Transcript Candidates at Google-Rahm Emanuel 2-24-11

Candidates@Google: Rahm Emanuel
Uploaded by AtGoogleTalks on 24.02.2011

Uploaded on Feb 24, 2011
Former White House Chief of Staff and Chicago Mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel speaks with the Head
of the Google Chicago office Jim Lecinski on February 9, 2011 at the Google office in Chicago, Illinois.
http://transcriptvids.com/v2/VBeJWzBRS2g.html as of May 17, 2014 at 11:37 p.m. The link to the video is
YouTube link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBeJWzBRS2g

Transcript:
>>David Lieber: Good morning Google Chicago.
[speaking in background]
My name is David Lieber. I'm with the State and Local Public Policy Team here. We're obviously
thrilled to have Rahm Emanuel, Mayoral Candidate for Chicago here today for a fireside chat
with Jim Lecinski, the unofficial mayor of the Chicago office.
[laughter]
So this is a continuation of our fireside campaign chats which is a program we inaugurated
in 2008. Today, however, represents the first time that we are doing an event outside of
Mountain View, and obviously there's no better place to do that than the City of Chicago.
Our guest today, Rahm Emanuel, is a veteran of two presidential administrations. He served
in the Clinton Administration from 1992 to 1998, rising to the position of Senior Advisor;
also served, as many of you know, as the Chief of Staff to current President Barack Obama
from 2008 to 2010.
Before that, he served three terms in the U.S. Congress representing the Fifth Congressional
District. In 2007, he became the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus and in 2006 he
was the Chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the year that the Democrats
took over the House of Representatives.
If you look around, you'll notice that there are no media present here today. We did, however,
extend an invite to @Mayor Emanuel to live Tweet the event. Unfortunately he's holed
up in the igloo with Carl the intern, but he does send his very saucy, saucy regrets
on not being able to make it.
But at this time, without further ado, I wanna introduce Rahm Emanuel. Let's give him a warm
applause.
[applause]
>>Rahm Emanuel: Thank you.
[applause]
What's this thing? Do you guys think I have a kidney problem or something?
[laughter]
What is that?
[laughter]
Geez.
>>David Lieber: Just in case you're thirsty.
>>Rahm Emanuel: [laughs] Yeah. I didn't know I was gonna sweat through the interview.
[laughter]
>David Lieber: Good. Well, well welcome Rahm. We're very thrilled to have you here.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Um-hum.
>>David Lieber: And we know you've got a very busy day today including the big Urban League
event debate on Fox tonight --
>>David Lieber: so we're happy to be your warm up act.
>>Rahm Emanuel: [laughs]
[laughter]
>>David Lieber: So. Well let's get started. Speaking of Fox, I don't know if you watched
the Super Bowl this weekend but they had during the Super Bowl on Fox incessant, everybody
here by the way was rooting against the Packers --
[laughter]
just 'cause that's the Chicago thing to do. But they had promos for a new Fox show on
called the "The Chicago Code" --
>>David Lieber: in between the game. And it's a fictitious new police commissioner played
by Jessica Biel. And in the promo that they played, maybe you guys saw, very dramatically
one of the assistant's said to her, "What makes you think you can change the way Chicago
works?" Right, remember this spot that ran over and over in the football game?
So you've talked quite a bit about no bid contract system, pay to play, you're running
a great TV spot right now talking about actually getting city workers to do city work for us.
Alright, so I guess in the spirit of that question posed on the Fox promo, we could
ask you the same question to get started. What makes you, sir, think you can change
the way Chicago works?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Well first of all, I believe, I mean I don't think it's a novel idea, but
that if you're gettin' a paycheck paid by the taxpayers, the taxpayer are the people
you are beholden to. I don't think that should be up for debate, but if we'll have that debate,
I'm ready.
I also want you to know I include the mayor, I include anybody I would appoint, I include
the aldermen, I include anybody who gets paid by the taxpayer is that we're gonna have a
mindset that we're beholden to taxpayers to deliver a service for what they pay for.
Now you should know, my uncle's a former police officer in the City of Chicago. You have a
lot of good workers in the city. I've visited them during the blizzard out at O'Hare. They
moved that snow -- we had one of the worst in a century. How you feelin', good?
>>David Lieber: [chuckles]
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: Okay? That's the pediatrician son of me asks.
>>David Lieber: [laughs]
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: I just wanna make sure everything's okay 'cause you're holdin' it. I'm gettin'
nervous here man.
[laughter]
Now that does not go in the doctor's training here, okay?
[laughter]
Let's get to that issue ?
>>David Lieber: Yeah.
>>Rahm Emaneual: it's more important than what I --
>>Rahm Emanuel: okay here's the deal. They did an incredible job during the blizzard.
>>David Lieber: [sighs]
>>Rahm Emanuel: And they do an incredible job in our classrooms in very adverse `conditions.
>>David Lieber: Um-hum.
>>Rahm Emanuel: They do an incredible job on our streets and when we need 'em, for God
forbid, if somethin' happens at your home for a fire or whatever, they are there. They
do an incredible job every day.
But we gotta also be honest over the years, stories about no show jobs, corruption, people
in middle management who've been convicted here going to get another job here even though
they're convicted over here, and that has created a basis for a show to talk about,
accept it as if it's built into the archaic discussion, the Chicago Code.
>>David Lieber: Hum.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Now I want you to know I think that the mayor, as I did when I was Chief
of Staff, as I did when I was a Congressman or when I was Senior Advisor to President
Clinton, you get paid by the taxpayers, your perspective regardless of where your position
is -- mayor, department head, beat officer, and a lot of 'em as I said already have this
position, they already have this perspective -- they are there to deliver a service whether
it's protecting, educating, cleaning snow to the public and a lot of people already
have that mindset. There's a number of people that did not -- we all know that -- and I'm
gonna change that perspective.
You guys talk here at Google about a view, a perspective that helps you kinda is your,
it's your modus operandi.
>>Rahm Emanuel: I want the modus operandi in Chicago, and a lot of people have it and
they get hurt when other people they work with don't have it, and it's usually at the
top, let's be also frank, that we work for the taxpayers and the taxpayers expect to
get a good delivery of service for the dollars that they pay. That should not be open for
discussion.
>>Rahm Emanuel: But if we'll have that discussion, I stand shoulder to shoulder with the taxpayers.
>>David Lieber: Absolutely. Okay.
Well let's move on. In advance of your visit, we used a tool that we've built here at Google
called Google Moderator and it's a way to have people submit questions and then you
can put a thumbs up, thumbs down, plus one, minus one to raise the important questions
to the top and lower the less important questions.
