Rahm Sworn in as Chicago Mayor

Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Rahm Emanuel was sworn in Monday morning as Chicago’s 46th mayor, promising to save the city from financial meltdown and to listen to the city’s different voices as he does it.

“Our city’s financial situation is difficult and profound. We cannot ignore these problems a day longer, ” Emanuel told a crowd of thousands listening in the sun at Millennium Park, the $475 million showcase built by his predecessor.

“I have been clear about the hard truths and tough choices we face: we simply can’t afford the size of city government that we had in the past,” Emanuel said. “It’s not just a matter of doing more with less. We must look at every aspect of city government and ask some basic questions: Can we afford it? Is it worth it? Do we need it? Is there a better deal?”

Chicago is facing an annual structural deficit of $1.2 million when unfunded pension liabilities are factored in.

Emanuel said he expects resistance to the changes Chicago can no longer avoid.

“I fully understand there will be those who oppose our efforts to reform our schools, to cut costs and to make government more effective,” Emanuel said. “Some are sure to say, ‘This is the way we do things — we can’t try something new. Those are the rules — we can’t change them.’ ... So when I ask for new policies, I guarantee, the one answer I will not tolerate is: ‘We’ve never done it that way before.’ Chicago is the city of ‘yes we can’ not ‘No we can’t.’ ”

As he has during the campaign, Emanuel was careful to pay deference to his ally and political mentor Mayor Daley, from whom he served as chief fund-raiser in 1989. Six early paragraphs of his inaugural speech he devoted to the “big shoes” he has to fill.

“We are a much greater city because of the lifetime of service that Mayor Daley and First Lady Maggie Daley have given us,” Emanuel said. “Nobody ever loved Chicago more or served it better than Richard Daley. Now, Mr. Mayor, and forevermore, Chicago loves you back.”