Ohio native vows reforms as Chicago mayor
CHICAGO — With her left hand resting on the Bible she received as a high school graduation gift, Ohio native Lori Lightfoot became the mayor of the nation’s third largest city Monday.
Her wife, Amy Eshleman, and 11-year-old daughter, Vivian, were by her side as Lightfoot made history as the first black woman and first openly gay person to be mayor of Chicago.
The 56-year-old Democrat, a 1980 graduate of Washington High School in Massillon, her hometown, takes the reins from Rahm Emanuel, who did not seek re-election.
During the ceremony, which is considered an official public meeting, the crowd of more than 10,000 was entertained by a variety acts, including the Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, the Chicago Sinfonietta and the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance. The star of Chicago’s production of “Hamilton,” Miguel Cervantes, sang the national anthem.
During her inauguration speech, Lightfoot called attention to her 90-year-old mother, Ann Lightfoot, who laid a foundation for her, she said.
“She’s my role model, my champion,” the new mayor said as she fought back tears. “The woman whose dreams and high expectations for me propelled me through life.”
Lightfoot said her mother and her late father, Elijah, gave her and her three siblings the best they could growing up in what she called “a segregated Ohio steel town,” even when they had almost nothing left to give.
Speaking to her mother, who was seated in the front row surrounded by a bevy of family and friends — five generations of Ann Lightfoot’s family — she thanked her parents for assuring her that she could be anything.
“That I could not be held back by my race, gender, or family financial status,” Lightfoot said, her voice quivering at times with emotion. “That I should hold my head high and not let anyone else dictate the course of my future. That no goal was out of reach, that no victory was too unlikely to pursue.”
Lightfoot, elected overwhelmingly as a reform candidate, said, “For years they said, ‘Chicago ain’t ready for reform.’ Well, get ready, because reform is here.”
She was joined on the stage in Wintrust Arena by such Illinois power brokers as U.S. Sens. Richard Durbin and Tammy Duckworth, U.S. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, former Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and Emanuel.
She addressed the priority issues that had helped to propel her through a crowded, raucous campaign and runoff to Monday’s inauguration: violence, police reform, the ongoing exodus of black residents, and Chicago’s lack of affordable housing. She then laid out her plans to curb citywide cronyism and corruption.
“Stopping it isn’t just in the city’s interest; it’s in the City Council’s own interest,” she said before turning around to face the 50 aldermen seated behind her. As the crowd rose to applaud, the aldermen slowly followed.
Garcia, who ran for Chicago mayor four years ago, noted that Lightfoot faces an acute level of gun violence and a $750 million budget deficit.
“But the fact she won all 50 wards, in a city that has been historically polarized, is transformative for this city,” he said. “People want change.”
Some parents brought their children, saying Lightfoot’s auspicious life story represents possibility. Kellie O’connell wanted her 12-year-old daughter, Brennan, there because “it is important for her to see what she can be in the future.”
Viola Mines, a 60-year-old autoworker in Detroit, flew to Chicago to witness an inauguration that she said has special meaning for the gay and lesbian community nationwide.
Lightfoot “has obviously reached across every culture in Chicago to get people to vote for her. That says something about how the world is changing in acceptance,” Mines said. “Do they see a lesbian woman or someone who can do the job? This is a phenomenal day.”
Lightfoot later she signed an executive order to start the process to end aldermanic prerogative, a tradition that gives aldermen exclusive veto power in their ward over zoning, permitting and all other matters. Reform advocates have long said such absolute power is a conduit for corruption.
Lightfoot announced other measures last week, including creating a committee of ethics and good governance that is responsible for pushing through many of her reform policies, and a committee on contracting oversight and equity to focus on city contracting with minority- and female-owner businesses.
The new mayor also is part of another first: Chicago’s three top executive offices are now held by women. City Clerk Anna Valencia and Treasurer Melissa ConyearsErvin also were sworn in during Monday’s ceremony.