CITY HALL — Now that the 2015 municipal election cycle is over, and the dust is beginning to settle, Mayor Rahm Emanuel can get back to governing.
Here are 10 things Emanuel, and the city, can look forward to — or dread.
1) The Obama Presidential Library: President Barack Obama's foundation, charged with picking a location for his library, put off a decision until after the runoff. Now that his old chief of staff has secured a second term as mayor, the way seems clear for the foundation to pick between the two Chicago sites at the University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago. A selection of Columbia University in New York City would be a major buzzkill.
2) The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art: In the same vein, Emanuel can now turn his attention to getting construction started on what his mayoral opponent Jesus "Chuy" Garcia called a "monument to Darth Vader." Doesn't matter, Rahm wants it. But first he'll have to snuff the lawsuit filed by Friends of the Parks.
3) The "$600 million pension cliff": Overdue pension payments put off by Mayor Richard M. Daley come due at the end of the year — unless the mayor gets relief on pension reform from the courts, the General Assembly or the unions themselves.
4) A hike in property taxes? Emanuel has said he'd do all he can to hold it off, but consider this the other shoe that will drop without any pension reform.
5) A kinder, gentler Rahm? In his victory speech, the mayor thanked voters for "putting me through my paces" and promised to be "a better mayor." We'll see how that takes. Does he come to own that the way he already owns his own abrasiveness?
6) Making peace with progressives? Emanuel might have conquered the progressive movement directly by beating Garcia handily in the end, but he faces a dramatically altered City Council. With Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) a lame duck, the seven remaining members of the Progressive Reform Caucus, most of whom Emanuel targeted for defeat, all won re-election, two of them shifting wards after the Emanuel-endorsed remap made their old wards inhospitable. Progressives figure to climb to double digits in the 50-seat City Council. That's not close to a majority, but they can create consistent headaches for the mayor. Does he consider them the not-so-loyal opposition, or does he mend fences and attempt to revive his own self-proclaimed progressivism?
7) More sway in the General Assembly: The elections in November and this year must have reminded Emanuel about the essential power of politics. While he has insisted he has strength among both the members of the state legislature and the lobbyists surrounding it, he has few actual statewide gains to show. Can he compel House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton to pull the same way against the austerity agenda advocated by Gov. Bruce Rauner? Reinstating threatened state funding for the Chicago Transit Authority would be a good start.
8) A Chicago casino, really? The mayor says he's been talking with the governor about a Chicago-owned casino located in the city. He pushed it through the General Assembly before only to have Gov. Pat Quinn veto it. Can he complete the process now, and would that be fraught with perils associated with bringing state-approved gambling to the city?
9) Charter schools: Does he push ahead with more charters or, with Chicago Public Schools facing its own $1 billion budget deficit, does he believe those who argue that's a particularly divisive issue that actually drives irritated voters to the polls?
10) Take me to the river: Let's end this on a relatively upbeat note by pointing out the mayor is committed to making the Chicago River a "second lakefront," a place for the city to relax and enjoy its leisure. The Downtown Riverwalk figures to be completed in his second term. How far does he extend it up the North and South branches? And just how committed is he to making the "fiasco" that was the first Great Chicago Fire Festival an enduring annual event?
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