Emanuel picks Claypool to run CTA

Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel is working quickly to assemble his new administration, naming top transportation officials on Tuesday that included the new Chicago Transit Authority president.

Emanuel named former Cook County Commissioner Forrest Claypool as president of the CTA, the sprawling agency that runs Chicago's buses and trains. The agency Claypool will take over has been plagued by money problems in recent years and has had to make service cuts.

Claypool has a reputation for being a reformer. A Democrat, he recently made an independent bid for Cook County assessor, although he ultimately lost the race to the Democratic Party candidate.

Emanuel defended picking Claypool, who also has served as the Chicago Park District superintendent, rather than hiring a professional transportation manager to run the CTA. Emanuel said Claypool didn't have any prior experience running parks either but did a great job.

"That is what public service is about. It's bringing innovation, creativity, a sense of commitment to what the mission is and that is why I selected him," Emanuel said at a busy downtown train station where he made the announcement

Claypool also has served as chief of staff to retiring Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, who didn't seek a seventh term. Emanuel, the former White House chief of staff to President Barack Obama, easily won the February election and will be sworn in to office May 16.

Emanuel said he has asked current CTA president Richard Rodriguez to maybe serve in other parts of his administration.

"It's not an either or in my view and it's not just for change sake, but it's to make sure that we have the type of cutting edge direction and a new sense of energy to the type of work we're doing," Emanuel said.

Emanuel also announced he would keep on Terry Peterson, a Daley loyalist, as chairman of the CTA board. The mayor-elect also named Gabe Klein as the new Chicago Department of Transportation commissioner. He worked in Washington, D.C., as director of the District Department of Transportation.