Daley Admits Middle Class People Don't Want to Live in Chicago

The Chicago Sun-Times reports:

Mayor Daley warned Friday that Chicago would kiss its middle class goodbye by allowing teachers — or any other public employees — to live outside the city.

One day after the state Senate voted 40-to-7 to lift the residency requirement for teachers in the Chicago Public Schools, Daley lambasted the idea as the beginning of the end.

"Go to Detroit, St. Louis, the rest of ‘em. When they allow government employees to live outside the city, they lose all their middle-class," the mayor told reporters after a City Council meeting.

"If you say government employees don’t have to live here, I guess maybe elected officials don’t have to live here, too. You could start a trend. I don’t have to live in the ward. I don't have to live in the city. I can work on a contract. I firmly believe that is the essence of keeping neighborhoods strong."

Keeping a patronage army strong is what worries Mayor Daley. For more on the decline of Chicago.