hoping to get in)..
... Most of the public was surprised to learn that Mr. Brizard & Ms. Preckwinkle would NOT be with us, & we would instead have various other City of CHICAGO officials for the talk (with 1 chair that later turned out to be “empty” onstage)...
... Before the talk, a gentleman onstage advised us that the Mayor would NOT be taking questions from the AUDIENCE (at the mics that were set up on the sides of the auditorium), & that he would instead respond to ones posed by Alison & ones recorded via CALL-INS done prior to the event...
... Mayor RAHM EMANUEL appeared in a timely fashion, & dealt with questions put forward by Alison...
... During his 40-minute or so appearance, he commented on how, his goal was NOT to make GOVERNMENT “LOOK good”, but rather, to try to be of help to the CITIZENS of the city who’d chosen Chicago as a place to live and go to school & work & start businesses, to make things BETTER for them in their lives & pursuits..
... In talking about his “First 100 DAYS” & his hopes for the FUTURE, the Mayor exhibited both a good sense of HUMOR & an unwillingness to be “pushed” into making statements in “places” he didn’t want to “GO”...
... At one point, the Mayor spoke of the recent announcement that the City would be working with the ACCENTURE company to do an in-depth analysis & evaluation of the City’s PROCUREMENT procedures (which it was estimated would eventually save the city around $ 25 million via “improvements” they’d recommend)...
... To Alison’s gently pointing out that the contract was done on a NO-BID situation (which she inferred was in opposition to his pre-election words about “TRANSPARENCY” & the like), the Mayor said, the company involved had a history of doing EFFECTIVE work in the field, & thus they (in-effect) were “WORTH” dealing with on the agreed-upon basis...
... The public applauded to Rahm’s stated commitment to find ways to help the STUDENTS in the City feel SAFE & secure & with good SCHOOLING that could help insure their getting a good foundation for successful FUTURES...
... He spoke with passion about how he feels students in the area have been shortchanged by the unusually-SHORT amount of time they spend in their school days compared to the rest of the country...
... To questions about teachers supposedly not being offered added compensation for the idea of their teaching LONGER days, Rahm said that the teachers were getting RAISES for various of their school-related duties, & there were “ways” they’d be further rewarded, which he hoped the teachers would accept during future discussions with the City...
... While he stayed 10 minutes or so LATER than [the 30 or so minutes] he’d seemingly originally agreed to, with some humorous comments (about how he’d been speaking recently to the public on the Brown Line rail route, etc.), he declined to stay for MORE questions as Alison wished, saying, he wanted to get home to his FAMILY...
... After he’d left the stage (with thanks to the audience), Alison then brought various other CITY OFFICIALS onstage, & THEY worked to answer numerous ADDITIONAL questions:
... As shown in the photos below, the participants were as follows:
... Superintendant of POLICE Mr. GARRY McCARTHY (to Alison’s right on the right-hand side of the group photo) talked openly about police efforts to try to make the City a SAFER place for all, including going after people who do things like break windows in buildings...
... He feels, if you work on seemingly “small” problems like that, it will set an effort to forestall potential LARGER problems in the future, & encourage citizens (like a man in the audience who’d posed a question) to THEMSELVES strive to make & keep their neighborhoods safer & more inviting...
... FORREST CLAYPOOL (at the far left side of the group photo) heads the CTA transit operation... He answered questions from Alison & the audience about plans to improve the operation of the Authority, such as adding lots more SECURITY cameras around stations, trains & buses...
... He strongly agreed with Garry’s words, citing how having the police working to deter “small”-looking troubles like people jumping TURNSTILES has reduced BIGGER problems:
... As he pointed out, such “jumpers” are not there to do “good” things on their rides, & it discourages people from doing things like trying to STEAL items from passengers on trains...
... On the left-side of the group photo is Chicago’s Commissioner of the Department of CULTURAL Affairs & SPECIAL EVENTS, Ms. MICHELLE BOONE. She had a big “cheering” section in the audience when introduced...
... Michelle spoke of how her Department, like most in the City, is working on a REDUCED budget, with fewer workers, to try to deal with the shortfall the City has...
... She commented on how they’re working to try to find effective ways to COMBINE what had been 2 previous departments, & yet still provide good events for the public...
... In charge of the City’s debt management & cash flow is Chicago’s CONTROLLER, Mr. AMER AHMAD...
... To a recent graduate lady who posed a question, he said, he’ll be glad to look at her resume -- but, like other Departments, they’re operating on a REDUCED budget & mainly need experienced people to handle the complex work they do...
... Amer (to Michelle’s right in the group photo) spoke of his efforts to gather & provide financial RECORDS about the City’s operation...
... Besides the people onstage, WBEZ did a good job at providing additional City officials who spoke (responding to questions) from the FLOOR of the auditorium (near the mics), including the City’s INSPECTOR General, JOSEPH M. FERGUSON...
... Another speaker there was the man in charge of planning TECHNOLOGY efforts for the City (who talked about his work to provide information to the public on the internet)...
... And, there were other well-known people, including a previous ALDERMAN who talked about improvements he’d like to see...
... A lady writer for CHICAGO magazine got hearty applause from the audience when she said, while she APPRECIATED the participation of people from the City’s administration, she would have preferred that Mayor EMANUEL stay to DIRECTLY answer QUESTIONS posed from the audience...
... There were some very good questions & comments from the spectators, including a young African-American gentleman who wondered what the City was doing to improve the situation (including JOB possibilities) on the South & West sides...
... Questions were posed about enforcing curfews for young people, starting separate BUS lanes on certain streets, etc...
... The speakers were unusually direct in their responses at times, such as Forest’s pointing out that ALL public transit authorities in the country LOSE money & probably always WILL, & thus there’s not likely to be any PRIVATE companies “eager” to provide “RESERVED” transit in special highway lanes or the like...
... Further, it’s very difficult to find ways -- with the state of the economy – to find money for CAPITAL improvements of infrastructure... But, as Forest pointed out, they’re in the midst of doing STUDIES to try to find the BEST ways of handling the money they DO have & are likely to have in the future...
... After the event, I privately spoke to Forrest & Amer & THANKED them for helping provide an INTERESTING forum. They were gracious enough to thank me & others for COMING to the event...
... All-in-all, a FASCINATING event, with (considering they’re “political” appointees) an unusual number of “STRAIGHT” responses to a number of inquiries...
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