Rauner backs proposal to allow Chicago mayor recall

Posted on January 5, 2016
Bruce Rauner
Gov. Bruce Rauner says his administration had addressed policing issues months before the calls for Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s resignation began. (Photo courtesy YouTube/RebootIllinois)

By John Gregory/Illinois Radio Network

CHICAGO – The effort to allow the mayor of Chicago to be recalled has the support of Gov. Bruce Rauner.

Rauner said he’d sign the legislation introduced last month by State Reps. LaShawn Ford (D-Chicago) and Mary Flowers (D-Chicago), though he added that he’d prefer a statewide recall bill be considered by the General Assembly.

When asked whether he personally still has confidence in Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Rauner did offer some criticism over his handling of the Laquan McDonald shooting.

“I’ll say this, and I’ll leave it at that: I’m very disappointed in the mayor and the state’s attorney for Cook County. Very disappointed,” Rauner said. “I’m not going to say more than that right now because there’s a lot of investigation going on, but I’m very disappointed.”

While Rauner said he’d sign the bill allowing the position Emanuel holds to be subject to recall, he doesn’t believe it can be applied to Emanuel himself.

“I’ve been asking about this. What our attorneys have told me is that if any kind of recall bill passed, it could not or would not apply to sitting elected officials. It could only apply to folks elected in the future,” Rauner said.

The only offices which can be recalled under current Illinois law are governor, which was enacted by a constitutional amendment, and local elected officials in the village of Buffalo Grove, thanks to ordinance which was used in a successful recall effort of a village trustee in 2010.

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