March 18--Mayor Rahm Emanuel and challenger Jesus "Chuy" Garcia spent the day after their first debate largely out of the public eye, with the mayor showing off a perk of incumbency and the Cook County commissioner set to do some St. Patrick's Day campaigning.
Emanuel appeared in Calumet Heights to draw attention to the fact that the city will repave some of Chicago's streets once again this year. Although it was a city government event, during his remarks Emanuel took a veiled jab at Garcia ahead of the April 7 runoff election.
"I think it's important and essential that we actually continue to do the basic things in our neighborhoods," said Emanuel, standing with city workers on a torn up portion of Constance Avenue that's being updated and resurfaced. "This was long overdue, but this is all at risk and much, much more on basic neighborhood services if you do not have a plan for financially putting our house in order."
During the debate Monday night, Emanuel slammed Garcia for what the mayor said was a lack of a plan to deal with the city's financial problems. Garcia has suggested he would create a post-election task force to recommend proposals to come up with more money.
"A commission is not an economic plan," Emanuel reiterated Tuesday. "You can't subcontract leadership."
Although Emanuel indicated during the debate that he would take a property tax increase off the table, his campaign later said that a property tax increase is "the very last resort." Asked by reporters to clarify his stance, Emanuel joked, "Actually, I got you right where I want you."
"I've laid out a plan to avoid doing property taxes, and it's a specific plan," Emanuel said.
The mayor's proposal involves getting Springfield to support a number of things, including a Chicago casino to create a revenue stream for the city's underfunded pensions, broadening the sales tax to include professional services that are now exempt and changes to police, fire and teacher pension funding laws to stretch out required payment increases into future years.
The announcement about the city's paving program is one of the perks of being the mayor. Although the city paves roads each year, Emanuel got to again make the announcement that he plans to pave at least 300 miles of Chicago streets.
For his part, Garcia appeared at a St. Patrick's Day celebration late this afternoon at the Irish American Heritage Center on the Northwest Side.
Emanuel is "afraid of opening the books," Garcia said.
"We owe it to the taxpayers, and I think the mayor doesn't like when I say that before I look taxpayers in the eye and tell them that we are going to shoulder them with any set of taxes, that they need to know what the true financial picture of the city looks like," he added.
Garcia didn't make a speech at the event, but did pour a pint of Guinness before stepping out of the bar as an Emanuel TV attack ad aired on the hall's television screens.
