Edmund Kelly accepted defeat and announced his resignation as general superintendent of the Chicago Park District Sunday, but not without fighting words that hinted of battles to come.
”I don`t get angry,” he said at a news conference that resembled a political rally in the Welles Park field house where he began his park district career 39 years ago. ”I get even.”
Kelly is leaving open the possibility of running for mayor in 1987 but has not decided on which ticket he would challenge Mayor Harold Washington if he made such a bid, according to sources close to Kelly.
”You never say never in politics,” Kelly said, fielding questions about a mayoral bid at the news conference. ”I think down the road the political leaders, the Democratic political leaders in the City of Chicago will make that decision.”
The mayor`s appointees to the board helped orchestrate a park reorganization last month that stripped Kelly of the power he had held as superintendent for the last 13 years.
Kelly, committeeman for what is sometimes called the Fightin` 47th Ward, is expected to be among leaders of a drive to place a referendum for nonpartisan mayoral elections on the November ballot. He will meet with North Side Democratic committeemen this week to discuss the proposed rule changes, which are considered detrimental to Washington`s chances for re-election.
Among Kelly`s political options are running for mayor in a nonpartisan election if the referendum passes, running as a Democrat or switching parties and running as a Republican, according to sources close to Kelly. Kelly also has remained close to former Mayor Jane Byrne and may help her campaign.
Kelly said Sunday evening that he has been offered several nonpolitical jobs in Chicago, New York City and California, including two in sports and several in business. He will turn in his resignation Monday, effective Aug. 8 because of vacation time he said he is owed.
At the news conference that ended a period of seclusion by Kelly, he denied that he had tried to negotiate a buyout of his four-year contract. He also said that the only money he will receive will be his park district pension.
Park district sources indicate that Kelly`s pension will be about $60,000 a year. He was in the first year of a four-year contract and was making $85,000 annually.
His announcement before more than 100 cheering Kelly partisans ends a month of controversy that followed the park board`s decision to install a Washington ally, Jesse Madison, as executive vice president of Chicago parks. The board granted control previously enjoyed by Kelly to Madison in the new position.
An attempt by some state legislators to overrule the maneuver failed in the waning days of the spring session of the Illinois General Assembly. Kelly and his loyalists on the board challenged the park board`s move in court and lost.
Kelly last week added another chapter to Chicago`s bizarre political history by charging in an unsigned letter that Madison had authorized a locksmith ”to break into my office and change the office locks.” After the Sunday press conference, Kelly said he stood by the accusations, which Madison has denied.
”Since it is my sincere desire that the park district continue to thrive and flourish without further conflict, I cannot remain general superintendent and allow attention to focus only on political and administrative differences, nor will I remain general superintendent in name only,” Kelly told his supporters, many of whom wore ”Ed Kelly for Mayor” buttons.
”The fight is over when they take your responsibilities away from you,” he said.
Madison, who spoke later at a South Loop park, called Kelly`s resignation ”a changing of the guard.” He and park board President Walter Netsch, a Washington appointee, refrained from criticizing Kelly`s regime.
”Needless to say, I think this solves a long-term debate about the power in the park district,” Netsch said. ”Let`s let the whole thing go. Let`s not continue the debate. Let`s let the record stand, and let`s let our future record stand.”
Netsch said there would be no immediate replacement for Kelly as general superintendent.
”I think he made the right decision, and I wish him well,” Madison said.
Kelly, 61, was not without his share of critics during his tenure as superintendent. He was named acting superintendent in 1972 and took over in 1973.
Critics charged Kelly had made the park district a patronage haven, with its 5,897 employees that included 4,547 temporary employees. Critics said the park district lacked professional leadership and long-range planning and was top-heavy with administrators.
A U.S. Justice Department suit in 1982 charged the park district with systematically shortchanging black and Hispanic neighborhoods by providing them fewer parks and services. In a 1983 consent decree, the park district agreed to spend more money in minority neighborhoods, though never admitting to the discrimination.
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Kelly described the park district Sunday as a ”labor of love” and ”the number one park system in the United States,” even though the district under Kelly never achieved a gold medal from the National Recreation and Park Association, the mark of excellence in the field.
He said the park district earned $25 million in revenue beyond taxes collected, and he said there had been a reduction in full-time employees. He denied that the park system had become a ”patronage army” of thousands of workers who met the test of political loyalty.
”During my tenure as general superintendent, the park district has never had a budget deficit, a strike or a layoff,” he said.
Plans, however, already are in the works to require civil service exams of all employees. Madison said he will continue to seek information in Kelly`s files about how the park district has been managed, including a charge of $37 million in unpaid water bills.
Kelly was often criticized by groups such as Friends of the Parks, an independent watchdog organization, but has retained his friends in high places despite the recent turmoil.
”Ed Kelly did a lot for the park system,” said Gov. James Thompson, a Republican. ”The parks were his life.”
”He`s a fighter, and for him to withdraw is a very rare thing,” said Atty. Gen. Neil Hartigan, a Democrat and former general counsel of Kelly`s park district. ”Ed Kelly`s decision is a reflection of the commitment and the love that he`s had for the parks all of his life.”
Madison offered another reason for Kelly`s resignation, saying that he was forced to ”save face” after engaging in a highly publicized battle against the new park leaders.
Said Kelly: ”I wouldn`t have taken $4 million to allow anyone to humiliate me.”