Changing Of The Guard Moves Forward
CHICAGO (CBS) – Mayor Richard Daley's citywide farewell tour continued Friday as his elected successor, Rahm Emanuel, mended fences with some of his former political opponents.
Daley was clearly nostalgic as he launched his five-week tour of the city's 50 wards, CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports.
Chicagoans all want to see him, shake his hand and snap a picture -– recognizing, many reluctantly, the end of an era.
The dedication of a park in Logan Square was Daley's second stop of the day. There was also a ribbon-cutting at a school in South Shore. At the same time, the first lady was being honored by Children's Memorial Hospital.
At Haas Park, in thanking people for their confidence, the Mayor talked about the importance of inspiring children.
His successor, Emanuel, has spent a lot of time talking about the hopes and dreams of young people, visiting school after school.
And as he continues planning for the transition, he has stressed unity -- not only symbolically, as a Cubs fan wearing a Sox jacket at the Cell Thursday -- but among his former opponents, too.
Emanuel revealed Friday he'll help one of his former opponents, Carol Moseley Braun, retire her campaign debt.
He also met privately earlier this week with Gery Chico, another ex-opponent, who offered to help the mayor-elect any way he could.
On another transition front, Emanuel took issue with a CBS 2 report earlier this week that Charles Ramsey, a potential candidate for Chicago police superintendent, "spurned" the mayor-elect.
A spokesman said the issue was about compensation.
"There's a difference between being spurned and ruling him out when the terms wouldn't have been fair to the taxpayers," the spokesman said.
So the question is whether Emanuel refused to be extorted -– or whether the public courtship encouraged Ramsey to demand a salary the mayor-elect couldn't afford to pay.
Contributing: CBS 2 Political Producer Ed Marshall
