Mayor hopefuls agree Weis must go
By Fran Spielman City Hall Reporter January 6, 2011 9:20PM
Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM
Police Supt. Jody Weis is a goner no matter who is elected mayor, but only Gery Chico and Carol Moseley Braun are committed to choosing a replacement from within the ranks of the Chicago Police Department.
Miguel del Valle wants ten years to fill more than 1,100 police vacancies. Rahm Emanuel and Chico are open to letting police officers live outside the city, but Braun and del Valle want to keep the residency rule.
All four major candidates for mayor are vying for the endorsement of the Fraternal Order of Police, which has been at loggerheads with Mayor Daley and Weis.
Their written responses to an FOP questionnaire will not only help determine who gets the nod. The answers provide a window into their approach to public safety issues.
WEIS: The $310,000-a-year superintendent has offered to take a pay cut. He’s also trying to save his job by touting the fact that Chicago homicides have dropped to a 40-year low. Weis would be wise to save his breath and dust off his resume. All four candidates plan to send him packing when his contract expires March 1. Chico and Braun said they would replace Weis with an insider. Emanuel would only say that “familiarity and past employment with” the Chicago Police Department would be a factor.
MANPOWER: A two-year hiring slowdown has left the department more than 2,300 officers-a-day short of authorized strength, counting medical leave and light-duty.
Calling strategic deployment a “Band-Aid” solution, Chico is vowing to hire 2,000 officers and to “find proper funding to sustain this objective.” Emanuel wants to use tax-increment-financing (TIF) funds to hire 250 police officers. Del Valle wants to realign district boundaries and hire 1,100 officers over ten years.
“This may seem like a long time. But, it took time to get here and there is no quick-fix,” Del Valle wrote.
Braun simply pledged to “implement new policies for patrolling and deployment of sworn personnel.”
CONTRACT: After waiting nearly three years for a new contract, the FOP was forced to settle for just ten percent over five years. Braun called the contract delay a “failure of leadership.” Chico noted that the second teachers contract he helped negotiate as school board president was wrapped up a full year before it expired. Emanuel said he would start negotiations a year before the next contract expires.
RESIDENCY: The FOP has alternately pushed to lift the residency rule or to create a $3,000-a-year stipend to compensate police officers for being forced to live in the city. Chico said unions have a right to negotiate all matters impacting their members and, “The residency rule for Chicago Police is no exception.” Emanuel said he, too, is open to waiving the rule after weighing the “effect on policing.” Del Valle and Braun want to keep it.
PENSIONS Del Valle said he would consider reviving the $2.5 billion privatization of Midway Airport that collapsed for lack of financing and using a portion of the proceeds to shore up city pensions. Chico said he would search for a “dedicated funding stream that makes sense for taxpayers.” Braun vowed to forge a “fair, sustainable and lasting agreement.” Emanuel’s six-point plan includes restructured benefits and shared sacrifice between taxpayers and city employees.
RETIREE HEALTH CARE An agreement that has locked in health care benefits for police retirees runs through 2013. Del Valle said he would oppose any effort to raise retiree costs or reduce benefits. Braun called it a “promise that must be kept” to retired officers. Chico would only promise “fair and quality” coverage. Emanuel said he would “explore ways to fund” retiree health care and pressure a commission on the subject for quick recommendations.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment