Amy Zeihen Quotes

So you keep raising these taxes, and all of a sudden the business community says, `Why are we here? We can go someplace else and use their phones.` That`s one of the problems that directly affects the business community.

There has been loss of steel manufacturing. Those people need jobs. Where you have to build the third airport is where people are. So you`re right; if his site isn`t playable, then our site is right next to it.

It has to be because unemployment problems in northwest Indiana are similar to those in southeast Chicago.

My dad came out of the Roosevelt era and the Depression. One person and one party made a difference in his life. That`s what everybody forgot when they called my father and other people political bosses.

People talked about my political skills. Remember, they said I could not speak and write and walk and all these things they were saying about me.

I`m one who demands a lot from people. I`m not afraid to look at alternative ways in city government. That`s what I`ve done in my two years and will continue to do in the next four.

Well, the problem of the federal government is that they print money and go in debt. That`s their national policy, Democrats and Republicans it doesn`t matter. And this is where I differ.

I enjoy getting things done. My philosophy is the edge, the edge of something. There`s where we have to go in local government, in not only the philosophy but the creativity in people around you. They have to go to the edge.

Why do we do something like that? We need the city government and private sector contributing money for alternatives for them, not to step around.

So that for the year 2000, the third airport is the whole key to the future of the metropolitan area. Otherwise, there`s no growth.

And then for the first time in history a Cook County state`s attorney was reelected for a third time.

I`m the one who gets called up about a problem. I`m the one who gets called up about the street lighting and the abandoned car. I`m the one who gets blamed if the police don`t arrive. I`m the one they blame if a city truck is broken down.

That`s what I want as managers and people around me in government, and that`s what I think I`m trying to provide. That`s what I`m trying to do.

They knew that Roosevelt and the Democratic party made a difference on them, on their quality of life issues, and they believed in that. But today it is completely different.

That area environmentally is a waste. You can`t do anything. I don`t care if the Sierra Club goes out there. It is fully polluted! You`re not only going to work to clean up the environment, but also you will put people to work.

People have to be confident about their sites. We`re confident, number one, because under my administration we`re managing our airports better than we`ve ever done before.

I believe the way I describe the problems in Chicago is that it`s a metropolitan area. I`ve said that everywhere. The uneducated child is not just my problem, it`s the state`s problem. It`s also the federal government`s problem.

I think the state has some serious problems. Just look at the layoffs going on across the state, not just in Chicago. It affects the middle class. It pushes people down.

Let`s see, in the last 11 years I ran twice in `80, once in `83, twice in `84, twice in `88, twice in `89 and twice in `91. Eleven times.

I don`t fight the suburban areas or collar counties. I get along with them; they`re former Chicagoans anyway.

Chicago is not separate or independent from the state of Illinois. We have major corporations here. Look at our business community.

Alcohol and drug addiction are problems, and we should use outside agencies that know the business. They do business all over the country. Why don`t we contract them to do it? See, we should be in certain businesses.

And the political system is changing rapidly in this country, and we better realize that. The elephants or donkeys are not what younger people look to. They look at individual candidates` philosophy, and I think it`s a different time and a different generation.

They really do a disservice because these men and women came out of the Depression, they came out of the war.

I just enjoyed it, but I knew at the time that eventually I would make the decision whether I was going to be staying in public office or leaving it.

The city needs the state; the state needs the city. Look at the downtown hub and what it means to the economy for not only the city of Chicago.

That`s an economic development program in the metropolitan area. If they don`t see that, and you don`t get these things done, then you`re competing with Texas and California and Atlanta; then you really have problems.

Why should a city be mandated to do something by the federal government or state government without the money to do it?

We are going to sign a treaty with Mexico. We are competing internationally. We need another international airport for international cargo, international travel, international businesses.

First National Bank laid off 1,000 people; where do they go? There are no jobs for them. So we are having serious economic problems in this country. We are in a real economic crisis.

You go out there and ask them what their future is today. If we don`t build that today, there`s nothing.

Once I won state`s attorney, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Then I ran for mayor, and I lost, but I got lucky the second time, of course.

We also need people like social workers, volunteers, the Christian Industrial League, drug treatment programs to make sure you are getting them a job. That`s what you have to do. Otherwise, we just keep stepping around these things.

You have nothing coming into a major metropolitan area to relocate or locate your business and employees. And you can go across the country and you`ll see that.