City Mayors: Mayor Monitor for Richard Daley

Richard Daley, Mayor of Chicago

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Rating Richard Daley
Mayor of Chicago, USA

City Mayors invites its readers to assess the performance in office of Richard Daley, Mayor of Chicago. Please rate his overall performance by awarding him marks out of ten. '1' signifies an extremely poor performance, while '10' would rate his performance as outstanding. Please also provide details of what in your opinion are the mayor’s best and worst decisions.

Update May 2011: Richard Daley is no longer mayor of Chicago

Over time, Mayor Monitor will provide a valuable track record of the mayor's successes and failures as well as his popularity among residents and a wider public. The results will be published on the City Mayors website and updated regularly.

Please assess Mayor Daley not more than once a month. In order to eliminate multiple submissions and/or fraudulent as well as organised rating by political friends and foes of the mayor, all submissions are processed manually and, if deemed questionable, cross-checked. Thank you for participating.

RESULTS FOR RICHARD DALEY:
Performance index:
April 2011: 6.11 points out of 10
July 2010: 5.59 points out of 10
May 2010: 5.87 points out of 10
April 2010: 5.91 points out of 10
March 2010: 5.96 points out of 10
February 2010: 6.01 points out of 10
January 2010: 5.88 points out of 10
December 2009: 5.75 points out of 10
November 2009: 5.77 points out of 10
October 2009: 5.90 points out of 10
August 2009: 5.72 points out of 10
July 2009: 5.51 points out of 10
June 2009: 5.58 points out of 10
April 2009: 6.05 points out of 10
January 2009: 7.49 points out of 10

COMMENTS:

Thumbs up for:
• Gregory R (Chicago): Mayor Daley's love for the city, free festivals. His love for the city and the people showed up in crisis,rolling black outs, flooding of downtown.the respect for the quality of living
• Jon G (Chicago): There are too few mayors in the US who have the guts to stand up to the gun lobby.
• Mario J S (Chicago): Mayor Daley is fighting to keep guns off the streets of this great city.
• Codycodsy (Chicago): I appreciate that Daley has made moves to privatize city services in some areas where private enterprises can do it better.
• Adam (Chicago): Millenium Park is ok, but we ended up paying the price anyways. Greener City.
• Kim B (Chicago): I am so proud of the mayor's commitment to green initiatives. Seeing Chicago in the list of greenest U.S. cities motivated me to send this note. THANK YOU, MAYOR DALEY! I also think he's done a good job of keeping the police and fire departments staffed to keep the city safe.
* Nick L (Chicago): He cleaned up the city and literally made it beautiful.
* GR (Chicago): Under Mayor Daley, the city has developed a large network of bicycle lanes for cyclists. Daley has also promoted elements for the green movement in Chicago albeit the city has a drastically long way to go.
• Thesby (Chicago): The mayor tried to get the 2016 Olympics something nice for Chicago.buliding new homes and bettered comunities.made Chicago a better known world city after olympic bid.
• Lena Mc (Chicago: Mayor Daley thank You Thank You Very Much for submitting Chicago for the 2016 Olympics. You worked very hard and I appreciate you for that. I'm a Rn at Stroger Hospital 7 south. I had to defend your efforts to a lot of people who just didn't understand your thirst for Chicago to host the Olympics. Don't be disappointed. You've done some really great things already for this great city. You will always have my vote.
• C Hess (Chicago): The policy of tearing down the housing project high-rises was necessary.
• Jarrod P (Chicago): Mayor Daley ended the divisions of the 1980s. Also, he has always been willing to employ rising stars in his administration, including (at one time) Michelle Obama.
• Jerry101 (Chicago): The city is reportedly a lot prettier, and Millenium Park is nice. The sanitation department seems to be competently run.
• KRM (Chicago): For making the city a family tourist attraction.
SS (Chicago): The city is very clean and there are flowers everywhere.
Jake R (Chicago): Inventing the Graffiti Blasters.
Richard A (Chicago): Mayor Daley has made Chicago one city
• Susana L (Chicago): I just want to take a moment to congradulate Mayor Daley for doing such an outstanding job in office. All I know is that I've lived here for 5 years and I can truely say that Chicago is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever seen. It's safe, it's clean, it's all I could ever ask for and I know it is because of the effort, love and dedication of Mayor Daley and all of his staff. I feel honored to be a citizen of this great city. You will know a tree by its fruits... Your actions have spoken louder that words. I admire you, I am very proud of you and I look forward to enjoying many more years in this wonderful place, and it's all thanks to you.
• Walter M (Outside Chicago): Reducing crime levels.
• BWheeler (Chicago): Cledaning up the city.
• K Ryan: Since Mayor Daley has been in office for almost 20 years, he has instituted a number of public works programs, environmental and development projects, and these initiatives have helped increase tourism to the city.

