Lightfoot continues Neighborhood Listening Tour ahead of inauguration day

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The historic inauguration of Chicago Mayor-Elect Lori Lightfoot is just days away.

Lightfoot spent Saturday gathering ideas from Chicagoans on a Neighborhood Listening Tour ahead of taking office.

"People all over the city, no matter where they live, they just want a decent life," Lightfoot said. "They want to be respected. They want to be heard. They want their neighborhoods to be safe."

Lightfoot began the tour in 2018 just days after she announced her candidacy for mayor. On Saturday, Lightfoot did a lot of listening and marched in Englewood alongside mothers who have lost loved ones to gun violence.

Among those mothers was Mary Long, whose only child, Eric, was shot and killed as he walked to his car from a restaurant in 2012.

"It's very important that the mayor is marching with us today, but we need more than protest," Long said. "We need a plan."

Since winning the election, Lightfoot has laid out some of what she sees as the city's most pressing problems, including segregation, gun violence and economic inequality.

"If she's the mayor of change, as she says, that means you change from the bottom up, not the top down" said Clifton McFowler of Build Chicago. "We need the resources and investment to come to my community, the South Austin area."

Lightfoot will replace Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who decided not to seek a third term in office. Emanuel, who sometimes had a strained relationship with Chicago's Black community, left the office for the last time on Friday.

"We've got to see what happens when she gets in office," said Chicago resident Joseph Williams. "We've got to see if she's going to give us that promise she put out there. At the end of the day, we have to give her a chance and see what happens."

Lightfoot finished up her public schedule for the weekend by visiting a Northwest Side church. She continues to promise to heal a city fractured by both violence and poverty.

Lightfoot will be sworn in as the 56th Mayor of Chicago on Monday. Live coverage of the inauguration begins at 10 a.m. Monday on ABC7, abc7chicago.com and our news app.