the parking meter lease proceeds, and received a standing ovation from aldermen. Daley declines to run for seventh term Daley's approval rating was at an all-time low of 35% by late 2009. On September 7, 2010, Daley announced that he would not seek a seventh term. "I've always believed that every person, especially public officials, must understand when it's time to move on. For me, that time is now," Daley said. On December 26, 2010, Daley surpassed his father as Chicago's longest-serving mayor. Daley chaired his final city council meeting on Wednesday morning, May 11, 2011. His term ended on May 16, 2011, and he was succeeded by Rahm Emanuel. Approval ratings Legacy Daley was supported by Chicago's traditionally Republican business community. He came under criticism for focusing city resources on the development of businesses downtown, the North, Near South, and Near West Sides, while neglecting neighborhoods in the other areas of the city; in particular the needs of low-income residents. According to Chicago Tribune columnist Steve Chapman, "Daley lasted 22 years in office partly because he resolved to ingratiate himself with black Chicagoans. He appointed blacks to high positions, stressed his commitment to provide services to all neighborhoods, tore down public housing projects, and pushed reform of the minority-dominated public schools." Daley focused on Chicago as a tourist destination as opposed to a manufacturing base, improved and expanded parkland, added flower planters along many primary streets, and oversaw the creation of Millennium Park on what had previously been an abandoned train yard. He spearheaded the conversion of Navy Pier into a popular tourist destination. Daley supported immigration reform, and green building initiatives, for which he was presented with an Honor Award from the National Building Museum in 2009 as a "visionary in sustainability." Chicago avoided some of the most severe economic contractions of other Midwest cities along the Great Lakes such as Detroit and Cleveland. Post-mayoral career Days after leaving office, the University of Chicago appointed Daley a "distinguished senior fellow" at the Harris School of Public Policy. The five-year, part-time appointment includes responsibility for coordinating a guest lecture series. Weeks after leaving office, Daley joined the international law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, one of the law firms to which he had awarded no-bid legal work as mayor. Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP had negotiated the city's much-criticized long-term lease of its parking meters, parking garages, and the Chicago