Emanuel Speaks Against Airport Plan At Appearance With Rep. Jackson's Wife
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The issue of a proposed third Chicago area airport near Peotone made for a few amusingly uncomfortable moments between Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Ald. Sandi Jackson (7th), whose Congressman husband is a big backer of the project.
As WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports, U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) is the prime mover behind the controversial plan for the privately-financed new regional airport.
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Mayor Emanuel does not back the effort for the third airport, as he noted in an unrelated joint appearance with Ald. Jackson to announce plans to reroute U.S. 41 so as effectively to lengthen Lake Shore Drive on the South Side.
"I said in the campaign I was opposed to it, and while Congressman Jackson and I have had our differences on that, I still endorse him for Congress," the mayor said.
So whose side is Ald. Jackson taking?
"I support them both," she said. "I know it's a tightrope. I'm walking a tightrope for sure."
Ald. Jackson said she would like to bring her husband and the mayor in together on the project.
Rep. Jackson said last month that he plans to hold a "people's groundbreaking" ceremony at the proposed airport site in Peotone on April 21. But he said for now, the groundbreaking will be purely ceremonial, as he has yet to win a deal with Gov. Pat Quinn to lease the land.
