Mayor Daley has appointed another of his trusted political manager/fixers to become the next president of the the Board of Education. Mary Richardson-Lowry, a corporate lawyer from the power-house Mayer Brown Rowe & Maw law firm, served as a City Hall counsel and Daley-appointed building commissioner. She also led the transition team for then-incoming County Board President Todd Stroger. She brings with her, no background in public education except for the fact that (like Arne Duncan) her mother was a teacher.
According to Catalyst,
Richardson-Lowry left the building commissioner post days after an accident at the John Hancock Center, where scaffolding plunged more than 40 floors to the ground during a wind storm and killed three women. But a city spokesperson said Richardson-Lowry’s departure had nothing to do with the accident.Richardson-Lowry comes to a school board in the midst of a major scandal and her appointment will do little to change CPS image as an annex of City Hall, rife with corruption and patronage. The last two board presidents, Michael Scott (who committed suicide in November) and Rufus Williams, are the subject of investigations surrounding the misuse of funds. Daley's appointed schools CEO Ron Huberman recently revoked credit cards from 89 CPS bureaucrats. As one would expect, the current investigation is being carefully run by another Daley-appointed lawyer.
Richardson-Lowry's appointment should help keep a lid on the investigation and make sure that there's a firewall between it and the 5th floor of City Hall.
Interesting, but not necessarily connected to Richardson-Lowry--another former Mayer Brown law partner, Joseph Collins, was sentenced last week to seven years in prison for securities fraud.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thelawyer.com/former-mayer-brown-partner-gets-seven-years-for-refco-fraud/1003136.article
Don't even get me started on Mayer Brown. I used to work for them. The firm, among other things, represents the mining industry around the world, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo where men, women, and children are trafficked to mine diamonds, gold, and other materials and where the government has little power to regulate international companies -- like Mayer Brown -- who work with those industries.
ReplyDeleteAside from the credit card scandal there are two major public conflicts unfolding right now: Another round of school closings and take-overs, and the new regulations for admission to selective admission schools. Both of these issues have engendered immense public concern which Huberman has attempted to squelch through vague messages of reassurance.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment about Meyer Brown!
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