CHICAGO (CBS) — Mayor Emanuel says he’s accepting online applications for a successor to Sandi Jackson as alderman of the 7th Ward, but the wife of former Congressman Jesse Jackson Jr. has her own ideas.
Sandi Jackson resigned recently to deal with her husband’s health and legal problems.
In a farewell to friends and supporters this week, she said she essentially will hand-pick her successor. Sun Times columnist Mary Mitchell reports media were barred from the meeting but the paper obtained a recording of her remarks.
Mitchell says Jackson all but declared her chief-of-staff, Keiana Barrett, as her successor.
“Mayor Rahm may say he wants to have interviews,” she said. “The people he will interview will be the people I am suggesting.”
Barrett’s name had emerged as a possible replacement until it turned out she doesn’t live in the 7th Ward, but Jackson predicted that issue would be resolved.
