ROSELAND — Mayor Rahm Emanuel defended his new deputy mayor's credibility Thursday.
During a media event announcing a new enhanced service to four bus routes and the two southern branches of the Green Line, Emanuel was asked if Andrea Zopp was the appropriate choice for deputy mayor.
“I have worked with Andrea Zopp and she brings a unique quality to Chicago," he said. "She can be very successful in the private sector so I’m fortunate that she’s here."
He said that he's worked with her when she was the CEO and president of the Chicago Urban League and when she sat on the Chicago Board of Education.
Emanuel said he saw Zopp, of Morgan Park, "deliver many times.”
By creating a second deputy mayor position, the city will now have one individual specifically responsible for making sure every city project and every city dollar expands opportunities for Chicagoans, the mayor's office said. While Zopp focuses on neighborhoods, Steve Koch, who has served as deputy mayor since 2012, will continue to oversee economic affairs for the city, including responsibility for the city’s financial team, economic policy, driving job growth and attracting corporate headquarters.
Emanuel said Zopp has the credibility and she's the right person to meet with CEOs of commercial retailers and encourage them to invest in South Side neighborhoods, neighborhoods they "would normally overlook."
He added that he didn't appoint her because he thought it would help his own credibility with the black community.
Ald. Carrie Austin (34th) supports Zopp in her new position and said Emanuel doesn't need her to boost his own credibility.
"On the far South Side — he’s done things in our community," Austin said. "Can he do more? Every mayor can do more, we can do more, but you still have to have money to do more as well. So I think that the programs he has introduced, the infrastructure he has introduced, he has done well."
She said that wait times for buses and trains are a huge issue on the South and far South Side and she's pleased to see an investment being made to address the problem.
She also agreed with Emanuel that Zopp will work well with leaders in the private sector.
"She brings the expertise as well as the knowledge," she said.
Zopp said her primary focus is working closely with neighborhoods to help bring more jobs and contracts to the community.
"Chicago will only be as strong as our neighborhoods," Zopp said. "My job is 24/7 to sure all of this is happening."
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