Mayor Daley Speaks on Decision to Leave Office, Plans for Remainder of Term

By Ann McArthur

A day after shaking up Chicago politics with the announcement that he would not seek a seventh term, Mayor Richard M. Daley spent his first City Council gathering looking forward to the last seven months of his term rather than looking back on his decision to leave the position that’s been synonymous with the name “Daley” since his father took office in 1955.

“The issues are bigger than Mayor Daley,” he said. “We’ll be building schools, police offices, infrastructure and realigning different agencies.”

In an exclusive 40-minute press conference at City Hall Wednesday, Daley made it clear that while he has no regrets about his decision not to seek re-election, he still has enough time left in office to continue to move Chicago forward — and is certain that Chicago’s next mayor can do the same.

Daley said until he leaves office in May, he will focus on education, the reorganization of inspection services and housing. That means funding educational pilot programs like Career Tech, which creates jobs, and will work on passing housing ordinances that address the city’s foreclosure problems, he said.

“We have to be able to move the agenda forward,” he said.

After six to eight months of mulling over the decision, Daley said it was simply the right time to leave the office he’s held since 1989. The mayor said it was his decision alone to make, and didn’t mention his wife’s fight to survive breast cancer, his grandchildren or any other career plans that may be awaiting him next year.

Daley did make it clear that he has no interest in working on the federal level.

“If I worked in the federal government, I’d fire most of the people there,” Daley said. “They don’t work nights and weekends. Local government is 24 hours, 7 days a week.”

To explain his decision to leave office, Daley recalled a piece of advice that his father — then mayor of Chicago — gave him in the early ’70s after he graduated from law school and was considering a career in politics: “Go make your own decision.”

“I knew it was the right time, and that was my decision,” Daley said. “And I stand by it.”

Daley said he does not plan to endorse a candidate in the Feb. 22 election and will leave it up to the public to decide who is best for the city.

“I know someone will do a better job and I have confidence that they will take the city in the right direction,” Daley said.

Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) may try. Fioretti, who plans to make a decision in the next 10 days on a possible mayoral run, says he sees a need for change.

“The future of the city is at stake,” Fioretti said. “I’ve traveled 100 miles through the wards, down streets and alleys and visited half of our 600 schools and I’ve seen the pain in the community.”

If he runs, Fioretti says he plans to focus on job creation and preservation as well as the costly housing foreclosures.

“The lights may be turned off in this global city if we don’t find a solution,” Fioretti said.

Daley’s only hope for his replacement is that they remain steadfast and remember why they wanted to be mayor of Chicago.

“You have to have passion if you are going to be the mayor,” Daley said. “You always have to have a mission and keep it strong, otherwise you will get distracted. I love the city, I’ve done this for 21 years.”