PORTAGE PARK (WBBM Newsradio) -- The former state lawmaker and Chicago City Clerk who is now Illinois' official CPA says she has the right skill set to serve as the city's next mayor, which she calls "the hardest job in Illinois."
"The city is at an inflection point," state Comptroller and mayoral candidate Susana Mendoza told WBBM Newsradio during a recent interview at a coffee shop in this northwest Chicago neighborhood, saying years of poor planning and dysfunctional leadership have brought the city to the fiscal brink. "We cannot afford to get it wrong a third time."
The former state lawmaker and Chicago City Clerk said her mix of legislative and management experience, most recently helping guide Illinois to 12 consecutive credit rating upgrades, makes her the ideal person to put the city back on track.
"I see taxpayer money as the embodiment of the hard work of my mom and dad," she said, emphasizing her history as the child of immigrants who settled in Little Village. "We deserve to show taxpayers that we can do more with less. Now notice, I didn't say we can do less ... with less."
Mendoza said one of her first priorities if she's elected would be to "pull back the curtain" on city spending to show taxpayers where their money is going: "This city is addicted to spending."
More than a dozen candidates are collecting signatures for February's mayoral election, including incumbent Mayor Brandon Johnson, who launched his re-election drive September 13.
State comptroller touts experience and "know-how"
State comptroller touts experience and "know-how"