>>Rahm Emanuel: What happens if the thumb is like this?
>>David Lieber: We've [laughs]
[laughter]
we've used that with the President and others and we used it for your visit here today.
>>David Lieber: And not surprisingly, you mentioned it in your comments there, the most
popular number one topic that these folks wanted to hear you talk about was education
and the Chicago Public Schools.
Can you talk a little bit about your plan for the schools? There was lots of questions,
I live in Hyde Park. How do you plan to make sure every child in the city has access to
a school as prestigious and high standard with a free education that's as good as the
Ray and Bret Harte Elementary School in Hyde Park?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Okay. Well, first of all, while I think all the issues that I talk about:
economic development and reforming city government, bringing safety to our streets and strength
to our schools, those are I think the building blocks. The point of this spirit is without
a doubt education, without a doubt.
Now you don't know this, but in a former life I had a scholarship once to the Joffrey Ballet;
didn't take it, purposely to make my mother miserable.
[laughter]
But my wife, when I met her, we'd gotten a master's in art history at University of Chicago
and I met her when she was working at the Art Institute.
You can have a world class ballet company in a city, and we do, you can have a world
class opera in a city, and we do. But if half your kids aren't graduating from high school,
you're not gonna be a world class city much longer. And that's my perspective and I say
that with the utmost passion for the arts and culture. And because it's not only it's
important to your development but important to the city's development.
Now we have two expecting mothers here, but here's the deal. One of the most significant
thing I did as a Congressman was I used to do my office hours at grocery stores and I
would just meet people. I didn't wanna do town halls, I wanted to just meet people,
regular people wherever they were in their lives. I was at the Lincoln and Column Jewel
--
>>Rahm Emanuel: and a young man came up [clears throat] could have been in this room, but
he happened to a lawyer, his wife was in advertising or accounting. He had a four year old. Thursday
night he's runnin' off to the Jewel --
>>Rahm Emanuel: and he's says, "If I don't have a good local school, my wife and I are
gonna move to the suburbs.
>>David Lieber: Yep.
>>Rahm Emanuel: He says, "I don't wanna pay property taxes and then a private tuition."
Okay, for those who don't have kids, you'll be facing this one day. For these two ladies,
they'll be facing this sooner than you if you're not facing it today.
Now my view is, on education, and I say this as a person who's gotten two things from his
parents and both are essential: their love and education. That is why I have been able
to achieve what I've been able to achieve in my life. That's what really what I view
as. And I view it also as a parent who's very involved in his own kids' education.
Now first I wanna make every school in the City of Chicago, we'd be the first school
system in the country, where every school will have a five year performance contract.
So I can evaluate year by year or over a two year period whether that principal, who ultimately
is the CEO for that school, is on the way to making the improvements in that school
and are they being managed, the teachers as well as the principal, towards those goals
we've measured? The successful charters do it. I want the whole school system to do it.
Second, beyond the principal is the teacher. Everything I'm investing in is proven over
a period of time. It's not the fad of the day in education. Teachers, now this is gonna
take a while and I wanna spend on a lot of time on this, since it's the number one issue
--
>>Rahm Emanuel: and it's my number one passion.
Second the teachers. We have very good teachers working in adverse conditions, you should
know that. But I wanna raise the quality of all of the teachers in the schools. And I
say that because you can have a small classroom which is once in the late 90s the big fad,
but if you don't have a quality teacher in a small classroom, you're no closer; so teachers,
not size of class, teachers in the class is where I'm at.
In my old congressional district I created the first teaching academy high school.
[pause]
Do you guys know about the Golden Apple?
>>Rahm Emanuel: AUSL. I want ya to if you don't --
>>David Lieber: We can search for it.
>>Rahm Emanuel: you can search for it.
[laughter]
Hey, don't steal my punch lines, okay?
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: Dude, work on your own punch lines. I was workin' on my own okay?
[laughter]
We've not gonna be doin' this much longer if you steal my punch lines, okay?
[laughter]
Okay, okay, I've lost my train of thought -- no.
>>David Lieber: Golden Apple.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Got it.
I want you to look it up, AUSL Program, okay? Golden Apple here in Chicago. Anyway I created
the first high school in the old Wright Community College. It's a master teacher, two people
in second career getting a master's in education in the classroom, a neighborhood school.
Those teachers, when they graduate, have a master's degree in education, signed a contract.
They will be in the Chicago Public School System for five years. That's significant
because in the first five years every teacher in our public school system, 50 percent of
them quit, not every, 50 percent quit. It's too hard.
These teachers are trained for urban education. They commit for five years minimum. Eighty
percent of 'em stay beyond the five years.
I wanna take us from seven schools to 15. We'll graduate two high schools and six elementary
schools worth of teachers every year. After four years Chicago will have the largest population
of teachers with a master's degree in education and we will convert the school system, classroom
by classroom, school by school.
>>David Lieber: Can I ask, can I just interrupt and ask? It would seem that you would need
the teacher's union cooperation for such an accountability plan and they've --
>>Rahm Emanuel: I've --
>>David Lieber: heretofore not been willing to commit to accountability.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Well on this thing, I worked it out when I was running for Congress, they
support this actual program.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Eventually I wanna take it up to 20, but the first year I'll do 15.
Now here's how I'll pay for it and after everything I've announced, I've paid for. We spend $100
million a year at the CPS, Chicago Public Schools, on teacher training. For $10 million,
I get these eight schools. And the reason I'm not only for it because I get 10 out of
that for these 8 schools, I'm training teachers who stay longer in our schools. Why do I have
to train somebody who moves to the suburbs? I'm gettin' a better bang for our buck usin'
the same money.
You can see I get emotional about that.
Lastly, parents.
[pause]
You cannot educate kids without parents being involved in their education. The front door
to that house or that apartment is more significant to a child's education than the school and
then when the two of 'em are workin', they'll be taking your job.
[laughter]
>>David Lieber: That is.
>>Rahm Emanuel: And they'll be takin' my job and they're gonna be taking your job.
A good parent or parents involved in a kid's education with a good school, that kid is
unstoppable. It's been proven and that's why I said I don't get in fads. What are the three
things you gotta have? Principals that wanna be accountable, quality teachers in a room,
and two parents who are involved. Now this is why I love this job. I'm gonna tell you
this story.
[pause]
I told ya I used to do grocery stores and I met probably a number of you at El stops.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Okay? And I'm gonna continue as mayor doin' somethin' retailish as a way
to always make sure I'm in touch with folks and they're in touch with their mayor.
I was at 79th and Dan Ryan about three or four weeks ago and I say hello to all these
high school kids regardless, not that they're voters but one day they may be. No.
