Daley celebrates a peaceful rally
GRANT PARK | 'It was a homecoming ... a baptism'
It could have been another embarrassment for the homicide capital of the nation, on the heels of the Jennifer Hudson family murders, and a major blow to Mayor Daley’s Olympic dream.
Instead, it was Chicago’s moment to shine on the world stage.
(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)
President-elect Barack Obama’s historic election night rally in Grant Park went off almost without a hitch after weeks of preparation and civic angst.
An estimated 240,000 people —760,000 fewer than Daley predicted — gathered in harmony to celebrate the election of the nation’s first black president and filed peacefully out of the Loop.
“In this day and age — when cities around the nation have erupted into violence and disorder at the mere excuse of winning a baseball title — what a great tribute that is to the people of Chicago,” said Ald. Edward M. Burke (14th).
On Wednesday, Daley breathed a sigh of relief. And he passed out compliments to the law enforcement officers and peaceful participants who made it possible.
“It was a homecoming. It was a baptism. It was a bar mitzvah. It was everything put together…. People from all walks of life — no matter who you were — came all together. People were smiling. They were happy they voted. They stood in line. They were happy they supported him in the primary and general election,” the mayor said.
“The Iraq war is forgotten. The Afghanistan war is forgotton. If that was on the agenda, you would have had a lot of issues…This was totally different from political demonstrations…you may see. This was going to be a celebration….All over the country, they did this. People expected [trouble]. All the naysayers,” but they were wrong.
Ray Orozco, executive director of the city’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications, credited several factors for the peaceful gathering — beyond the heavy presence of city and suburban police officers.
They include: a ban on liquor inside Grant Park; constant monitoring by the city’s vast network of surveillance cameras and helicopters; and the decision to let a crowd that wasn’t too confined “decide when to leave” from “multiple exits.”
“It’s basically the same strategy we use when we have events in that Grant Park footprint. We open up all the footbridges to allow everyone to get access to public transportation. It’s nothing new. We’ve done this in the past,” Orozco said.
He added, “The events that have transpired in this city and will continue to shows Chicago’s ability to handle large-scale events.”
Mayor Daley has put a $2 million pricetag on the event and insisted that the cash-flush Obama campaign reimburse the city for every penny because of Chicago’s budget crisis.
City Hall is still adding up the bills. Asked if he’s certain taxpayers would be reimbursed, Daley said, “Yeah. I don’t know why you’re so negative…What is this? He just won for president and you say, `He’s not gonna pay his bills.’ I’ve never heard of that.”
Contributing: Annie Sweeney