Office of the City Clerk - Record #: R2014-445

• Record #: R2014-445
• Type: Resolution
• Status: Adopted
• Intro date: 6/25/2014
• Current Controlling Legislative Body: Committee on Finance
• Final action: 7/30/2014
• Title: Call for renaming of plaza where Old Chicago Water Tower structure is located as "Jane M. Byrne Plaza"
• Sponsors: Burke, Edward M., Tunney, Thomas, Austin, Carrie M., Harris, Michelle A., Lane, Lona, Hairston, Leslie A., Thompson, JoAnn, O'Connor, Mary, Foulkes, Toni, Cullerton, Timothy M., Colón, Rey, Suarez, Regner Ray, Sawyer, Roderick T., Burnett, Jr., Walter, Fioretti, Bob, Pope, John, Mitts, Emma, Sposato, Nicholas, Laurino, Margaret, Pawar, Ameya, Mendoza, Susana A., Maldonado, Roberto, Moreno, Proco Joe, Quinn, Marty, Balcer, James, O'Shea, Matthew J., Holmes, Natashia, Graham, Deborah L.
• Topic: CITY COUNCIL - Miscellaneous

Date	Journal Page Number	Action By	Action	Result
7/30/2014	84578	City Council	Adopted	Pass
7/29/2014		Committee on Finance	Recommended to Pass	Pass
6/25/2014	84433	City Council	Referred

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WHEREAS, Jane Margaret Burke was born in Chicago on May 24, 1934 to Edward and '

Katherine Burke; and      c-W<-       ^ 0

WHEREAS, in 1956, she married William P. Byrne, a U.S. Marine aviator, who was killed in a plane crash in 1959; and

WHEREAS, in 1978, Jane M. Byrne married Jay McMullen, to whom she remained wed until his death on March 18, 1992; and

WHEREAS, in 1968 Jane M. Byrne was appointed commissioner of the Department of Consumer Sales, Weights, and Measures by Mayor Richard J. Daley and thus became the first woman cabinet member in the history ofthe city; and

WHEREAS, in April of 1979, Jane M. Byrne became the first woman elected mayor of Chicago, receiving 82 percent of the vote over Republican Wallace Johnson; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Jane M. Byrne began the expansion of O'Hare International Airport, which' is largely recognized as one of her most important achievements; and

WHEREAS, the Taste of Chicago began during Jane M. Byrne's tenure as Mayor, as did ^ announcement of the Orange Line project and the opening of a rapid transit extension to O'Hare ,        International Airport; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Jane M. Byrne had a vision for the redevelopment of Navy Pier and the creation of the Museum Campus; and ⁰

WHEREAS, Mayor Jane M. Byrne attracted national publicity and increased her popularity , l\among Chicagoans by moving into the Cabrini Green public housing project in 1981, thereby 2>^!&yfawing attention to the deteriorated public housing conditions and helping to improve city services to the area; and

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/Vy        WHEREAS, Mayor Jane M. Byrne was the first Chicago mayor to proclaim "Gay Pride Parade Day in Chicago," which was first designated on June 28, 1981; and

M. Byrne in order to ensure that the legacy of our city's/firsF>woman mayorjwtH' never be

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n tb€ west side med the "Jane ymbol of the >-) residents

WHEREAS, the City of Chicago intends to designate a suitable commemoration to honor Jane M. Byrne in order to e forgotten; now, therefore

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BE IT RESOLVED, that the plaza on which the Old Chicag of Michigan Avenue between Chicago Avenue and Peal's^n'Street, is M. Byrne Plaza" in recognition of the achievements or¹ Jane M.-T-Fyrne, esteem in which Jane M. Byrne_js held bv_J:he Mayor icago.       Jknf S~

Burke, MderrnarffM'

 

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