Two Chicago Democrats are proposing legislation that would allow city voters to recall their mayor.
Democratic Rep. La Shawn Ford filed legislation Wednesday outlining a lengthy process for a city special election. Ford tells Chicago's WBBM-TV that people have lost confidence in Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
State Representative Mary Flowers says the recall bill probably couldn’t apply to Emanuel, since it hasn’t been passed and he’s already elected.
Flowers represents the Gresham neighborhood on the city’s South Side, where she says Emanuel hasn’t brought enough jobs.
“How long did he think he could go on like this? The arrogance of him just walking past as if we’re insignificant. It’s wrong,” Flowers said.
Flowers says Emanuel should step down. And if he doesn’t, then he needs to bring peace to the neighborhoods.
The proposal would allow a recall election to be initiated by a petition with signatures totaling at least 15 percent of the total votes cast in the previous mayoral election, with at least 50 signatures from each Chicago ward. Challengers would need 12,500 signatures to get on the ballot.
There have been regular calls for Emanuel's resignation since officials released footage showing a white police officer fatally shooting a black teenager in 2014.
- The Associated Press, WBEZ’s Tony Arnold and Lauren Chooljian contributed to this report.
