LINCOLN PARK, CHICAGO — The Society has been asked for its position on the next mayor of Chicago. The Society is delighted to offer one. It has given the matter no thought whatsoever.
The Society holds the office of mayor in the highest regard. It is simply unclear on who currently holds it at any given moment. This is not a criticism of the present mayor, whoever that may be. It is a reflection of the Society's deep and abiding confusion about how the job changes hands at all.
The Society became accustomed to a mayor named Daley. Richard J. Daley and, later, Richard M. Daley held the office for long stretches, and several Members still begin a municipal complaint by wondering which Daley should receive it.
Then, at some point the Society did not fully register, the mayor stopped being a Daley. The Society is given to understand there have been several since. It is sure they were all very capable. It could not name them in order under oath, and would prefer not to be asked.
The Society's Position on the Next One
Having established that the Society cannot reliably name the current mayor, it feels uniquely positioned to comment on the next. Its requirements are few. The next mayor should be someone the Society can picture. The next mayor should understand that the lakefront is not negotiable, that the parking situation is a moral issue, and that whatever is decided about the Bears, it should not involve Indiana. Beyond that, the Society is flexible.
The Society briefly considered whether one of its own Members should run. Whitney asked to see the evening-meeting schedule. Discussion moved on before a candidate was nominated.
A Note of Nostalgia
The Society confesses a small, unfashionable longing for the era when one did not have to keep track. When the mayor was simply, durably, a Daley, and the Society could direct its full attention to matters of real importance, such as brunch. The Society has no interest in returning to any particular politics, it just misses not having to remember. The Society suspects this is what most people mean when they say they miss the old Chicago.
— Issued by the Office of the Executive Director. The Committee has reviewed this statement and remains unsure who the mayor is, but stands by everything else.