Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner:

Yes, Emanuel inherited a city in bad shape, but he ended up making Chicagoans’ situation even worse.

We covered Mayor Emanuel extensively during his time in office. He showed initial promise when he tried to push for 401k retirement plans for city workers and when he first took on the teachers unions. Unfortunately, Emanuel rapidly descended into failure after he abandoned his Rahmbo persona. 

The Chicago Teachers Union ended up rolling over him during two subsequent contract negotiations. Homicides spiked in 2016. The city’s pension crisis worsened. Credit downgrades and record property tax hikes followed.