Your Take on Rahm (Chicago, Detroit: neighborhood, public schools, live)

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by Montclare

Agree with you on Vallas. I volunteered for him back when he ran for Governor in 2002.

I voted for Rahm, and won't be doing so again. We're short how many police officers now? Is it a good idea to get those doing administrative work back on the streets, sure, but that number is nowhere near enough to cover those who are retiring or on leave. Try and manipulate the numbers any way you want, but anyone can tell there's not enough officers out there.

It's not just cops, but city workers in general. It now takes over two years to get a tree trimmed, several weeks to get graffiti removed, months to get a sewer cleaned, etc, all because of the cut in staff. Did Daley start that, sure, but Rahm's hasn't done anything to increase staff and switch the tide.

Every state and municipal budget has had to make these decisions in the past 5 years. I prefer this to selling control of the cities street parking for 75 years just to avoid making service cuts for a year.

[C. Maurio]

I don't live in the city but if I did I would not vote for him again. He reminds me too much of Jane Byrne. Mayor Daley II was good, Washington was pretty good, Sawyer was very good and Mayor Richard J Daley was the best urban Mayor that ever lived.

[williepotatoes]

Originally Posted by Montclare

It's not just cops, but city workers in general. It now takes over two years to get a tree trimmed, several weeks to get graffiti removed, months to get a sewer cleaned, etc, all because of the cut in staff. Did Daley start that, sure, but Rahm's hasn't done anything to increase staff and switch the tide.

This is what I hear also. The fact is that you can't just cut, cut, cut, cut without paying a price. Chicago is an aged city with lots of infrastructure needs and social responsibilities.

Holding press conferences to announce jobs in the loop is going to wear thin soon, unless some new vitality starts spreading to the greater reaches of the city.

[ChiNaan]

I'm not a fan, but I find it comical when people hate on him because they think he's liberal. As far as I can tell, he's operating straight out of the right-wing playbook of privatizing public assets, steering the profits toward his wealthy friends, and ****ting on working people whenever possible.

[ChiNaan]

Originally Posted by Link N. Parker

Are you serious? Well we all know that Rahm does want to run for president in 2016;

This is actually the first I've heard of this. It seems like an extremely long shot at best. He would need a historic image makeover that should have already started by now, and I think he's smart enough to know that. (If he's not, his handlers and his party are.) I just can't see where his support would come from on the national stage. As far as I can tell, conservatives don't like him because they associate him with Obama, liberals don't like him because he's not liberal, and centrists who prefer populist candidates don't like him because he's a dickhe*d who is the exact opposite of that.

[Midwest Revival]

Originally Posted by Link N. Parker

He has done really well on some things, but really horrible on others.

Good things:
1. Attracting more jobs to the Loop
2. Shutting down under-utilized schools

Horrible things (mostly crime related):
1. Street crime in the "safe" areas...the flash mobs in the Gold Coast and the "packs of teens" that loiter in Boystown on most nights robbing people...these things need to be addressed (and actually, I think that they finally are being addressed)
2. McCarthy is a JOKE, he has to go. He lies to the public so much, its silly, SILLY
3. The dismantling of the Police Force is f'in criminal.

Right now, I see Chicago at where NYC was in the 80's...a loud mouth mayor who serves the financial elites, a police force struggling to keep things under control.

Rahm strikes me as the kind of guy who will p*ss on you and tell you it is raining.

I also think his whole "gangster" act is in bad taste, sending dead fish to people, threatening to kill people by stabbing the table with a knife and yelling "DEAD! DEAD DEAD!" I mean, come on...

Typical complaining Northsider, Ok its some flash mobs thats basically EVERY major ciy. When you say "crime" you make it sound like 10 or 15 people are getting shot up north on a daily basis, its crime everywhere I will say that. Though, dont complain about a few robberies(happens everywhere), carjackings(happens everywhere), and flash mobs(happens everywhere) when people are dying on the Southside.

[Plzeň]

Rahm Emanuel Approval Rating: New Poll Shows Chicago's Just Not That Into Mayor

[gomexico]

Originally Posted by msamhunter

Rahm Emanuel approval rating slips - chicagotribune.com

What's your serious take on the Mayor and the job he's done? Some positives are luring companies back into the city center but typical Chicago fashion, certain groups get disenfranchised in the city.

The Mayor is doing well, given the hand he was dealt. People who don't get what they want are always "disenfranchised." Nothing new with that. At the 8-year mark let's look back and judge the job he'd have done. Now is too soon.

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by gomexico

The Mayor is doing well, given the hand he was dealt. People who don't get what they want are always "disenfranchised." Nothing new with that. At the 8-year mark let's look back and judge the job he'd have done. Now is too soon.

Any successor to Daley would be in a tough spot. The budget is in the red, worst recession in our lifetime, crummy parking meter deal, shrinking population, etc. All these facts on the ground were in place before Emmanuel took office.

[Vlajos]

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

Any successor to Daley would be in a tough spot. The budget is in the red, worst recession in our lifetime, crummy parking meter deal, shrinking population, etc. All these facts on the ground were in place before Emmanuel took office.

Exactly.

To have a 50% approval rating is pretty darn good. He only won with what, 51% of the vote. Same would happen today.