CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — After 11 years in office, Michele Smith said it’s family matters, not political pressures, that will lead her to step away as alderwoman of Chicago’s 43rd Ward on Aug. 12.
Smith said she’s the youngest member of her generation in her family, with sisters in their eighties and other relatives in their nineties, and she needs to care for them.
“People who know me know that I’m generally 100% committed when I’m working, and when I say 100%, it’s 100%,” Smith said. “So, I just am at a point in my life where I need to spend time with the people I love.”
Smith said she’ll stay active in her Lincoln Park community.
“There are a few issues about which I care, which I won’t be able to stop myself from thinking of,” she said. “I have been very, very active advocating for open space and park space along the east bank of the Chicago River, and I’m going to continue to do that.”
As far as what Smith will miss most about the job: Input from the community, she said.
“As much as politicians make things happen, the truth is that every good idea — at least in my community — has started with the neighbors saying, ‘You know, we need this,’” she said.
For 11 years, it was her job to get it.
Smith said it’s now time for a new generation of leadership.
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