LIGHTFOOT VOWS ‘TO DELIVER CHANGE’
In inaugural address, new mayor condemns ‘shady backroom deals’ as aldermen sit silently
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday launched her history-making administration with a shot across the bow at aldermen whose support she needs to solve Chicago’s financial crisis.
“For years, they’ve said Chicago ain’t ready for reform. Well, get ready, because reform is here,” Lightfoot said.
“I campaigned on change. You voted for change. And I plan to deliver change to our government.”
That declaration made former Mayor Harold Washington’s 1983 attack against “business as usual” in his inaugural address look tame by comparison.
It was red meat for the thousands gathered at Wintrust Arena for the inauguration of Chicago’s first openly gay and African American female mayor.
They rose to their feet, applauding. But their new mayor was just getting warmed up.
“When public officials cut shady backroom deals, they get rich and the rest of us get the bill,” she said.
Turning to face the aldermen seated behind her, Lightfoot declared: “These practices have gone on here for decades. … Stopping it isn’t just in the city’s interest. It’s in the City Council’s own interest.”
Aldermen sat silently as the crowd rejoiced. Their standing ovation dragged on, only to be followed by another after Lightfoot’s next line.
“No official in the city of Chicago, elected or appointed, should ever profit from his or her office. Never. Ever,” she said.
“This requirement that people must give more to get access to basic city services must end. And it will end, starting today.”
Later Monday, at City Hall, Lightfoot signed an executive order stripping aldermen of absolute power over licenses and permits in their wards.
The order states, in part, that “no department shall defer to aldermanic prerogative in their decision-making process unless expressly required by the municipal code.”
Ald. Anthony Beale (9th), odd man out in Lightfoot’s Council reorganization, called the order “not worth the paper it’s written on.”
Beale said Lightfoot’s attack on the council turned a “great speech” into a bad start.
“This is no longer a campaign. We have to work together . . . . We have tough decisions to make. You can’t make tough decisions by attacking the same people you expect to work with you,” he said.
Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd), Lightfoot’s choice to chair the City Council’s Finance Committee, acknowledged the new mayor’s declaration was a bitter pill for his colleagues. But, he argued, it was a long time coming. “The only people who are offended might be the people doing something wrong. The rest of us know we have to set new standards for the Council,” Waguespack said.
Ald. Michelle Harris (8th) said she understands the new mayor’s decision to “set the tone of no tolerance” for corruption “considering what’s been going on” in the scandal that threatens to bring down Ald. Edward Burke (14th).
“I’m not corrupt, so I’m not offended . . . . If the shoe fits, wear it — and it’s not my shoe,” Harris said.
As for the executive order ending aldermanic prerogative in licensing and permitting, Harris would say only there are “some things we’ve got to work on and tweak with her” so Lightfoot gets what she wants while aldermen can still protect their constituents.
Even without the attack on the City Coun
cil, Monday’s swearing-in ceremony for Chicago’s 56th mayor was rich with the political history that it made, the expectations it created and the uncertainty that lies ahead.
Lightfoot promised what now-retired Mayor Rahm Emanuel promised eight years ago on a sunny morning at Millennium Park: A city of “safe streets and strong schools for every child regardless of neighborhood or ZIP code.” But Lightfoot went further.
“A city where people want to grow old and not flee. A city of sanctuary against fear where no one must hide in the shadows. A city that is affordable for families and seniors and where every job pays a living wage. A city of fairness and hope and prosperity for the many, not just for the few. A city that holds equity and inclusion as our guiding principles,” she said.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan E. Cox, a longtime friend of the former federal prosecutor, administered the oath; Lightfoot’s hand was on a Bible she received for her 1980 high school graduation in Massillon, Ohio.
It’s been 40 years since Jane Byrne was inaugurated as Chicago’s first female mayor. It’s been 36 years since Washington claimed the mantle as the city’s first African American mayor.
Lightfoot, 56, recognized that history, just as she did on election night, when she won a 74% mandate, carrying all 50 wards against County Board President Toni Preckwinkle.
