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Mayor Emanuel's big fundraiser sends a big message
One week before the City Council’s showdown vote on his lower-the-boom budget, Mayor Rahm Emanuel put out the word that he was planning to hold a blockbuster fundraiser for his 2019 re-election bid.
It was a shot across the bow to those who believe that a second term will be Emanuel’s last as Chicago’s mayor, either because he chooses not to seek re-election or because he is unelectable after socking it to taxpayers.
The message was delivered on the day the Finance Committee approved the mayor’s $543 million property tax increase for police and fire pensions by a 17-to-10 vote — close by Emanuel standards.
Aldermen heard it loud and clear: Vote against the most important city budget in Chicago history at your own political peril. Rahm Emanuel has a long memory, and he just might be around for a while.
Whether or not Emanuel has decided to make it two terms and out, it makes sense for him to go through the motions of replenishing a campaign war chest with $122,000 in unpaid bills after spending a record $24 million to get re-elected.
More: Chicago Sun-Times