- Brian Jackson/For The Sun-Times
- Two weeks after the runoff election, it’s sinking in that Chicagoans really did vote to keep Rahm Emanuel as mayor.
It’s been a little more than two weeks since the voters of Chicago—in their infinite wisdom—decided it would be a good idea to reelect Rahm Emanuel as their mayor.
Since then we’ve learned . . .
That the FBI has been investigating the mayor’s hand-picked schools CEO for her role in doling out a $20.5 million no-bid principal training contract—that no one needed nor asked for—to a company for whom she once worked.
Also, that same school system is facing the prospect of paying an extra $200 million or so in interest thanks to some fancy-pants borrowing scheme its leaders thought was a good idea.
Good thing the money’s not theirs.
Hey, Chicago, care for a do-over on the election?
I’ll tell you this: Chuy Garcia’s idea for a systematic, top-to-bottom review of the city’s finances doesn’t seem like such a bad idea right about now.
It generally takes at least a year after an election before buyer’s remorse sets in and Chicagoans realize they messed it up—again!
In any event, I’m looking on the bright side.
It gives Mr. Mick Dumke and me plenty to talk about when we convene for our next First Tuesdays show at the Hideout.
That would be May 5.
On hand to help us break down what it all means are two superstars of political reporting in Chicago: Mary Ann Ahern of NBC 5 and Charles Thomas of ABC 7.
They’ve also covered our new governor, Bruce Rauner, so we’ll be able to discuss which of our leaders has superior taste in wine.
It should be funny, entertaining, and enlightening, which is the only way to analyze doomsday budgets and elections in this state.
I’m going to pretend that I didn’t predict Garcia would win. Instead, I’ll concentrate on all the aldermanic runoffs I correctly predicted.
I think I won about a half dozen bets just because of Sue Sadlowski Garza’s win over Alderman John Pope. So thank you, Tenth Warders!
The show starts at 6:30. It’s $5 at the door. And the Hideout is at 1354 W. Wabansia.