Thumbs down for:
• Carl (USA): -The 1982 Chicago gun ban
- Potholes
- The purchase of gas guzzling police SUVs
- Redlight cameras
- Employment (ie truck) scandal
-1 0.25% City Sales tax (highest in the NATION)
- Expensive parking meter contract
- Illegal demolishing of airport
- Overspending of Millenium Park
- The utter failure of 2016 Olympics
• T E T (USA): He is anti the second amendment and should be thrown out of office. People, (law abiding) have the right to protect their lives, those of their families and their property from the scum that exists in large numbers. If the Democrats put bad guys in prison and kept them there, we would have less crime on the streets. Good law abiding people do NOT cause the majority of crimes, (especially with gun). Daley is what the Russians would call, " a useful idiot". READ THE CONSTITUTION DALEY!
• Codycodsy (Chicago): Daley's vision of Chicago's downtown puts lipstick on a pig. He never uses his clout in Springfield to push for things like school choice, he incessantly increases taxes rather than fixing budget problems, He makes laws like the pub smoking ban to play God in citizens' lives, and he refuses to better the business environment for those who are not politically connected.
• Adam (Chicago): Where should I start? 1. Bad roads. 2. Constantly troubled public transportation system. 3. No adequate property tax relief. 4. Sale of parking meters 5. Sale of Chicago Skyway 6. Pathetic and embarassing Olympic Bid. 7. Gangs control inner city neighborhoods. 8. Incompetent employees in City Hall. 9. Lack of accountability. 10. More gun control. 11. Corruption 12. Higher taxes (property and sales).
• Alisa M R (Chicago): MY SON IS 14. I LIVE BY MIDWAY AIRPORT. HE GOES TO AN OVERCROWDED YEAR AROUND SCHOOL IN CHICAGO. THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO PARKS AROUND HERE THAT THEY CAN SKATEBOARD OR DO ANYTHING ELSE FOR THAT MATTER. THEY TOOK SPELLING AND HANDWRITING OUT OF THE KIDS CURRICULUM A FEW YEARS AGO. MY SON IS A STRAIGHT A STUDENT AND I CAN'T EVEN READ HIS SIGNATURE THAT IT TAKES HIM 5 MINUTES TO WRITE! IT CERTAINLY DOES NOT TAKE A ROCKET SCIENTIST TO FIGURE OUT WHY KIDS ARE IN GANGS AND SHOOTING PEOPLE.
• Kim B (Chicago): All the nepotism - either real or perceived. He's got to get out from under that.
• Rada L N (USA): Selling off the parking meters.
• L S (Chicago): The hiring of his family and friends for city businesses and have them handle pension funds. Where is all the taxpayer money going? Why do taxpayers have to pay for the millions of dollars spent for the olympics, if Mayor Daley wanted the Olympics in Chicago then why didn't he pay for them out of his pocket. Why do taxpayers have to pay for his trips? his meals? Has he had a pay cut? Has he paid parking tickets or meters or water bills? Heck everything is going up. Wake up Daley people are not spending in Chicago and they will continue to leave the city so then the question is who will you tax then?
• Nick L (Chicago): Wanting to put a museum in a park.
• GR (Chicago): Where do I begin? Disbanding the CHA Police Department back in 1999 but keeping the department's funding started it for me. He has always been anti-police and remains so to this day. Daley has squandered money and resources for projects devoted to his own aggrandizement - like Millenium Park which came with a half billion dollar price tag from overruns. Everyone forgets that he moved into a condo overlooking that park. Did he build the park for himself? Daley has spent recklessly and relentlessly without any accountability to the citizenry for years. Only since Chicago lost the 2016 Olympic bid (thank goodness) and the parking meter debacle has Mayor Daley feigned remorse and faux concern for the taxpayer. When will my fellow Chicagoans get smart and kick him out of office?
• Julespav (Chicago): Leasing the parking meters to a private company.
• Thesby (Chicago): He is not giving enough effort to fix courruption when it comes to finding jobs.needs to redo and modernize and expand the chicago rail system which means adding new train cars and making it a high speed which was one of the reasons why chicago lost the olympic bid.have more police cars which he is starting to do more of montoring to most troubled areas
• SC (Chicago): Mayor Daley's worst mistake is not being able to balance the budget. We all know that the majority of the taxpayer money is going to his personal pet projects versus bettering the city of Chicago. He has proved that he puts his personal interests ahead of the welfare of the city time and time again. With Millennium Park, Meigs Field, privatizing the city's sources of revenue in order to make a quick buck, planting trees and flowers to beautify the city versus investing in our police force and education. He is a huge disappointment and when the Olympics bid becomes a fiasco that will become his legacy.
• John J L (Chicago): Trying to bring the Olympics to Chicago in the middle of a financial crisis and putting the city on the hook for any cost overruns. Worst mayor EVER!
• GP (Chicago): Mayor Daley has let the residents of Chicago totally down. The Chicago school system is the worst in the nation. The services at the Chicago Public Health Clinics used to provide excellent services when the nurses ran the clinics. Now Mayor Daley have laid off over a hundred of Public health workers including Doctors, Nurses and mental health staff. if there is a serious breakout like swine flu the city of chicago cannot protect their citizens because Public health workers have been laid off. The mentally ill residents is not important to our Mayor. Mayor Daley has made Chicago UNSAFE due to the increase in crime and lack of h
