Richard M. Daley
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Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is a United States politician, powerful member of the national and local Democratic Party and current mayor of Chicago, Illinois. He was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999 and 2003. If he is re-elected, Mayor Daley will break his father's record as longest-serving Chicago mayor on December 25, 2010.
Chosen by Time Magazine in its April 25, 2005 issue as the best mayor, out of five best mayors of large cities in the United States, Mayor Daley oversaw overwhelming revitalization and growth. He also served during a Chicago population boom, the first of its kind since 1950. His popularity is, however, marred by corruption investigations and other scandals involving his appointees. The Time article describes him as one of the most powerful mayors in the country, comparing his powers to those of an "emperor." http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1050214,00.html Part of that reputation comes from his leadership of a political machine similar to his father's.
Mayor Daley is married to Margaret Daley. They have four children: Nora, Patrick, Elizabeth and Kevin. Mayor Daley is brother to William M. Daley, former United States Secretary of Commerce under President Bill Clinton, and John P. Daley, an elected member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.
Beginnings
Daley is the fourth of seven children and eldest son of Richard J. Daley and Eleanor Daley, former mayor and first lady of Chicago. Originally from Bridgeport, a traditionally Irish-American neighborhood located southwest of the Chicago Loop, Daley graduated from De La Salle Academy and obtained his bachelor's degree and juris doctorate from DePaul University.
Daley was elected to his first public office as delegate to the 1969 Illinois Constitutional Convention. That experience propelled him into the Illinois Senate, serving from 1972 to 1980. He left Springfield to become Cook County State's Attorney, serving from 1980 to 1989. Daley's tenure as county prosecutor was interrupted in 1983 with his first mayoral campaign, losing in a three-way primary against Congressman Harold Washington and incumbent Jane Byrne.
The winner of that race and a subsequent reelection, Mayor Washington died in office of a heart attack on November 25, 1987. The Chicago City Council elected an interim mayor, David Duvall Orr, who served from the day of Mayor Washington's death to December 2, 1987. As Mayor Orr stepped down, Eugene Sawyer became interim mayor, with a provision that a special election be created to permanently fill the two-year remainder of Mayor Washington's second term.
Daley campaigned in a primary against interim Mayor Sawyer. Victorious, Daley moved on to the April 4, 1989 special general election against Aldermen Timothy C. Evans and Edward Vrdolyak. Daley finally took office as Mayor of Chicago on April 24, 1989.
Controversy
Daley has drawn attacks for his controversial closing of Meigs Field, an airport for small aircraft located on the Chicago lakefront, shortly after he was re-elected on February 25, 2003 for a fifth term with 79% of the vote in a four-candidate race. This involved him ordering the demolition of the runway in the darkness of night without approval from the city council and without giving the FAA prior notice. This illegal act resulted in the city being fined US$33,000 (the maximum then allowed by law) by the FAA.
The Hired Truck Program scandal has been damaging to Mayor Daley's administration. The "Hired Truck Program" involved hiring private trucks to do city work. A six-month investigation by the Chicago Sun-Times resulted in a three-day series of articles in January 2004 that revealed that some participating companies were being paid for doing little or no work, had mob connections or were tied to city employees. City employees were supposedly barred from the program. Truck owners also paid bribes in order to get into the program. The program was overhauled in 2004 (and phased out beginning in 2005).["Clout on Wheels"] Steve Warmbir and Tim Novak, Chicago Sun-Times, January 2004.
In February 2005, Daley denied complicity in the unfolding scandal saying, "Anyone who believes that my interest in public life is in enriching my family, friends or political supporters doesn't know or understand me at all. My reputation and the well-being of this city are more important to me than any election."["Clout on Wheels: Daley dumps Hired Truck Program"] Fran Spielman, Chicago Sun-Times, February 9, 2005.