[laughter]
And this kid, Jeremy, walks, I don't know he's Jeremy, shake hands and he goes past
me. He comes back, I don't know about 30 seconds later whatever, and says, "Can I show you
somethin'?" And anytime a kid shows initiative like that, you wanna be obviously responsive.
I'd be that responsive for an adult, especially for a high school kid.
[laughter]
And he get his backpack off and is pullin' out a piece of paper and I said, "What's this
about?" And he says, "I started an after school program in my school." Sixteen. I said, "Really."
I go, "What does it do?" He goes, "Photography."
>>David Lieber: Um.
>>Rahm Emanuel: And he also -- in respect to this kid, he lives up near Loyola, takes
a train all the way down 79th and gets on a bus and goes over to Simeon; hour and twenty
transportation. So next time you're really upset about somethin', put Jeremy in your
head for a second. He's a high schooler kid and there's thousands of 'em out there.
I said, "Really, you run this?" He goes, "Yeah, I develop it with a friend and I administer
it with my assistant principal." He started his own after school program. And I said,
"Well what's this form for?" Now I'm big into parent contracts as a way to kinda induce
responsibility. I've announced it when I announced my education policy.
He says, "I don't let a kid into my after school program whose parent does not sign
this." And I said, "Well what does it make 'em do?" "Pick up the report card, attend
parent-teacher conferences, and review their homework with 'em."
>>Rahm Emanuel: I've announced a comprehensive after school program for the city. We're adopting
Jeremy's contract when I'm mayor.
>>David Lieber: Ahh.
>>Rahm Emanuel: And it's not defer motion, although there is that. And I do want people
to know that if they have an idea the mayor or the city government will respond in the
same way that I did for the young man at the Jewel, helped get Coonley that was on the
closed list, to now a gifted program that's bustin' at the seams.
I introduced an elder justice bill 'cause some lady told me how her father got beat
up at a nursing home and President Obama signed it.
These aren't gonna solve Newtonian physics or macroeconomics, but people give you stories
and some way you can make their lives a tad easier or solve a problem for others.
But Jeremy came up with an idea that figured out in my view somethin' that President Clinton
taught me very importantly. With opportunity, after school program, comes responsibility
and accountability. And what was the other piece of it? And at 16, Jeremy had figured
this out. And I just want you to know -- get used to it because Jeremy's gonna be head
of the building department --
>>David Lieber: Umm-umm.
>>Rahm Emanuel: when I'm done.
[laughter]
>>David Lieber: There you go.
>>Rahm Emanuel: This kid you'd bet long on 'em. He travels an hour and 20 minutes by
himself twice a day. He developed an after school program and knew that he had somethin'
special kids wanted or their parents wanted for their kids, and he knew that the best
way to deduce it was to require somethin' of the parents that wasn't happening.
>>David Lieber: Um.
>>Rahm Emanuel: I really do, I mean I mean this is in the most fundamental way. So my
package on education is based on investing in principals --
>>Rahm Emanuel: raising the quality of teachers who already a number of 'em are good, and
then making parents get off the sidelines and involved in their kids' education.
Now to your question on the teacher's union. They are representing their members.
[pause]
>>Rahm Emanuel: They have in all fairness been big advocates of parental involvement.
>>Rahm Emanuel: No person running for office has tried what I'm about to go try in parental
involvement. I'm gonna be a partner with them 'cause a lot of our teachers, good teachers,
work in a really tough situations. You give 'em a partner in the home, they'll be better
teachers because they finally got somebody helpin' out with 'em --
>>Rahm Emanuel: okay. There are places I will disagree with the leadership. I'm a big supporter
of charters, not because I think charters are the end all and be all. There are bad
charters and there are good charters and you gotta be as tough on the bad charters as you
are on neighborhood schools that aren't achieving their goal, but I'm also for neighborhood
schools that are achieving goal. I'm for all of the above.
>>Rahm Emanuel. A lot of people who support charters think they're the end. No. They're
a means towards an end. They're not the end. And so on that topic I will disagree, but
I'll disagree from a perspective of also data.
If you take the self selective high schools like, not limited to, Payton, Whitney on north
side, not limited to those, all the self select is out, the seven best performing high schools
in our city are charter schools. There are also charters that aren't doin' their job,
but I do believe in competition ?
>>Rahm Emanuel: I do believe in choice, and charters are a way to give parents choice
in a public school system and I'm committed to public education.
David Lieber: And we have a principle here at Google called, "Data beats opinion" so
--
>>Rahm Emanuel: Well don't be so there's the data.
>>David Lieber: Data beats itself.
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: I used to say about people in Washington --
>>Rahm Emanuel: if they're firm in their opinion it's their principles they're flexible on.
[laughter]
You reference Newtonian physics and we actually had some questions around that.
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: Well I'd better call my older brother who's the smart one in the family.
Seriously though, one particular aspect of education that's very important to us is the
so-called STEM curriculum: science, technology, engineering --
>>David Lieber: and mathematics because that's what we do here and we need people coming
out of the school systems especially proficient in those areas.
So you've outlined sort of the overall comprehensive education vision. Is there anything specific
thoughts that you ?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Yeah.
>>David Lieber: can share regarding those STEM type curriculum that matter to the future
of companies like Google in Chicago?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Well let's also, it's not just matters of the future of Google. It matters
to the future of the country.
>>Rahm Emanuel: While you happen to get swept into it, no disrespect, I'm more interested
in the country than I am in Google. And I say that to you --
>>David Lieber: Sure.
>>Rahm Emanuel: I wish you all the well --
[laughter]
especially these two ladies --
>>David Lieber: And we're outta time.
[laughter]
Just go ahead.
>>Rahm Emanuel: I'll stay later. You go ahead.
[laughter]
I'm havin' fun actually and we'll handle this without you. We just actually figured out
a way to take you out of this whole equation.
[laughter]
Here's the deal.
>>David Lieber: Yeah. [clears throat]
>>Rahm Emanuel: State of Illinois has adopted the common standards: 39 I think or 41 other
states adopted it, but you have to have a new curriculum to teach to the common standards.
I've already talked to a number of foundations around the country and Chicago will be the
first city to develop the new curriculum to teach those common standards. And those common
standards aren't for tests, but they're for graduation and then career development and
college education. And that's the way I'm gonna get to it.
Now let's be honest, so I don't want anybody by the time that kid's ready to go to school,
we'll have it done in the first four years. So Chicago will be the first city in the country
to adopt the new curriculum that goes with the common standards.
>>Rahm Emanuel: We also need -- part of this whole reason I'm into my AUSL program -- is
these teachers are trained not just to get a master's in education but specialty for
the type --
>>Rahm Emanuel: of education you're looking at.
