We hear that former Alderman Irene J. Smith is, once again, planning to challenge Mayor Francis Slay, and may make an announcement soon.

In 2005, an under-funded Smith did manage to get more than 10,000 votes, but the election was never in doubt.

This year, if Smith does indeed decide to run again, she’ll be at an even greater disadvantage, from both a money and organizational prospective — with his City Hall chief of staff, Jeff Rainford, taking leave to run the helm of the campaign, Slay has piled up the large donations.

Four years ago, Smith was also hamstrung by lukewarm support in the African-American community. For better or worse, Smith had a hard time moving past memories of how she maintained a filibuster in 2001.