Second Ward Alderman Robert Fioretti says he hasn’t yet decided whether he’s running for mayor next February, but his flirtation with the idea appears to have gotten the attention of Mayor Richard M. Daley.
At least that’s Fioretti’s take.
Daley told Fioretti and community groups this morning that he’s planning to dedicate a new park Thursday at the corner of Adams and Sangamon on the near West Side. The only problem is that Fioretti and the groups had already planned a dedication ceremony there for this Saturday, and the alderman thinks the mayor is simply trying to upstage him.
“He must be very frightened of something,” Fioretti said. “That or he’s just being the child that he is.”
Rosa Escareno, a spokeswoman for the mayor, said Fioretti is flat wrong. The mayor’s office has been planning to dedicate the new park for weeks, she said, but because Daley has a conflict Saturday they decided to hold a ceremony tomorrow.
“The mayor has numerous park dedications we’ve been trying to get on his schedule,” Escareno said. “We had this time open up.”
Martha Goldstein, executive director of the West Loop Community Organization, said community leaders have worked on the park with the Chicago Park District and city officials for nearly a decade. She said she didn’t know anything about the mayor’s event until today but planned to attend.
“We’re excited he’s coming,” she said. “We were disappointed when we’d heard he wasn’t coming Saturday.”
It’s hardly a secret around City Hall that Fioretti has been mulling a mayoral bid, though he downplays the idea. “It’s a consideration,” he said. “But right now I’m focused on the Second Ward.” Daley hasn’t announced whether he’s running for re-election, though in recent speeches he’s been discussing his goals for the city in a way that suggests he is.
Fioretti said he’d reached out to the mayor “for months” about scheduling a grand opening ceremony for the park, which doesn’t have a name yet.
“We were informed last week that he’d possibly do it on a Saturday so we could actually get some people there,” Fioretti said. Since he couldn’t get a firm date from the mayor’s office, he told his staff to go ahead and organize an event for this weekend. The West Loop Community Organization and several other community groups began promoting it and area businesses agreed to donate coffee and food.
“We’ve even got the Boy Scouts coming out,” he said.
Escareno said Daley isn’t available Saturday—she said she couldn’t say why—and so his schedulers were planning something for the middle of next week. But when they learned about Fioretti’s plans they decided to move the mayor’s event up.
“It didn’t make sense to dedicate a park that’s already been dedicated,” she said.
But now that’s what Fioretti will be doing Saturday. Escareno says he’s welcome to attend the mayor’s event tomorrow. “The alderman is invited, and we’re hoping to have him on the agenda.”
“Less than 24 hours notice for this?” Fioretti said. “This is just unfortunate.”
Goldstein said she knew Fioretti had previously invited the mayor to dedicate the park but isn’t sure how tomorrow’s event came about. “I don’t really know who’s doing what here, and quite honestly I don’t care,” she said. “We’ve got our park.”
“That or he’s just being the child that he is.”
Oh, there’s gonna be a rumble!
Does the Alderman expect that the Mayor will provide him a publicity platform when he is talking about running for Mayor?
You want a Mayor who will act his age? Do you want HONEST OPEN GOVERNMENT? Lower Taxes? Better Schools? Then I will suggest that you visit my web site and review my platform and watch the 30 minute interview that appeared on “Chicago Clout”. I have been running since April of 2010, met over 20,000 people across Chicago, handed out over 10,000 business cards and 1000 flyer packets. My web site is full of GREAT IDEAS that will help out everyone in the City.
http://www.Fredrick-K-White.com For Mayor of ALL Chicago in 2011
Really petty on the part of Fioretti. He found out on Wednesday about but does not let the community know about the Mayor’s event but continues to promote his own on Sat. Wouldn’t it be better to let people decide which one to attend even if it’s short notice. Same with West Loop Gate Organization. Martha Goldstein knew but does not notify the community. I got an email blast from both Fioretti and WLCO on Wednesday and Thursday without mention of the Thursday event with the Mayor. I would like to have the option of deciding for myself which event to attend or maybe both. We voters can think for ourselves.
Magicians are able to do their magic because they are able to get people to keep their eyes on one hand while the other hand does the “magic.” This is what is happening in the 2nd Ward. Fioretti is going around dropping all kinds of hints that he is running for mayor (you’d have to be blind not to see them), while maintaining the facade that all he really cares about is the 2nd Ward and he is only interested in running for alderman. In the meantime, the real question goes not only unanswered, BUT UNASKED! And that question is: Who is going to be our next alderman of the 2nd Ward if Fioretti really does decide to run for mayor? Or at least, who are we the voters of the 2nd Ward going to have as a choice? Is this all a grand parlor game that Fioretti is playing to keep people occupied with guessing about his true intentions? When Fioretti is out there criticizing Daley and the media covers it, it has the bad effect of diverting attention from the problems of the 2nd Ward that Fioretti has ignored and that are within his power to address. Think about the “throwing stones in glass houses” situation.” So with Fioretti playing it both ways, trying to have his cake and eat it to, we must also ask the additional question: Has Fioretti already selected who his successor is going to be. Has he (or is he about) to pull a John Stroger/Todd Stroger on us. The people of the 2nd Ward deserve an answer. I doubt that you will get one from Flip-Flop Bob however.
Quite a story that Daley isn’t running again after he and his father have dominated Chicago for so long. The latest story is that Rohm Emmanual may run.