The Sun-Times special report showed that 25 percent of all Hired Truck money went to companies from Daley's 11th Ward power base and $108,575 in campaign contributions flowed to the mayor from companies in the program beginning in 1996. Additional reporting by the Sun-Times revealed that the Mayor's brother, Cook County Commissioner John Daley, sold insurance to three major trucking companies.
In February 2006, John Briatta, whose sister is married to John Daley, pleaded guilty to taking at least $5,400 in bribes to steer Hired Truck work to a trucking company.
The litany of cases of bribery grew to include former City Clerk James Laski, who pleaded guilty to taking bribes in return for steering Hired Truck business to friends.
It was also revealed that tons of asphalt paid for by the city were stolen by truck drivers in the Hired Truck program. The asphalt was then used on private jobs.
The scandal eventually sparked a Federal investigation into hiring practices at Chicago City Hall, with Robert Sorich, Mayor Daley's former patronage chief, facing mail fraud charges for allegedly rigging city hiring to favor people with political connections. On July 5, 2006, Sorich was convicted on two counts of mail fraud for rigging city jobs and promotions.["Daley jobs chief guilty"] Rudolph Bush and Dan Mihalopoulos, Chicago Tribune, July 6, 2006. Daley said that "It is fair criticism to say I should have exercised greater oversight to ensure that every worker the city hired, regardless of who recommended them, was qualified and that proper procedures were always followed."["Daley says 'should have exercised greater oversight'"] Gary Washburn, Chicago Tribune, July 10, 2006.
Influence
Although support for Daley is no longer as deep as it once was, it has grown considerably wider. Daley's election in 1989 can be attributed largely to his pluralities in wards on the city's Northwest and Southwest Sides, generally the more conservative areas of the city. In 1989, Daley's pluralities in his 15 highest vote-getting wards (out of 50) accounted for 264% of his citywide plurality. This means that support for Daley was incredibly concentrated in these wards. In 2003, Daley's pluralities in his top 15 wards accounted for just 57% of his city-wide plurality. This signifies much broader support. If support for Daley were uniformly distributed throughout the city's 50 wards, we would expect each set of 15 wards to deliver around 30% of Daley's total plurality (+/- a few percentage points due to population differences between wards).In the spring and summer of 2006, Richard Daley aggressively defended John Stroger, President of the Cook County Board, who suffered a stroke on March 14, 2006, just days before voters went to the polls. Stroger was re-elected despite the stroke. The Mayor sparred with journalists seeking information on Stroger and served as a bulwark as Stroger stayed out of public view and went through rehabilitation.
Doubts about Stroger's health persisted for weeks after the primary election, with Stroger's son, Todd Stroger, an alderman in Chicago, alternately staking his family's claim to a right to privacy and jockeying to succeed his father as County Board President. On June 30, 2006, John Stroger's family released a letter that allegedly was signed by Stroger announcing the Board President would resign on July 31, 2006. On July 5, 2006, John Daley, who had been a candidate to become interim Board President, said he would not seek the position because a racial controversey had erupted. John Stroger was the first African-American to hold the position. Other black politicians in the county felt the position should stay in Black hands.["John Daley won't seek to fill Stroger vacancy"] Mickey Ciokajlo and Gary Washburn, Chicago Tribune, July 6, 2006.
Current events
On November 30, 2004, Daley's son Patrick announced that he has joined the U.S. Army as an enlistee. Patrick is Daley's only living son. His second son, Kevin, was 33 months old when he died of complications of spina bifida in 1981.
Mayor Daley is a tireless supporter of gun control, with a de facto ban on handguns in Chicago http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=1&RecNum=4591.
Announcing the goal of making Chicago the "greenest city in America" Mayor Daley is helping create initiatives to increase green roof usage within the city. Chicago City Hall's own rooftop, completed in 2001, being a pilot of that program.
Having successfully lured Gay Games VII away from Montréal to Chicago in 2006, one of Mayor Daley's largest projects is a Chicago 2016 Olympic bid. As its most visible and most enthusiastic cheerleader, the project's success hinges on his reelection in 2007.
Reference
External links
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