Wednesday marks a year since Rahm Emanuel took office as Chicago's mayor. And what a year it's been.
A poll of 700 Chicago voters conducted by the Chicago Tribune and WGN this month found that Emanuel's been a big hit with the city's white, wealthier voters: 6 out of 10 approve of his job performance compared to 1 in 5 who disapprove. Less than half of African-American voters, 44 percent, said he'd done well, compared to 33 percent who disapproved, and Latino voters were split 49-30 percent between whether he'd been a success or not.
Emanuel has earned criticism by some who say his initiatives, particularly with changes in the school system, marginalize minorities.
In an interview with WGN, Emanuel admitted his administration's weakness has been in reducing gang violence, though crime overall is down 10 percent, according to the news station.
When asked to grade his performance this year, Emanuel gave himself an "incomplete."
"Stronger schools, stable finances so we can create economic opportunity and job creation and a quality of life for our neighborhoods. Those are, I think, the building blocks. we will continue to do those things within those areas that are necessary so we have the greatest city, in the greatest country in the world," Emanuel says in the video interview.
The Tribune/WGN poll found considerably higher rates of mayoral approval than that of TabsOnRahm.org, a website offering a Netflix-styled platform for Chicagoans to rate Emanuel's performance based on promises he outlined during his campaign. As of Wednesday afternoon, the mayor's ratings range from an average of 1.2 to 1.6 out of five stars, ranking lowest on crime, TIF reform and "good government" and highest on LGBT issues.
We won't try to grade Mayor Emanuel just yet, but we are taking this opportunity to reflect on all he's accomplished--and failed to accomplish--during his time in office.
Take a tour of Rahm's first year, and its hits and misses:
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