CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel put the focus on his intentions to help disadvantaged and troubled youth Monday, during an inaugural speech for his second term that touched only briefly on the major fiscal woes facing the nation’s third-largest city.
Coming off a hard-fought election in which he was accused of being out of touch with Chicago’s neighborhoods, Emanuel took the oath – along with aldermen, the city clerk and treasurer – during festivities attended by his old boss former President Bill Clinton, former Mayor Richard Daley and U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin.
Emanuel, a former White House chief of staff under President Barack Obama, said Chicago’s financial problems would “receive plenty of attention on a daily basis,” but putting the spotlight on young residents would prevent “another lost generation.”
“This is our challenge as a city. No longer can we tolerate leaving so many young lives behind,” he told audience members who included family members and county and state officials. “We will work harder than ever to restore trust where it is broken and opportunity where it is lost.”
Emanuel is settling into another term with giant financial challenges ahead. Chicago has the worst-funded pension systems of any major U.S. city, a junk status crediting rating by one agency, a school district under federal investigation for a no-bid contract and upcoming negotiations with teachers who went on strike during the last round of contract talks.