Rahm Defends Chicago Residency
Chicago Tribune reports:
Rahm Emanuel sat down this morning for the first round in what will be hours of testimony at a residency hearing on the question of whether he is eligible to run for mayor of Chicago.
He took the stand in a crowded room before an election board hearing officer and faced Burt Odelson, a veteran election attorney representing some of the more than 20 objectors who contend Emanuel does not meet the residency requirement of living in Chicago for a year before the February election.
Emanuel placed a photo of his wife and family at his table before taking the stand shortly before 9:30 a.m. When he walked past a speaker, a wave of loud feedback washed over the crowd. "I haven't had that since my bar mitzvah," he joked.
Odelson started the questioning by asking Emanuel's age, which is 51, and his occupation.
"Now running for mayor," Emanuel said.
Dressed in a navy blue jacket and dark red tie, Emanuel spoke in a calm and methodical voice, his hands shaking a little.
Odelson walked him through his school years and early political career. He testified that he worked for Mayor Richard Daley's campaign in the late 1980s and then for President Bill Clinton.
Emanuel said he kept no Chicago address from 1993 to 1997 while serving on Clinton's staff. He left the administration in late 1998 and said he then bought his home on Hermitage Avenue, the residence now rented to a tenant who wouldn't leave early when Emanuel returned to Chicago this fall to run for mayor.
Emanuel then described his Congressional campaigns. Odelson asked if the proceedings over the residency dispute were better than a campaign commercial. "It's actually cheaper," Emanuel said.
Odelson put on an overhead screen images of the Hermitage home from a real estate listing. Each room appeared to be empty, though Emanuel said he left things like light fixtures and drapes in the living areas. He said he kept valuables such as his wife's wedding dress in the basement.
The home was rented in June 2009, he testified.
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