Thank you, Miguel del Valle

The Sergeant- at -arms presents the City Council gift.

Before we left Chicago I was fortunate enough to get a front and center seat at Mayor Richard M. Daley's last City Council meeting on May 4, 2011. Hizzoner actual stayed at the podium for the entire meeting -  an historical first.
 
There were the usual resolutions honoring Fire, Police and CPA standouts and the droning of the various ordinances and Eddie Burke's blah..blah..blah. Then the whole thing turned into a 2 hour love fest, not only for the departing Mayor, but also the Aldermen who were leaving because of retirement or losing a runoff election.
 
The Mayor also gave high praise to the outgoing City Clerk, my friend, Miguel del Valle. He has conducted his personal and public life with honor, integrity and a real desire to help young people achieve success through education. In the 30 plus years I have known him - I have witnessed the respect that he shows others even when the "others" are throwing bricks and not being civil. Today I salute him for bringing the Chicago City Council, kicking and screaming , into the 21st century in terms of technology. His redesign of the City Council website and its interactive nature -especially for the live streaming City Council meetings- allowed me to watch the new Mayor in action.

Last Wednesday, sitting in my PJs in Tucson, where it is two hours earlier, I was able to sip my tea and watch and listen to the first meeting conducted by newly inaugurated Mayor Rahm Emmanuel. In spite of several long resolutions for Police and Fire personnel and for the 30 plus Jr. ROTC scholars from the CPS high schools and, yes, the blah..blah..blah from the Finance Chairman - they managed to bring the meeting to an end in under two hours. I still think the new Mayor needs to make some improvements to the meetings and the new President Pro-Tem, Alderman Harris will help do that. She called the Chamber to order several times - something that is badly needed to curb the A.D.D. behavior of the body , mentioned in an earlier post

http://lynncrawfordsays.blogspot.com/2011/03/rahm-can-fix-it-city-council-meetings.html

For both his many years of honest public service and his opening the window into Chicago city government, my sincere thanks to Miguel del Valle.  I'm sure we will hear more from him in the future.

 Un abrazo, Miguel.