Amidst the city and state’s ever-increasing reputation for political corruption, Mayor Richard Daley’s plummeting approval ratings and his wife’s poor health, it isn’t a surprise that Daley recently announced he is stepping down. Nonetheless, the announcement was a shock.

It is time for a fresh face. Chicago needs a mayor and city council who work from the inside out, rather than putting the city’s national and international reputation above the reputation it has with its own citizens. We don’t want a mayor who will use an Olympic bid as an excuse to propose plans to improve transportation and prevent crime; we want a mayor who uses the plan results to present an Olympic bid.

The next mayor should make reducing crime a top priority. Chicago’s now defunct handgun ban was clearly not preventing shootings, but the same can be said for nearly every other anti-crime measure taken by the city to date.  Although violent crimes in Chicago have decreased overall in the past decade—with homicides down 29 percent—Chicago consistently remains more dangerous than New York City or Los Angeles based on the crime ratio to population.

We also want the next mayor to have a strong proposal for improving the most desperate Chicago Public Schools. Daley introduced several school reforms during his years in office, many of which had an impact, but the toughest schools in the district have failed to show improvements.

Mayoral candidates should not come from within Daley’s inner circle or make any attempt to follow in his footsteps. We want an election that promises reform and then delivers. If City Hall politics interfere, we will end up with another plight like Harold Washington’s—a mayor full of incredible ideas for improvement, but whose proposals were repeatedly blocked by City Council members under the influence of outside parties and political schemers.

It is time to move past the politics City Hall has been pressured by for so long and focus on the politics Chicago’s

residents need.