Mayor Rahm Emanuel Planning To Run For Third Term
CHICAGO (CBS) -- On the same say that the City Council approved Mayor Rahm Emanuel's $7.8 billion 2016 budget, he says he wants to keep his job when his current term is over.
The mayor sat down with CBS 2's Chief Correspondent Jay Levine.
"You know its gonna stand the test of time of having been right for stabilizing what was bleeding, and that's what you would want out of public service: a selfless act," Emanuel said.
The mayor sat down with Levine just hours after passing a painful budget. He admitted that he is now reconsidering an earlier pledge not to seek a third term.
"I'm going to prepare and run for a third term and I'm not going to be caught flat-footed," Emanuel said. "I've said I really love this job and I love this city and can really make a big difference…I thought about it when I went swimming and I've come to this conclusion."
The mayor appeared ready not only for a re-election contest but the continued battle with the governor he once wined and dined with.
"Is there any other governor who is attacking their economic engine?" Emanuel said. "I think it's a bizarre strategy in the attempt to boost the economy of the state of Illinois, boost the attractiveness of Illinois, that you'd be attacking and hoping you break Chicago. You can have partisan differences, policy differences. I'm going to break Chicago as a way to get what I want on collective bargaining? I don't even understand the concept."
On his friendship with Governor Bruce Rauner, Emanuel said, "I was never going to allow a relationship or a friendship to get in the way of the interests of Chicago. I just think it should be called what it is."
Both Republican Rauner and Democratic House speaker Mike Madigan this week acknowledged that they're no closer to brokering a deal that could provide relief for City Hall. The mayor in speaking with us, denied that pressure building on him will help the governor get his way.