“We stand today at a time of great hope and possibility. And I can’t help but feel the spirit of the great Mayor Harold Washington here with us this morning.”
Normally unflappable, Lightfoot choked back tears as she acknowledged her 90-yearold mother, seated in the front row. Ann Lightfoot was introduced to the crowd, first as “a one-time school board member” from her Ohio hometown.
“She’s my role model, my champion. The woman whose dreams and high expectations for me propelled me through life,” the new mayor said.
It had to be a bittersweet moment for Emanuel, who twice appointed Lightfoot as Police Board president, then named her to co-chair the Task Force on Police Accountability in the furor that followed the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video.
After eight action-packed and controversial years, he left City Hall as mayor on Friday for the last time to the cheers of his underlings and admirers.
On Monday, the cheers were largely reserved for Lightfoot. Emanuel’s long goodbye is ending. A new era in Chicago politics is beginning.
One indication: As Emanuel was introduced, the closed-captioning on the big center-court screens read: “mayor i don’t remember of city of chicago.”
But the announcer got his name right, and in her remarks, Lightfoot also gave Emanuel his due.
“I thank Mayor Emanuel for his dedication and service to our city, which was exemplified by the attention and time that he and his staff devoted to making this transition as smooth as possible,” Lightfoot said.
Emanuel and his wife, Amy Rule, were seated next to Lightfoot, her wife, Amy Eshleman, and their 11-year-old daughter, Vivian, during a nearly two-hour ceremony.
Lightfoot framed her speech around the four stars in Chicago’s flag. As designed, they stood for the founding of Fort Dearborn, the city’s two world exhibitions and the rebuilding after the Chicago Fire.
She reimagined them as standing for public safety, education, stability and, finally, integrity — the opposite of the corruption the former federal prosecutor vowed to eradicate.
“People cannot . . . and should not . . . live in neighborhoods that resemble a war zone,” Lightfoot said. “. . . there is no higher calling than restoring safety and peace in our neighborhoods.”
As for schools, she said: “We cannot attract families to Chicago and keep families here without providing a quality public education for every child — and that means every single child.”
City finances, she continued, are key to the city’s stability.
Emanuel prides himself on creating dedicated funding sources for all four city employee pension funds. Lightfoot didn’t mention those tough decisions already made as she focused on those to come.
“Over many, many years, Chicago dug itself into a giant financial hole,” she said.
“We must tackle this problem head-on. . . . We will lay out a plan to put Chicago on the path to solvency . . . and without balancing budgets on the backs of low-wage and working-class Chicagoans.”
Lightfoot is expected to have the votes to deliver her chosen leaders when the City Council meets on May 29. It will be the first test of her Council muscle, and a vote she must win handily to give her the cushion needed to deliver a budget certain to include tax increases and budget cuts.
Before the speech, the Rev. Jesse Jackson said he’s not concerned about a reprise of Council Wars, when a bloc of mostly white aldermen, led in part by Burke, thwarted Washington’s every move.
“When Harold was sworn in, we were going through a tremendous cultural change. . . . the Council itself was in rebellion,” Jackson said.
Lightfoot “won 50 wards. It was the most diverse, broad-based election victory ever.”
Burke and Lightfoot were political archrivals long before Nov. 29, when FBI agents raided Burke’s ward and City Hall offices.
At the time, Lightfoot was polling in the single digits.
After the raid, everything changed. Even as she charted a new path forward, Lightfoot also used her speech to recall some great things in Chicago’s past.
Lightfoot tried to meet that moment with a look at some of Chicago’s past achievements.
“Here in Chicago . . . right here . . . our people invented the skyscraper and the Ferris Wheel. Our people invented our own Chicago blues,” she said.
“I make one solemn promise to the generations who came before us and to the generations who come after us:
“We will continue to build this great city … and leave it better, stronger, fairer, and more prosperous than we found it.
“The challenges we face today did not arise overnight, and they will not be solved overnight. And they certainly won’t be solved by one mayor acting alone.”