>>David Lieber: Um-hum. Yep. Great.
Next most popular topic area was around taxes. There've been a lot of -- I guess kerfuffle
is the word -- over the past week of this tax plan and that tax plan and disinformation
and counter information, can you just clear the air --
>>Rahm Emanuel: We got you right where we want you.
>>David Lieber: In ahh. In plain English, what's your tax plan?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Oh, with that burden, plain English? Okay here it is.
>>David Lieber: [clears throat]
>>Rahm Emanuel: I believe that we deserve a 20 percent tax cut in the sales tax. City
of Chicago has one of the highest sales tax in the country.
[pause]
Now I've proposed three separate tax cuts. The other two -- the elimination of the head
tax --
>>Rahm Emanuel: which is you wanna add employees --
>>Rahm Emanuel: would help you. I also proposed a sales -- tax reform in the utility and natural
gas tax so right now it's structured as the price goes up, you pay more. I want it to
be on a per unit basis so your usage is what drives it which makes you more energy conservation
and it saves the consumer money.
Now in the sales tax I propose a 20 percent reduction. We tax only a few items, so a single
mother who's trying to buy school supplies is bearing that burden. Now I'm only sayin'
it right here to you so just get ready.
[pause]
You charter a private jet -- you're not paying anything now. I don't want that single mother
to bear that burden alone. A lot of your clients rent limos comin' in from the airport -- they
don't pay anything right now. I'm gonna extend it there. I'm telling you this up front. I
do not think a single mother should be bearing this burden alone; she's tryin' to raise kids;
she's tryin' to get 'em to school; she deserves a tax cut; she's workin'.
Now my whole life was about tax fairness. That's why I got on the Ways and Means as
a member of the House in Congress. And workin' for President Clinton, President Obama, I
doubled the earned income tax credit. And not only doubled it and fought Republican's
attempts to fight it, in my office we used it with the tax assistance program to fill
out tax forms for working poor 'cause I fundamentally in the marrow of my bones believe if you're
working, your kid does not deserve to grow up in poverty.
So I not only passed that legislation and protected it, I helped people in my district
get $2 million worth of tax cuts. They would get --
>>Rahm Emanuel: $3200, $2800, $1800 back. And for a single mother or a family, that's
Christmas and the entire year's worth of savings.
[pause]
And not only that, you couple it with a children's health care bill that made sure that, usually
those single mothers are young working poor families that didn't have health care at the
place of employment, made sure that their kids got health care. I made sure that the
minimum wage, I said in Congress -- I led the effort -- there'll be no pay raise in
Congress until we raise the minimum wage.
Now I gotta tell you somethin'. My grandfather was a union man. He used to sing a song to
us, "Which Side Are You On?". I'm gonna stand with that single mother. I got no problem
with that.
>>David Lieber: Um.
>>Rahm Emanuel: And if you rent a corporate jet and you're comin' to Chicago, we're gonna
make that single mother make sure she can get that from paycheck to paycheck just a
little more. You rent a limo, you're gonna carry some of that burden so she gets a tax
cut. You wanna join Saddle and Cycle private, exclusive club -- I don't have a problem with
any of these activities, but the reason we have one of the highest sales taxes in the
country is working people are bearin' the burden alone. And folks, that ain't right.
And also it won't solve Newtonian physics but people in this city are gettin' nickeled
and dimed by taxes all the time. And one of the reasons is because we got this thing turned
upside down. We're puttin' too few people paying on too few items when a lot of other
people are gettin' a break.
And if workin' for President Obama, President Clinton, and working for the people of 5th
District taught me that on taxes we have to be fair, we have to be equitable. And it is
wrong that a single mother is now paying a bigger share of their taxes than people renting
corporate jets, limousines, or joining private clubs. And I'm tellin' this to you for some
of your people that are comin' in here that will change for them. But that is a bare sensible
fairness and it's good economics because if we can lower the rate, Chicago will be a better
city. Fortune just rated one of the reasons Chicago was difficult to live in for the sales
tax.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Well let's get it cut.
>>David Lieber: So when you frame that issue as the single mom versus the private corporate
jet, it's very compelling.
>>David Lieber: The counter argument has been though that the economic health of the city
depends on small businesses and the individual massage, masseuse tryin' to work, earn a living,
start a small business, the gym, those people will actually be bearing the burden, not the
corporate jets.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Well okay first of all --
>>David Lieber: So how do you respond to that?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Two things: civic federations endorse what I said.
>>Rahm Emanuel: The Chicago Sun Times has endorsed my proposal, the Chicago Retail Merchants
--
>>Rahm Emanuel: representing the small businesses endorsed my proposal. All have said that because
small business is the engine --
>>Rahm Emanuel: and making sure. The other thing is I said we'll have to work out the
details with Springfield. That's where this is decided and I will accept nothing that
violates the principle of a tax cut for working families.
>>Rahm Emanuel: That's number one.
Number two, in a similar format, in a debate at WTTW with a bunch of high school students,
the reason this became an issue is a high school student asked me and one of my opponents
that the sales taxes were too high. The specific question by a 16 year old and I said I supported
gettin' a cut in the sales tax. One of my opponents said he agreed with me. Two weeks
before an election, all of a sudden, he disagrees.
>>Rahm Emanuel: I don't think that's really fair to the 16 year old who you told eye to
eye you agreed on somethin'.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Now the retail merchants who represent the small businesses in Chicago
that drive the economy support this idea.
>>David Lieber: Yep. Okay.
We had some other fiscal questions. One was around privatization.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Um.
>>David Lieber: So the question says, "We sold off the Skyway Bridge then the parking
meters. Now there's talk of privatizing the Taste of Chicago and other festivals. These
kinds of fiscal initiatives are generally or universally unliked by Chicagoans." What
do you think here?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Well two things: one I'm against privatization --
>>Rahm Emanuel: it's run its -- folks aren't for it. I don't think the capital markets
are for it --
>>Rahm Emanuel: you can't do it. I will say usually we're a city known that divides over
education and crime. I give the mayor credit for bringing the city together. People all
across --
>>Rahm Emanuel: the city hate the parking deal.
[laughter]
>>David Lieber: I let ya have that punch line.
>>Rahm Emanuel: That's right.
[laughter]
I didn't know Christmas was comin' early.
>>Rahm Emanuel: So that has made --
>>Rahm Emanuel: folks are against it and I'm against it. Here's the other thing though,
we have to figure out how to monetize certain assets. That doesn't mean selling 'em or gettin'
rid of 'em. I'm against that. I said that clearly, unambiguously. But a way to get some
value out of them so we can invest in what I think is a key priority.
