chicago<u+2014>a year ago, chicago mayor<u+00a0>rahm<u+00a0>emanuel was facing one of the toughest stretches in his long political career. now, even as the city is experiencing a homicide rate not seen in over a decade and trust remains low among african-americans, there are emerging signs of progress. protests following the court-ordered release of a video last year showing a white police officer shooting a black teenager 16 times in 2014 shut down the city<u+2019>s magnificent mile shopping district on black<u+00a0>friday and led to calls for him to step down. the nation<u+2019>s third-largest city was facing a huge pension liability and crumbling credit ratings. hillary clinton <u+2019>s campaign team, in stolen personal emails released by wikileaks, urged the presidential candidate to distance herself from the mayor, a former chief of staff to president barack obama and senior white house adviser during her husband<u+2019>s presidency. but in recent months, mr. emanuel, a famously fit<u+2014> and profane <u+2014>56-year-old democrat who was re-elected to a second four-year term in 2015, has zigzagged across the city with a series of moves that are beginning to reverse his political fortunes. <u+201c>it is fair to say he<u+2019>s made something of a comeback,<u+201d> said dick simpson, a former city alderman and professor of political science at the university of illinois at chicago, who supported mr. emanuel<u+2019>s democratic opponent in the last election. credit-rating firms raised chicago<u+2019>s credit outlook from negative to stable in recent months after mr. emanuel pushed through a series of fee increases to shore up the city<u+2019>s creaky pensions. he staved off a potential teachers<u+2019> strike in october after negotiations on contracts ran until<u+00a0>midnight. but perhaps most significantly, mr. emanuel has spearheaded a wide-ranging and unprecedented overhaul of the historically change-averse chicago police department, including how police wrongdoing is handled and changing recruitment practices to expand its racial diversity. the video <u+201c>revealed a truth, and when you have a truth, the best thing to do is to confront it and address it,<u+201d> said mr. emanuel in a news conference<u+00a0>on tuesday. a year after the release of the video, he said, <u+201c>look at what we<u+2019>ve done ... as a snapshot. we are determined to see this all the way through.<u+201d> mr. emanuel<u+2019>s approval ratings have jumped to 42% from a low of 27% last year. experts say he is making fast progress in public opinion and support, particularly from the business community, which credits him with bringing high-technology businesses to the city and attracting major companies. mcdonald<u+2019>s corp. recently announced plans to relocate its headquarters here. on a recent tour of the newly opened riverwalk, a pedestrian path that hugs the chicago river, with mayor of london sadiq khan, mr. emanuel greeted chicagoans, high-fived police officers and made cooing noises at a baby whose excited father said he will <u+201c>tell her that she met [the mayor] when she<u+2019>s old enough.<u+201d> but the mayor has yet to win back the trust in the black community, which helped elect him. murders in chicago have surged 55% from this time last year, with homicides on pace to reach levels not seen since the 1990s. and in part because of a lack of trust in chicago institutions<u+2014>from the mayor to the police<u+2014> the city<u+2019>s homicide-clearance , or cases-solved, rate has plunged to 20%. <u+201c>the mayor was complicit in a first-degree murder crime, and now he<u+2019>s going to reform the city? give me a break,<u+201d> said frank chapman, a field organizer with the chicago alliance against racist and political repression, referring to the death of laquan mcdonald, the teenager shot in the video that sparked last year<u+2019>s protests. activists staged another black friday protest on michigan avenue this year to push for further police accountability and overhauls. about 100 people cheered as activists called for mr. emanuel to leave office, and marched past blocks of luxury stores. mr. emanuel has pushed for more stringent gun controls and for mentoring programs in some of the city<u+2019>s most violent neighborhoods so children there won<u+2019>t be tempted by gang life. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m proud of the reforms we<u+2019>re making, [but] that is not enough, and there are some other questions that need to be asked and answered<u+201d> on why teenagers have such easy access to guns, he said. mr. emanuel moved forward the opening of a city-backed whole foods in one of chicago<u+2019>s poorest and most violent neighborhoods, winning the support of some residents there. the city recently passed $3.7 billion operating budget that includes funds to hire nearly 1,000 new police, a move the mayor hopes will prove his commitment to controlling gun violence. with republican donald trump set to take over in washington, mr. emanuel<u+2014>like other mayors of democratic cities<u+2014>finds himself in a position to champion progressive causes and launch a comeback for the party that once considered him a liability. he has pledged to continue to shelter undocumented immigrants in his city, despite threats from mr. trump to block federal funding to <u+201c>sanctuary cities<u+201d> like chicago. <u+201c>if he continues to do things like he did with sanctuary cities<u+2014>defending chicago and opposing trump policies<u+2014>that will probably increase his popularity,<u+201d> added mr. simpson. even with a largely democratic state legislature, mr. emanuel faces pushback for his reforms from republican governor bruce rauner, who has frequently opposed his policies, including tax increases to fund pensions and other programs. while various groups praise mr. emanuel for responding to their demands, they acknowledge that the political environment may be getting more difficult for him without a friend in the white house and will keep pushing him for further change. the chicago teachers union, for example, credits mr. emanuel for meeting their demands over a fairer contract, but jesse sharkey, the group<u+2019>s vice president, said it will <u+201c>continue to oppose<u+201d> the mayor if he pushes for austerity measures including more school closures or reduced pensions. <u+201c>the political environment, including on the state level, is becoming more right wing, but on the other hand, the gap between what [mr. emanuel] is offering and what people and the unions feel they need is growing,<u+201d> mr. sharkey. write to shibani mahtani at shibani.mahtani@wsj.com
chicago<u+2019>s rahm emanuel makes strides after shooting protests - wsj
shibani mahtani