Posted by John Byrne at 10:20 a.m.; updated at 11:00 a.m.
Rahm Emanuel said today during an appearance in Chicago that he doesn’t "want to be disruptive" to Mayor Richard Daley, a week after the White House chief of staff mentioned that he’d like to be Chicago mayor.
"It’s great to be back in Chicago, and I don’t want to be disruptive to what the mayor’s doing here," Emanuel told a throng of reporters crowded around him as he tried to leave a panel discussion at the University of Illinois-Chicago. "It’s great to be home. As you know, we have our home here. And we can’t wait — at some in the future, don’t over-interpret anything, don’t everybody get excited — at some point we will come back, which was always our goal, which was why we rented (our North Side) house."
Emanuel drew a wave of attention last week after he said during a TV interview that he’d like to run for Chicago mayor if Daley doesn’t seek re-election and that he’s always aspired to the job.
Responding to a reporter’s question, Emanuel also said he has not been subpoenaed by the defense team for ex-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in his upcoming federal corruption trial.
Before he left, Emanuel stopped to talk with Mayor Daley, who was sitting in the front row with wife Maggie, brothers Bill and John, and other family members. The event was the Richard J. Daley Global Cities Forum, named after the family patriarch.
During the panel discussion, Emanuel took some gentle ribbing about his mayoral aspirations.
While introducing Emanuel during a discussion panel about promoting innovation in local government, moderator Judy Woodruff of PBS detailed Emanuel’s list of prominent public positions, from the Clinton administration to North Side congressman to President Barack Obama’s chief of staff.
Then Woodruff noted Emanuel recently said he would like to be mayor of Chicago. "But the consensus is, before that happens, he has to get some real experience," Woodruff said.
"I’m smiling," Emanuel said, and let out a laugh.
"I have two brothers, so ribbing’s fine," Emanuel said afterward when asked about Woodruff’s introduction. "I’m used to ribbing."
Emanuel told the audience that cities need to stretch resources by partnering with private companies and making regional deals with suburban governments.
"We need to end the traditional divisions between cities and suburbs," Emanuel said.
He also pointed to the "re-invention of public housing in Chicago," using federal money, as an innovative way to leverage federal subsidies to handle a local problem.
Public housing residents were understandably cynical about the process, Emanuel said. But by bringing them into the process, the city was able to make them partners.