One of the things I wanna get to -- you haven't asked, I'm just gonna go there. I am big into
our investment in our mass transit system, okay. No other city outside of New York has
more people use their mass transit to get to and from work. In a Fortune study, not
Fortune, a study done by, I forgot who, that's bad. But people in Chicago have rated both
our night life, our restaurants, our culture, and our mass transit system with the quality
of life of what they love about the city.
>>Rahm Emanuel: I -- when I first got to Congress -- got the funding to expand the Brown Line.
It used to be six cars; it's now eight cars, Brown Line, modern stations. It makes getting
to and from work, the whole experience, much better, quicker. We have to invest in our
mass transit system. There are other infrastructure needs. I'm telling you before the election
what numero uno is for me. You need to know that. And of the people that take the mass
transit, the Red Line is used by 40 percent of 'em and it's been the least invested in.
Now there's differences. On the north side and the south side, but we gotta modernize
it. So the same type of stations, the same type of capacity. On the south side, it's
gotta be taken from 95th to 130th. You can't ask people to participate in an economy if
they can't get there.
>>Rahm Emanuel: It artificially stops at 95th. People live all the way to 130th. How do you
get to work?
I know I see a number of you on bicycles. That's how I know you get to work.
>>Rahm Emaneual: Okay?
[laughter]
Which is my second point. I've announced a plan to -- we do eight miles a year -- I'm
gonna do 25 miles a year of new bike lanes in the city. I want it to become a major,
for folks who wanna do it, means of getting to and from work, not just dodgin' in and
out of traffic. And we're gonna make dedicated lanes that are safe. I'm gonna add 25 miles
so by the end of my term, if I'm elected, 100 miles of new bike lanes in the city.
I'm also gonna look to change the ordinance so buildings like this will give people the
space and the capacity to both park their bikes securely and be able to change and get
to work if they bike to work. And I will say this not just for the Googles but actually
for the new Googles of the world, that's gonna be a big piece of economic development because
it's gonna attract a work force that's sees a city that allows them to get to and from
work and the quality of life that they want.
>>David Lieber: Um.
>>Rahm Emanuel: The bulk will use mass transit. That's what I did when I was both a Congressman
and worked in the private sector.
>>David Lieber: Um.
>>Rahm Emanuel: There's no doubt that my kids when they grow up will probably bike. Their
mother will yell at them to wear a helmet, okay. But I want that, that's two pieces,
I want that investment strategy I think it's key to who we're gonna be as a city and it's
one of our advantages compared to other cities when companies are lookin' at that you can
get to and from work with relative convenience is a big selling point besides your education
and your caliber as employees.
>>David Lieber: And as you may know these Googlers in this room are responsible for
getting --
>>Rahm Emanuel: I've never heard that. Are you guys actually called Googlers?
>>David Lieber: Googlers, yeah.
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: God, I'm empathetic to you.
[laughter]
>>David Lieber: But these folks were responsible for getting the city's existing bike lane
routes up and findable on Google Maps so it's not just --
>>Rahm Emanuel: Oh.
>>David Lieber: maps of mass transit or maps of roads or cars. It's for bike lanes --
>>Rahm Emanuel: I just pointed to my policy guy. Well that's good.
>>David Lieber: And Chicago, by the way, was the very first major city to have its bike
maps on Google Maps. So we look forward to partnering with you --
>>Rahm Emanuel: Well, get ready 'cause were adding 25 a year, man.
[laughter]
So you mentioned Google on the --
>>Rahm Emanuel: Googlers?
>>David Lieber: Googlers.
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: I'm gonna have to try and throw a line tonight at a debate for you,
Matt.
>>David Lieber: Alright.
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: Googlers? That's really --
[laughter]
There's a line there but it's being videoed. And I'm not touchin' it.
[laughter]
>>David Lieber: Alright.
[laughter]
Then we'll move on.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Okay.
>>David Lieber: So you mentioned for the Googlers --
>>Rahm Emanuel: It's the first time we've ever had a seven second delay on the Google
video.
[laughter]
You mentioned for the Googles of the world and the future Googles -- one of your recent
policy talks, you cited Groupon, BrightTag, Threadless Google -- we thank you for that
as examples sort of leaders in Chicago's tech community coming from different perspectives
and whatnot. What's your plan to attract companies like these? You've talked about a biomedical
campus at Michael Reese. How do you see the tech community playing in your plans?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Well let's be clear on a couple things.
>>Rahm Emanuel: One is I do actually think what I talked about transportation's --
>>Rahm Emanuel: a key piece.
>>Rahm Emanuel: I announced in my speech that we're gonna build a campus like situation
for like Google use out in California, I wanna do that here. I wanna work with some of the
high tech startup companies about that type of space, but as you mentioned as we were
walkin' through here. One of the reasons you obviously provide food as a company --
>>Rahm Emanuel: but if you guys can solve a problem here, it's more efficient that way.
I want that sense of innovation, creativity where then two young people are talkin' and
it may become a company --
>>Rahm Emanuel: of the future. We don't know but that campus like environment environmentally
is clearly key not just culturally but economically.
But young startups that are doing Web type companies --
>>Rahm Emanuel: are different than people that are going to be doing pharmaceutical
and new health care companies. The University of Chicago is investing in a new bioengineering
center which is unbelievably important for the city and for the country. I wanna create
a campus that allows new health care companies to feed off that, but that's a different culture
-- let's be clear -- than the people that would be ?
>>Rahm Emanuel: in the startup companies. It's a total different kind of mindset, lifestyle,
instincts. Not a lot of 'em will be riding bikes to work, but that we have to kinda do
that. We are a home to 13 separate wind companies, fitting for the windy city.
>>Rahm Emanuel: But --
>>David Lieber: But that's probably not widely known.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Thirteen, actually more than any other city in the country, Chicago.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Wind, wind, I'm sorry. I know it's hard for the Googlers to hear, okay?
[laughter]
I'm going to go for the whole week off that one.
[laughter]
So those are some of the things. The other thing, and I mention this to you as though
--
>>Rahm Emanuel: maybe that was a slow pitch off the center for me, is we are going to
have, if I'm mayor, I'm gonna pick kind of a long weekend, a Thursday through Sunday,
music, food, etcetera, but a weekend where we recruit the juniors and seniors from around
the 10 state area and also Illinois in the math and science and engineering departments
to come see Chicago.
