…improving Chicago has been the ongoing work of my life and I have loved every minute of it. There has been no greater privilege or honor than serving as your mayor.

Working alongside seasoned professionals, incredibly committed business and community leaders, and some of the most dedicated public employees you will ever expect, I have had the opportunity to expand, to build, to create, unite and compromise for the betterment of Chicago.

I am deeply grateful to the people of this city, more grateful than I can fully express.  I have given it my all. I have done the best.

Now, I am ready with my family to begin the new phase of our lives. In the coming days,  I know there will be some reflecting on my time as mayor. Many of you will search to find what’s behind my decision. It’s simple. 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. The truth is that I’ve been thinking about this for the last several months. And in the last several weeks, I’ve been increasingly comfortable with my decision. It just feels right.

For the next seven months, I assure you I will work as hard as I have for the past 21 years, for all the people of Chicago.

Daley, 68,  spoke for less than five minutes and took no questions

His retirement comes in the midst of a record $655 million budget shortfall. Last month, the mayor said he’s looking at hiring private firms to take over more city functions, including potentially running the Taste of Chicago, as a way to cut costs.

Daley has been running out of options.  He raised property taxes in 2007, sold off parking meters and raised fees in 2008 and spent reserves last year. The mayor assured Chicagoans late last month that he won’t be increasing taxes or fees or auctioning off more city assets.

The mayor joined the ranks of at least a half-dozen aldermen who already have said they won’t seek re-election next year.

Daley’s wife, Maggie, is currently battling cancer. In March, she underwent surgery to strengthen a leg damaged by cancer and the resulting treatment.

Chicago’s first lady has been battling metastatic breast cancer since 2002. In December, Daley announced his wife would use a wheelchair to get around while undergoing radiation treatment for a cancerous bone tumor on her right leg.

Daley was first elected mayor in 1989 after losing the race in 1983. The mayor easily won re-election ever since, always with little to no opposition.

But Daley’s public approval rating has been tanking recently, with a Tribune poll earlier this summer showing that more than half of Chicago voters said they don’t want to see him re-elected.

The poll showed that only 37 percent of city voters approve of the job Daley is doing as mayor, compared with 47 percent who disapprove. Moreover, a record-low 31 percent said they want to see Daley re-elected, compared with 53 percent who don’t want him to win another term.

Daley has fallen out of favor with Chicagoans due to a rash of summer violence, a weak economy and a high-profile failure to land the 2016 Olympics. According to the survey, citizens are dissatisfied over Daley’s handling of the crime problem, his efforts to rein in government corruption and his backing of a controversial long-term parking meter system lease.

A few aldermen are investigating their potential as candidates, and some politicians with broader political bases have been glad to see their names tossed into the ring, but all have been reticent to challenge the second-generation mayor.

Don’t worry, good citizens of Chicago.  It’s Rahmbo to the rescue!

White House chief of Staff Rahm Emmanuel said  on PBS’ The Charlie Rose Show on Monday night that if Mayor Daley decides he will not seek re-election, he’d like to be there to fill his shoes: