Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel on Monday released a transition plan that sets milestones for his first 100 days in office, his first year and his first term because, he said, Chicagoans are anxious for change.
CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel on Monday released a transition plan that sets milestones for his first 100 days in office, his first year and his first term because, he said, Chicagoans are anxious for change. "They hunger for a sense of change to how city government operates and how it delivers services that honors the taxpayers," Emanuel said at a news conference to talk about the 71-page report from his transition team. The city’s troubled finances are the first issue the report tackles, projecting a $700 million budget deficit for next year. To tackle the money troubles, the report repeats Emanuel’s campaign pledge to cut $75 million from the existing budget during his first 100 days in office, which includes freezing spending. Emanuel will be sworn in as Chicago’s new mayor on May 16. He replaces retiring Mayor Richard Daley, who didn’t seek a seventh term after 22 years in office. The transition report goes beyond City Hall. The transition team also looked at setting goals in other areas that included the arts and culture; economic development and planning; education; the environment; public safety; social services and health care; and transportation and infrastructure. For example, the plan lays out a strategy for eliminating food deserts that includes convening a summit of grocery store executives and others in the food distribution business during Emanuel’s first 100 days in office. Other 100-day strategies include reviewing regulations and fees for city licenses and permits to streamline them and developing a data collection plan on gun usage and crimes. "It will be a scorecard for the public to keep my administration accountable. It will be a scorecard for myself and my administration to keep us accountable," he said. Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
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