James Houlihan is an American politician who served as

Cook County assessor The Cook County Assessor is the assessor and county government officer of Cook County, Illinois. Office description Before the creation of the position of Cook County Assessor in 1932, the Cook County Board of Assessors completed assessments i ...

from 1997 to 2010 and as an Illinois state representative from 1973 to 1979.

Early life

Houlihan was born in 1942 or 1943. Houlihan was born and raised in the 19th Ward of Chicago on the far southwest side of Chicago.

Career

Houlihan was a protégé of

Thomas Hynes Thomas C. Hynes (November 5, 1938 – May 4, 2019) was a physics teacher who served as Cook County Assessor, President of the Illinois Senate, and 19th Ward Democratic Committeeman. Hynes was also a candidate for Mayor of Chicago in 1987. He was ...

, the

and 19th Ward

boss Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

. In the 1970s he was an independent-minded Illinois state representative, elected from a district located on the northern Chicago lakefront. He had ties to prominent

lakefront liberals Lakefront liberals is a voting bloc in the city of Chicago that was prominent in the 1970s and 1980s. Description Lakefront liberals are described as geographically residing along the lakefront of Chicago in neighborhoods such as Lake View and L ...

. He was elected in 1972, and reelected in 1974. However, in 1978, he was unseated in the Democratic primary. He served as a top aide to Chicago mayor

Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st Mayor of Chicago. Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city's mayor in April 1983. He served as may ...

. He then became a deputy assessor in Thomas Hynes'

office

Cook County Assessor

In March 1997, Thomas Hynes resigned from office after serving for 18 years as Cook County assessor. Houlihan was appointed by the Cook County Board of Commissioners to fill the office. Houlihan's appointment was championed by Hynes himself. Houlihan would be reelected in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

, 2002, and 2006. He opted not run for reelection in 2010. At the time he took office, residential properties were undervalued. Rather than remedying this, which would have led to higher taxes for many, and would be unpopular, he kept the rates artificially low, and even began to lower the rates for commercial and industrial properties. Houlihan so skewed residential values to artificially low values, that it uncalibrated the county's property tax system so severely that it may have been in violation of the

Constitution of Illinois The Constitution of the State of Illinois is the governing document of the state of Illinois. There have been four Illinois Constitutions; the fourth and current version was adopted in 1970. The current constitution is referred to as the "Constit ...

. Houlihan, over his tenure, defied legal requirements and operated outside of professional standards. During his tenure as assessor, Houlihan held a rivalry with

Cook County Board of Review The Cook County Board of Review is an independent office created by statute by the Illinois General Assembly and is governed by three commissioners who are elected by district for two- or four-year terms. Cook County, which includes Chicago, is th ...

member

Joseph Berrios Joseph "Joe" Berrios (born February 14, 1952) is a Democratic politician who was the Assessor and Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party of Cook County, Illinois, as well as a registered Illinois state government lobbyist. He was the firs ...

. In 2006, behind-the-scenes, Houlihan gave his support to Brendan Houlihan (of no relation) in his effort to unseat Maureen Murphy in the Cook County Board of Review 1st district, which was successful. Murphy had been an ally on the board of Joseph Berrios. In 2007, Houlihan spoke out against Michael Madigan's plan to cap property tax assessments, arguing that, compared to the stalled legislation supported by Houlihan, Madigan's legislation would save

Chicago Loop The Loop, one of Chicago's 77 designated community areas, is the central business district of the city and is the main section of Downtown Chicago. Home to Chicago's commercial core, it is the second largest commercial business district in Nort ...

skyscraper owners who were represented by Madigan's own law firm hundreds of thousands of dollars than they would owe under Houlihan's plan. In 2010, he accused Joseph Berrios and Michael Madigan of hiding information from taxpayers that could affect the November general election. In 2010, Houlihan said that he was considering running for mayor of Chicago in 2011. He ultimately did not run.

Later career

After leaving office, Houlihan went on to become a state

lobbyist In politics, lobbying, persuasion or interest representation is the act of lawfully attempting to influence the actions, policies, or decisions of government officials, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying, which ...

. Houlihan served on the

Commission on Chicago Landmarks The Commission on Chicago Landmarks, established in 1968 by a Chicago City Ordinance, is composed of nine members appointed by the Mayor and the Chicago City Council. It is responsible for presenting recommendations of individual buildings, sites, o ...

. His tenure on the commission ended in 2019.

Electoral history

Illinois State Representative

;1972 ;1974 ;1978

Cook County Assessor

;

; 2002 ; 2006

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Houlihan, James Cook County Assessors Politicians from Chicago Democratic Party members of the Illinois House of Representatives 1940s births Living people