EXCLUSIVE: Garry McCarthy calls out the mayor, demanding a one-on-one forum

Sneed exclusive . . .

Debate? Discussion? Pit brawl?

This is a humdinger.

Mayoral candidate Garry McCarthy is sending his nemesis, Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a special invitation he most likely will not accept.

Sneed has learned McCarthy, Chicago’s former top cop, is requesting the mayor participate with him in a one-on-one public forum to discuss crime and violence.

Although it’s a pretty safe bet Emanuel will send his regrets, McCarthy is adamant about his request.

“Look, this forum would be a way to discuss how we would fix this problem that is devastating our city,” McCarthy told Sneed.

“It would be public; it would be transparent. It could be a way to help stop people from dying in record numbers; and how to get back on track,” he said.

“I am challenging the mayor to meet me in the presence of the voters, to discuss our specific plans,” he said.

“Politics aside, I believe our violence-plagued communities deserve to hear some real solutions to this problem,” says McCarthy, who feels his input would be “offering my services as a consultant as a recognized expert nationally and internationally in crime reduction.”

“This would be a forum where we could have an opportunity to discuss real, workable solutions to the city’s dramatic wave of violent crime,” said McCarthy.

“Why wouldn’t he take that challenge? We can discuss his crime strategy and take questions and suggestions,” McCarthy added. “I will meet him any place and at any time so we can take questions and suggestions from the public.

“I think the time has arrived for this opportunity to openly discuss this issue that is rapidly engulfing our entire city.”

Citing last weekend’s violence headlines after 71 people were shot, 12 of them fatally, and how parts of Lake Shore Drive were shut down to accommodate a march against neighborhood violence, McCarthy told Sneed: “My credentials are easy to check; crime was down forty percent on my watch, which had the lowest murder rate in fifty years.

“These disruptive protests are pleas for help which have been ignored by the Emanuel administration.”

Hmmm.

Do I smell a whiff of politics?

Stay tuned.