I'm gonna get all the companies, the Googles and the Googlers to the pharmaceutical companies,
to other tech companies, to the startup companies, to the established, to the financial companies,
but I want these people not just from Purdue and the University of Illinois but I'm including
northern Illinois, I'm including the schools here, I'm including our community colleges,
but I'm gonna go to Lansing, I'm goin' to Madison, I'm gonna go to Des Moines, I'm gonna
go down to St. Louis, and I'm gonna recruit those juniors and seniors and I said I'm gonna
sell Chicago. And you are going to be a partner in selling it. They'll probably be staying
at an apartment near you.
>>Rahm Emanuel: In your apartment. Not you because --
>>Rahm Emanuel: you, I wouldn't let 'em near it.
[laughter]
Okay? But I'm serious about that. But I really want -- here's the deal when I first helped
Mayor Daley get elected, we had to just run the city. You still gotta do that which gets
to the first question that we talked about --
>>Rahm Emanuel: delivering services to the taxpayers.
But today you're an ambassador to the world at large about your city. That's a new part
of the job. It's developed over the last 10 years. San Antonio is a competitor, so is
Shanghai.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Louisville is a competitor, so is London. I wanna sell Chicago and our
quality of life, our companies, our structures. So as you told me, you're trying hire 100,
200 people.
>>Rahm Emanuel: I wanna make sure that there's five applicants for those openings of quality.
I did mention Groupon. They hire 180 a week ?
[pause]
400 a month, five applicants per opening. And they've told me, Eric's told me. They
got people everyone of those five are capable of hiring, taking that position, and they
have tough choices. I'm hopin' that's true for you. I did talk to another company, Deloitte
Touche, they're gonna hire 500. They are actually finding it difficult to find the full talent;
that's a high class problem we should solve. And I also gotta be clear to you
[pause]
I want people throughout the city to participate in that. That just can't be an opportunity
for part of the city.
>>Rahm Emanuel: We gotta be frank and honest with ourselves in this room. Right now Google,
Groupon, it's great, it's promising, I'm happy, I want you to grow, I want you to grow in
Chicago, I want Chicago to be a bigger presence for Google than it is today.
But I want everybody who's growing in all parts of this city to have an opportunity
to see Google in their future and we gotta be frank and honest with ourselves. That's
just not true. And that's not the city we want either. So I want you to make Google
on Google and all you Googlers feel at home in Chicago, I want you to grow, I want you
to prosper, but I want everybody, I want Jeremy who's going to Simeon on the west side, I
want him to think Google's in his future.
>>Rahm Emanuel: But we'd be and -- this one I don't want you to interrupt for a second
and I love you.
[laughter]
Not that much to let you interrupt.
[laughter]
Part of being mayor and part of being a chief executive and given the level of our difficulties
as a city and our challenges is leveling with people. And part of running for mayor is you
get big experiences that are wider than what you'd normally do.
[pause]
Google, I don't mean to pick on Jeremy, but you've gotta be honest you know that in large
parts of our city, Google's just not part of people's world views of what they think
they can be part of. And I want that. We're known as a city that builds big things ?
[pause]
big airports, big mass transits, Millennium Park; those are good things to be known for.
The biggest thing we can build is the vision of our children and I want Google to be part
of that vision.
[pause]
You got somethin' you wanna add.
[laughter]
>>David Lieber: We'd be pleased and proud to be part of it.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Good. That's one of the kind of corporation I want to be part of this city
and all the rest of the Googlers. I just had to work that in one more time.
[laughter]
>>David Lieber: We'll take some live questions, but line up at the mics guys go ahead.
>>Rahm Emanuel: How do you guys call live questions? Is there a special word for that
too?
[laughter]
>>David Lieber: As opposed to dead questions, okay?
But let's do a quick speed round.
>>Rahm Emanuel: This is unfair to my former -- never mind, I won't do that.
[laughter]
>>David Lieber: Let's do a quick speed round while the Googlers are lining up.
Fast lightning round. Another Olympia bid, yes or no?
>>Rahm Emanuel: I'm fine with it but I'm not gonna become a one trick pony on economic
development. That is I'm for it, but I'm not gonna pin the entire city's future economically
on a one trick pony 'cause I don't believe in lettin' people, that's just A the simple
answer yes, but it's not the ticket to our economic future alone.
>>David Lieber: Cubs or Sox?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Cubs.
[cheering]
But I will go, no --
[laughter]
Cubs, but I'm gonna go obviously go down to Comiskey Park and watch the game.
>>David Lieber: Last YouTube video you watched?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Alright.
[laughter]
Okay I'm gonna tell this story.
[laughter]
We get to see this video before it goes out right, no.
This is a true story. Now you gotta understand, I'm runnin' for office, okay --
>>Rahm Emanuel: I got a lot on my plate, guys. I don't remember. It's earlier than summer.
Have you ever seen the video, you'll understand this why I'm takin' time buildin' up the confidence
--
>>Rahm Emanuel: to tell this story.
[laughter]
Have you ever seen the video of our soldiers in Afghanistan done to Lady Gaga?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Okay the telephone.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Okay. That, I'm gonna protect the innocence of one of my children. Early,
early before this thing went really went viral, one of my kids said, "Dad have you seen this?"
This is the parts of parenting you're gonna just love.
[laughter]
I'm serious about this. I said, "No." So that's a sign for Googleing.
[laughter]
So we look it up, we do find it, and I watch this video. If you haven't seen it you can
look it up Afghanistan, soldiers, Lady Gaga, the telephone. So I watch this video, I'm
laughin' hysterical, also admirable as a former dancer their quality.
[laughter]
They got their lines and sense of music unbelievably well. So I forgot. Well anyway it was like
within the first week it came out. So Monday, it's in the week so the next day the President
often has, once a week he has a meeting with Secretary Gates of Defense and Head of Joint
Chiefs Mike Mullen. So as we're waiting to go into the Oval, I said to Secretary Gates,
I said, "Hey have you seen this video --
[laughter]
on Afghanistan I call Lady Gaga you know the telephone?" Now you can imagine Gates and
Mullen, I mean if it ain't in my world view, and I'm just a notch cooler, not much okay
--
[laughter]
it ain't in their world view.
[laughter]
So I said, "Don't worry about repealing Don't ask, don't tell. The soldiers in Kandahar
already did it for ya."
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: [laughs] So they went and watched it and Gates called, and Mullen and
Gates individually called, I'm sorry Secretary Gates and Head of Joint Chiefs of Staff, Mike
Mullen called back and says, "Oh my God."
[laughter]
And they were all, it became a good laugh for us.
>>Rahm Emanuel: So that was the last time I can say -- that's a long story. A lot more
serious work got done in the White House --
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: But I will tell you that was the last time I really could say I saw a good
video and I said Secretary, "I'm just tellin' ya --
>>Rahm Emanuel: the troops are ahead of you, man.
