* Mayor Daley dodged questions last Thursday about how hundreds of vacancies at the Chicago Police Dept. may be impacting the city’s horrible crime problem…

A broadcast journalist mentioned the Tribune story [regarding the vacancies] to him, and Daley replied: “I know, don’t worry. Tomorrow, we’ll be there. OK, thank you.”

* Hizzoner made no comments about the matter on Friday, but he did have something to say about the topic on Saturday…

“No, no,” said Daley when asked about the lack of new hires and the impact on safety. When pressed, Daley bristled and said, “It just won’t.”

It just won’t.

Nice explanation, mayor.

* More from Saturday…

Mayor Richard Daley says his administration is working on hiring more Chicago police officers but offered no time frame for the positions.

Just trust him. Magic money will certainly appear.

* A recent Rasmussen Reports poll asked respondents whether they believed Chicago was a safe place to live.

This was a statewide poll, but a plurality, 42-33, believed the city was safe. 25 percent were unsure. Even a plurality of self-identified conservatives thought the city was a safe place to live by a 38-35 margin. Just shy of a majority of liberals said it was safe, 48-37. 42 percent of males and females thought it was safe.

The racial disparity, however, was huge.

42 percent of whites thought the city was a safe place to live, while 30 percent said it wasn’t.

But just 18 percent of African-Americans surveyed said Chicago was a safe place to live and a large majority, 59 percent, said it wasn’t safe.

63 percent of those making over $100K a year thought the city was safe, while just 25 percent of those making $20K-$40K said it was safe.

Not surprising, of course, but definitely food for thought. For all its progress, Chicago is still a sharply divided town when it comes to standard of living.

Daley needs to stop stonewalling on this police vacancy situation, own up to the mess and get something done.