Fine Lines: Daley's 'State Of The City' Address

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Aug 5, 2010 2:00PM

With the city's budget deficit growing and crime a hot topic, we were wondering if we'd get any answers from Mayor Daley yesterday in his annual State of the City speech. We got one, alright, even if it was indirect and we need look no further than this morning's headlines to find it:

• Daley sounds like a candidate for re-election - Sun-Times
• Daley Gives Indications He'll Run For A Seventh Term In 'State Of The City' - ChuffPo
• Daley sounds like he's running for re-election his annual speech - Tribune

Yes, what we actually already sorta knew is ... even more sorta known now. In the opening minutes of his speech (read the full transcript here) Daley said:

This recession has made it clear that the world's economy is more interconnected than ever. An economic slowdown in one part of the world can have global repercussions. Even though these challenges are great, I know we can overcome them. And that every Chicagoan -- especially those who were forced to put their dreams on hold because of the recession -- can again realize their dreams for the future. The hurt and even anger that people still feel today have only deepened my determination to help Chicago work better for everyone.

Yep, sounds to us like a guy in it for the long (next four years) haul. Ald. Freddrenna Lyle (6th) said after the speech, “Absolutely, he’s running." Ald. Latasha Thomas (17th) said, "Everything he said had future goals attached to it. He sounded like he at least wanted to get that started." And Ald. Daniel Solis (25th) chimed in with, "If those are going to get implemented, he's the person to do it." Okay, glad we got that out of the way. But there was plenty more to read into Daley's speech though it was far more nuanced in terms of reality than the hilariously rainbow-and-unicorn optimistic tweets a press secretary sent out on the mayor's account.

• "During good times and bad, we've done more with less in City government. We've cut spending by over $2.6 billion and implemented management improvements, including best practices from the private sector." - And yet that city budget gap grows even as the Mayor gets us a raw deal on privatizing city assets like, say, the parking meters.
• "And, like every Chicagoan, I'm not satisfied that the numbers show that homicides today are far fewer than a decade ago ... I have challenged Superintendent Weis to review his strategies to ensure we're doing all we can. Obviously, good policing is essential." - Coming in the wake of CPD Supt. Jody Weis' insistence that crime is not on the rise, this isn't exactly the vote of confidence Weis was probably looking for, especially given Mayor Daley's reaction to Weis' offer to take a pay cut to have his contract renewed next spring.
• "The recent agreement between Walmart, in cooperation with the community and our labor unions has set the stage for a strong, long-term relationship with Walmart in neighborhoods across Chicago." - No surprise here given that it's been reported that there could be as many as a dozen Wal-Marts coming to the city.
• "And, we must continue our efforts to teach more foreign languages in our schools and give more of our students the opportunity to pursue careers in math and science and technology." Just a few months ago, though, the Chicago Public Schools was announcing cuts to its foreign language programs.
• "We will soon announce the next phase of our Capital Improvement Plan through which we continue to make important neighborhood, ward by ward, improvements. And, we will continue to invest in new community anchors. In 2010, we will have opened a new library, two new beach houses, a new park district field house and a new police station, with more anchors scheduled to open next year." Meanwhile, the Chicago Public Library system is cutting back hours and staff and while there's a new police station open, the Chicago Police force itself is still understaffed by a few thousand officers.
• "We'll work in both Springfield and Washington, D.C, to get more transit and infrastructure funding to build a more efficient system. And, importantly, we will continue to improve Chicago's public transportation system." Yes, because the CTA is just fine. The state has promised $500 million for transit improvements but who knows where the money will come from.

There was plenty more to the speech, from TIFs to community improvements, that will be parsed out over the next day or two. But it seems more and more likely that one thing is (sort of almost) certain: if you're mulling a run for mayor, you'd better get your act together because it looks like Daley isn't going anywhere.