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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 5 september 2018
Chicago Mayor Rahm

Emanuel won’t

seek 3rd term

By MICHAEL TARM Looking back on his time
Associated Press as mayor, Emanuel said
CHICAGO (AP) — In a sur- his top priorities included
prise announcement, Chi- rebuilding trust between
cago Mayor Rahm Eman- police and the community.
uel said Tuesday that he He also cited the improve-
would abandon his effort ment of Chicago schools,
to seek a third term next better financial manage- In this Aug. 6, 2018, file photo, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
year but gave no reason ment of the city and the speaks at a news conference in Chicago. Emanuel announced
for his sudden change of modernization of transpor- Tuesday, Sept. 4, 2018, that he will not seek a third term in 2019.
heart. tation infrastructure.
The 58-year-old former Before becoming mayor ed companies to the city family,” he said. “My kids
White House chief of staff in 2011, Emanuel was a and took measures to ease were smart enough to see
known for his pugnacious Democratic congressman crisis surrounding the worst- that coming and scattered
political style said only that and chief of staff to Presi- funded pension system of to the two coasts. So as of
he and his wife “look for- dent Barack Obama. He any major U.S. city. the other day, we are now
ward to writing that next followed Richard M. Daley, But he was also accused of empty nesters.”
chapter in our journey to- who was mayor for more plowing ahead on policy Emanuel grew up in the
gether.” than 20 years. He won a changes without consult- ritzy Chicago suburb of Wil-
“This has been the job of a second term in a 2015 run- ing others. He often reveled mette, the son of an Israeli
lifetime, but it is not a job off. in his tough-guy reputation. physician who moved to
for a lifetime,” the mayor There are now no front-run- In his Tuesday statement, the United States. His start
said, reading prepared ners in the race to lead the Emanuel several times re- in politics came after col-
remarks at a news confer- nation’s third-largest city, ferred to his family, noting lege, when he worked for
ence where he was joined and Emanuel’s departure that his three kids are now Sen. Paul Simon’s 1984 Sen-
at the podium by his wife. will almost certainly en- in college. But he stopped ate campaign and Richard
He held her hand through- courage others to enter it. short of saying family con- Daley’s run for Chicago
out the announcement. As mayor, Emanuel won siderations drove his deci- mayor in 1989.
Emanuel had been run- some praise for his efforts sion. Then he went to work for a
ning for months and raising to upgrade schools, includ- “Politicians always say little-known Arkansas gov-
money. The Chicago Tri- ing by adopting a longer they’re leaving office to ernor who wanted to be
bune said he had already school day. He also attract- spend more time with their president.q
amassed more than $10
million to campaign for an-
other four-year term.
His announcement came
the day before the start
of one of the biggest po-
lice-shooting trials in Chi-
cago history. The release
almost three years ago of
a dashcam video show-
ing white officer Jason Van
Dyke shooting black teen-
ager Laquan McDonald
16 times in 2014 drew the
sharpest criticism of Eman-
uel in his two terms.
No matter how the trial
ends, Emanuel’s legacy as
mayor will likely be tied to
the case.
Many people questioned
whether his office delayed
releasing the video to
lessen the political dam-
age. The trial is expected
to draw added scrutiny of
how the city, and Emanu-
el, dealt with the case.
A verdict in the officer’s
favor or a hung jury could
prompt another crisis in the
city, angering many Chica-
goans, inviting large pro-
tests and creating a vola-
tile political atmosphere.