[laughter]
Get with it. As I always note you wanted to lead your troops. Get in front man that is
some good dancers who understand music.
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: And it's, have some people seen this video?
>>David Lieber: Yeah, sure.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Okay, it's a great video.
>>David Lieber: Good. Alright.
With that, go ahead.
>>Brian Benedict: Hi.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Your question's gonna look so small now compared to that great story
--
>>Brian Benedict I don't know, I don't know. I'm just, that actually kinda segues into
my question. My name is Brian Benedict and I head up the Gay-glers which is another name
for you. It's LGBT Googlers here within the office.
>>Rahm Emanuel: I got that part.
>>Brian Benedict: There we go.
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: Okay, okay.
>>Brian Benedict: You know Google has been --
>>Rahm Emanuel: I'll refer to you as Mr. Gay-gler --
>>Brian Benedict: That works.
>>Rahm Emanuel: okay? And everyone of you behind are Mr. and Mrs. Googler, okay.
>>Brian Benedict: So my question is, well Google has been great. They pay for the taxes
for same sex marriages --
>>Brian Benedict: in regards to health benefits and whatnot and we've recently approved civil
unions. So I kinda wanna get your perspective on the LGBT community and same sex marriages
basically.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Thumbs up, for it, big time for it.
>>Brian Benedict: Right. Well, that was easy.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Okay, no, but no, here's the deal. Go right back to that microphone one
second.
[laughter]
No I'm, here's the deal.
[pause]
First when I was a congressman I had secured the funding for the Halsted Street Center.
At that point it was the largest federal support ever given to a gay or lesbian organization
in the country. And it's an incredibly great community center for the gay and lesbian community
in our city throughout the city, not just people in Boystown or Andersonville; that's
key to remember because they are our teachers, they are our fellow colleagues and they live
throughout the city, not just in part of the city.
Two, I cannot be happier that I was Chief of Staff when we finally passed and President
Obama signed into law the hate crimes law and ran the process to get that done in the
name of Matthew Shepard.
And then three, this is about, part of life is also being able to learn. Okay I was once
in my life in a hospital for seven weeks, nearly died. Family came to visit, etcetera.
David Buell, who's a dear friend of mine and Amy and our kids -- travel together, vacation
together and Tom his partner. They happened to be in D.C., David who has been the treasurer
of my campaign for Congress. He's the treasurer now for me running for Mayor, David and Tom.
David told me about a story and I've been around health care 'cause my dad's a pediatrician,
my mother's a nurse, my brother's an oncologist, told me about a woman in Florida who'd been
written up in the gay papers down there who was kicked out of the room of a hospital because
her partner was dying but was not a family member.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Now okay I just got, again I wanna level, that's not in my world view.
It wasn't in my world experience in the same way that dealing with the issue of food deserts
and we haven't discussed, wasn't in my world view.
And I looked into it and I went to the President and I said, "This is wrong." And with his
direction worked through both the White House Council, Health and Human Services, the Justice
Department under Eric Holder, and the President. We developed it for six months -- an executive
order. If any hospitals receiving any federal money they can no longer ban loved ones who
are partners from being by the bedside of their loved ones.
And while part of civil union and marriage is all about-- let's get real here -- it's
all about not -- it's about love, but it's also about what we all in this room who are
straight take for granted and making sure that that's available for gay couples: visiting
a hospital, sharing health care benefits, getting a retirement and sharing it.
Things that if you are gay are accepted, or rather that if you are straight that are accepted
that you have to struggle to get to a level playing field if you're gay or lesbian and
that is not true today. Now it is, now that we have civil union, it is because we had
a President that had the courage on hate crimes, had signed an executive order and repealed
Don't Ask Don't Tell and a Governor and a state legislature who passed civil unions
here. It levels the playing field of equity, fairness, and full citizenship.
>>Brian Benedict: Thank you.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Thank you for askin'.
>>David Lieber: Okay.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Ladies and gentlemen, Ms. Google.
>>female #1: [laughs]
>>Rahm Emanuel: Her. I am going to take this all the way through the weekend I decided.
[laughter]
Go ahead.
>>female #1: Hello. So I don't have a problem saying that the Hyde Park question is my question.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Right.
>>female #1: I live in Hyde Park. We live about two blocks from the Ray Elementary School.
So when my baby was in my belly like hers is I wasn't thinkin' about this. But now my
daughter is four and kindergarten is the next step and we're lookin' around. So I understand
the suggestion of your plan to have it so that the schools, the teachers in the schools
are well and they come home and the parents interact with the students well that's great.
However, what if it seems like those schools that are doing really great are miraculously
somehow outside of your district?
>>Rahm Emaneul: Hum.
>>female #1: You can -- you either have to move into the district and if it's a small,
I mean you know about Hyde Park. You can barely move your elbow before you're touching somebody
next to you. So if you've got a really tight residency in that district, then you need
to go to the school in your district, but what if that school is not up to par with
the standards you like for your own child?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Well that's -- A that's why I wanna have these five year performance contracts
so I can start improving. B what I haven't mentioned -- two other things --
>>Rahm Emanuel: I am a firm believer, having worked with President Obama and Arne Duncan,
I'm a firm believer in Race to the Top as a model to spur innovation. We're gonna create
a Race to the Top just for Chicago so I can spur local school innovation that improves
teacher quality, improves test scores, improves parental participation. I'm gonna invest in
the things that I know produce success.
Third I wanna be the first city to adopt the parent trigger. Okay, California did it. Parent
trigger -- your school's rated, I pick three years but we could do two years, three years
in a row it's failing -- I'm gonna give the parents six months; you get 51 percent of
the parents that sign a petition; I'm shuttin' the schools down and I'm workin' with the
parents on what they want and replace.
>>female #1: Um-hum.
>>Rahm Emaneul: That's how I'm gonna do this. Okay I'm not now, up front, year one I ain't
turnin' the whole thing around. It's a big institution of a lot of years. I gotta build,
which I why I wanna invest in the fundamentals to move this thing to a place that every neighborhood
school and schools that you wanna go have the capacity. The only way I know how to do
that is spend the money smart, invest in the things that have proven over history, and
after study after study to work: parents, teachers, and principals.
>>female #1: Thank you.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Thank you. And thanks for askin'. And you, trust me, both of you this
is gonna be your concern in no time.
>>female #1: [ ].
>>Rahm Emanuel: Yeah.
>>David Lieber: Let's take the last couple of --
>>Rahm Emanuel: Coming to a theater near you. Go ahead.
>>Stasha Hello, my name is Stasha and as a dancer myself I think you may have won me
over with your comment about Joffrey.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Um.
>>female #2: Um.
>>Rahm Emanuel: What kind of dance did you do?
