Byrne Opens Drive, Says Mayor Brought Chicago to a Halt

Jane M. Byrne, Chicago’s first woman mayor, opened her 1987 election campaign Wednesday with an attack on Mayor Harold Washington, the first black mayor, accusing him of bringing “the city that works” to a halt.

“I look around this city and I see no progress,” Byrne told a news conference held outside the padlocked city-owned Navy Pier, which she said symbolized the incumbent mayor’s first two years in office. “Programs have come to a halt in this city,” said Byrne, who lost her reelection bid in 1983 to Washington. “Meanwhile, people are suffering and the city is suffering.”