ealth care.
• Mike (Chicago): Pursuing the 2016 Olympics at any cost. Hiking taxes to the point where the city is too expensive. Giving little to no civil services in return for our high taxes. Putting palm trees on our beaches, as if they belong here. Planting trees and flowers all over (not that is bad) but when there are so many budgetary shortfalls that the frivolousness makes absolutely no sense. Selling off the Skyway. Selling off the parking meters. Along with the Olympic bid, the fact that with all of the budgetary shortfalls we have to face as taxpayers (although our elected officials who should be "public servants" are not), he has the nerve to suggest that building a $1 Billion stadium that will be torn down after the Olympics is a good idea?
• Chris (Chicago): The parking meter debaucle smells of corruption and has completely changed my perception of the mayor. I will not be voting for him and hope to hear of an impeachment hearing started soon.
• AA (Chicago): The Mayor sold out the citys parking meters for 1 billion less than they were worth and allowed a 400% overnight increase in parking rates. he cut down plowing and salting the roads in the winter, after raising taxes, taxes are way too high and they are cutting back on everything.
• C Hess (Chicago): do not have a doubt in my mind that in twenty years Mayor Daley's privatizations of important city resources such as the parking meters or the Skyway will be seen as an unquestionable disaster. As will his abuse of TIF districts.
• Jarrod P (Chicago): The Mayor has a tendency to become obsessed with certain projects or ideas, for better or for worse.
• Jerry101 (Chicago): The city's infrastructure is crumbling, with the mass transit services on the verge of collapse. Roads and bridges are full of potholes and worse and are in dire need of replacement. The schools, which are under the mayor's control, are (in large part) getting worse. Neighborhood parks are being neglected. Many parts of the city receive inadequate services and crime is spiraling in many areas. The city's books are a mess, with projects routinely costing twice what was budgeted. Taxes are raised every year, and the city still can't make ends meet. Simultaneously, hundreds of millions of property tax dollars are diverted to a secretive "TIF" fund. Theoretically, the funds are to be used to help develop/redevelop certain areas of the city, but the reality is that these funds are not monitored and there is little transparency into how the money is actually spent. The funds divert taxes from the city's general operatings, from the County, from the Schools, from the Parks, and more, creating larger holes in those budgets. All in all, Daley is a disasterous financial manager and mayor. Giving this man the Olympics in 2016 will result in huge budgetary shortfalls, and (given his history with other large construction projects) may even result in the facilities not being ready on time to start the 2016 Olympics.
• KRM (Chicago): For forgetting about the citizens of Chicago through actions such as steamrolling through plans for a museum in Grant Park or selling off parking meters.
Char A (Chicago): Saying that Chicago has no money for anything while trying to contend for the 2016 Olympics. THAT the mayor has money for.
SS (Chicago): He thinks he is king. He spends all his time dreaming up ways to tax us. He can't work within a budget. He has sold the Chicago Skyway, among other things, to get new money. The parking meters were sold to a private company and the fees will increase 400%. He recently proposed a tax on rental cars in the suburbs that come into the city. Now how are you going to accomplish that? But on the bright side we have some of the worst schools in the country. We have extreme gun control but out of control crime and gangs with a police force that has been handcuffed and the only people with guns are the criminals. The mayor has taxed business so much that every business that can is leaving the city. Public Transit fees just went up again but we still sit on the tracks and can't count on getting to work on time. So things are really good here!
Jake R (Chicago): Not filling in potholes
Anon (Chicago): The Dowaliby case
• Property Taxes have gone up alot, and now Daley decides to cut back on plowing and salting when it snows! This puts peoples lives in danger there is no excuse for cutting back on plowing and salting after snow storm, we pay plenty in taxes and I think this is the last thing he should be cutting back on to save a dollars, not when peoples lives are put in danger!!!
• K Ryan: Many areas of the city have been neglected as the mayor's development projects have been limited to high traffic areas. Because of this neglect there are an increasing number of neighborhoods where crime rates are higher, housing conditions are worsening, and city infrastructure is deteriorating. Unfortunately, because Mayor Daley has built a significant power base over the last 20 years, it is very difficult for community members and organizations to challenge his power. This recreates an imbalance of power that has left residents in many neighborhoods without any recourse to address the declining conditions they face.

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Rating Richard Daley Mayor of Chicago, USA

Rating Richard Daley
Mayor of Chicago, USA