>>female #2: I still do, I, well I did, I was a dance major in college and I currently
dance the Chicago Bulls so kinda just the background of like ballet and a lot and --
>>Rahm Emanuel: Jazz?
>>female #2: All types of dance, yeah.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Okay.
Welcome to our conversation on dance, guys.
[laughter]
>>Stasha: Well my question is about the Sweet Home Chicago campaign proposal to possibly
set aside 20 percent of all TIF funds to affordable housing and I just wanted to know your take
on that and, yeah, what your thoughts were on that.
>>Rahm Emanuel: One is -- look we have to deal with affordable housing. Second, we have
to reform TIF's so before I put more mandates on TIF's, I gotta a lot of reforms we gotta
make. TIF's are the fastest growing part of the city's budget and they're not in the city's
budget. Get them in the budget.
Two, bring full transparency to them.
Three, even after 20 plus years or 30 years of TIF's being around we still don't have
a standard that is this TIF reaching its economic development goals, its job goals? Develop
that standard so we can measure the progress of the TIF.
Third, in some communities, economic development is gonna be affordable housing. In other
communities
it's gonna be the retail type of commercial work. Mandating something before I've made
all the necessary reforms to a TIF process would be a mistake in my view. In addition
to that, TIF's are for blighted economic communities that are struggling. We have to shut down
the number of the TIF's that are in high rent areas right now.
>>Rahm Emanuel: There's $950 million of unused TIF funds; some of them have lived past their
value. And if I shut them down because they're no longer there and they have surplus, guess
what -- who wins? The schools win because the money will go from there back into the
property taxes to pay for schools.
So I'm okay with some of them being used for affordable housing, but not until I get the
whole TIF process and TIF system reformed. And also if I mandate a new mandate those,
what happens to the ones that are doing really well and making progress in economic development
-- merely on the commercial side?
>>female #2: Um.
>>Rahm Emanuel: So that's why, let's reform the TIF's, let's get 'em on the budget, let's
bring a level of transparency, let's set up a standard for economic progress to measure
before we offer a new mandate. And some are already doing that and that doesn't mean that
TIF's are the only way to achieve our goals on affordable housing. Okay?
>>female #2: Alright. Thank you.
>>Rahm Emanuel: And we are gonna talk dance later.
>>female #2: Alright.
[laughter]
>>Rahm Emanuel: You wanna do --
>>David Lieber: Shall we take the final question here?
>>Rahm Emanuel: Final, I'm okay on time?
>>David Lieber: Final question.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Final question. Last round.
>>Tiffany: Hi. Okay, no pressure. So my names Tiffany and I was born and raised in Chicago
up on the West Side in the Austin area, north Lawndale --
>>Tiffany: and I currently live in Humboldt Park and I really wanted to ask you what your
plan is for what can only be called epidemic of violence in our city particularly in the
poor neighborhoods, and what your plan is in your first 100 days as mayor and long term
as mayor to really curb --
>>Rahm Emanuel: Hum.
>>Tiffany: an epidemic of violence --
>>Rahm Emanuel: Oh, okay.
>>Tiffany: because I was overseas and --
>>Rahm Emanuel: I thought you said what was my plan for the 100 days across the board
of issues.
>>Tiffany: [laughs] No, no.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Okay. Alright.
Well that is a good question. First of all I wanna just before I get to crime can I say
somethin' about North Lawndale? There is, where I gave my education speech was at the
Bethune School in North Lawndale. It is now one of the teaching academies that I told
you about. The principal there, Ms. Hightower, is co-chair of my campaign. In one year they've
raised their reading scores 20 percent. Same kids from the neighborhood, same building,
different principal, different teachers, scores are up. All graduates of this teaching academy
model.
Now what I'm very impressed also one of the things I wanna get to I can't do it overnight
again, there's Bethune, there's Johnson, and there's a Collins High School not too far
and they're all part this. I wanna create those campuses where a family knows from kindergarten
to high school, they got an excellent program.
>>David Lieber: Um.
>>Rahm Emanuel: I do not wanna see these parents on ninth grade goin' into a cliff. I'm gonna
get you cryin' but I want you to know in your old neighborhood, North Lawndale, there's
a beacon of hope and it's got a heartbeat and it's beating bright.
Two: crime. For President Clinton, I was his point person on crime in the White House.
We passed the assault weapon ban, the Brady Bill which is a five day waiting period for
hand guns, the 100,000 community police officers program, the Violence Against Women Act, Megan's
Law --
>>Rahm Emanuel: Sexual predator moves into a neighborhood out of prison, the community's
notified. And when I was a congressman, Elder Justice Act which I told you came from a lady
at a grocery store tellin' me about it which is the first time in five years, first time
that the federal law recognized crimes again seniors, be they financial or physical.
I've outlined a very specific plan based on the '94 crime bill. A thousand additional
police on the street and getting kids and guns off the street. It has to be comprehensive.
The police doing community policing, backing up the beat officers are the backbone of the
police department.
The after school program, I already told you about Jeremy. Two-thirds of all juvenile crime
the hours of three to six. School is out, mom or mom and dad aren't home. Get these
kids into the adult supervised activities so they're not victims of crime.
And then third, prosecution of our gun laws. Would I like more gun laws? I'm gonna fight
for it. Do I think if we're not gettin' new gun laws after what happened in Tucson, Arizona
-- I'm not pinnin' my hopes on either Springfield or Washington wakin' up.
Now our State's Attorneys you've seen in the news, Scott Cutt's coming. They prosecute
our gun crimes. That's why I've called for the U.S. Attorney to start supporting what
we're doing on prosecuting gun crimes. I don't see them laying off any lawyers.
So more cops on the beat, kids, guns, and drugs off the street. That's the strategy;
you add a thousand additional officers, do the reforms, and everything I just told you
on my website, I know you know how to Google and go there and you can find exactly how
I pay for it and how I accomplish it.
And I'm also gonna, and where we started, I wanna change the philosophy and that philosophy
in the police department is that the bureaucracy is not the backbone, the beat officer is the
backbone. Everything we do is to back up that beat officer.
I can't thank you enough and I look around here and I see the promise of Chicago. I will
come back as mayor if I'm elected and do this and I expect another 100 people hired by Google,
if not 200.
[applause]
Thank you.
>>David Lieber: Thank you. We have a bike shirt for you.
[applause]
>>David Lieber: This is our Google Chicago logo. Here you are.
>>Rahm Emanuel: Thank you so much. Thank you guys. Thank you very much.
[applause]

Transcript Candidates at Google-Rahm Emanuel 2-24-11

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Candidates@Google: Rahm Emanuel

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