John Pope is a former alderman of the 10th Ward of the City of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. He was first elected in 1999 and served four terms, the last of which ended in 2015 when he lost an election to Alderman

Susan Sadlowski Garza Susan Sadlowski Garza is a member of the Chicago City Council serving as Alderman for the 10th ward. The 10th ward is located on Chicago's southeast side and includes East Side, Hegewisch, Jeffrey Manor, South Chicago and South Deering So ...

in 2015.

Early life

A lifelong resident of the 10th Ward, Pope attended Mount Carmel High School. He earned his undergraduate degree in Economics, from

Wabash College Wabash College is a private liberal arts men's college in Crawfordsville, Indiana. Founded in 1832 by several Dartmouth College graduates and Midwestern leaders, it enrolls nearly 900 students. The college offers an undergraduate liberal arts cur ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

Career

Pope worked for several years in Chicago’s budget department, serving also as Director of Demolition in the Building Department and Director of Conservation, before later joining Mayor

Richard M. Daley Richard Michael Daley (born April 24, 1942) is an American politician who served as the 54th mayor of Chicago, Illinois, from 1989 to 2011. Daley was elected mayor in 1989 and was reelected five times until declining to run for a seventh term ...

’s staff as Daley's assistant.

Aldermanic career

Pope was first elected in 1999 after defeating business owner Robert Wisz to succeed the retiring John Buchanan. Pope was elected to his second term in 2003, when he ran unopposed, and again in 2007. He was again reelected in 2011. Pope lost reelection to Susie Sadlowski Garza in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. As an alderman, Pope served on a number of committees: Buildings; Economic & Capital Development; Energy, Environmental Protection and Public Utilities; Housing and Real Estate; and Police and Fire. In January 2008, Pope hired a former Streets and Sanitation worker, using a payroll account available to aldermen with no scrutiny, who was on a list of employees who should not be re-hired, as he had resigned after the city recommended firing him for allegations of sexually harassing a co-worker. Pope defended the hiring, explaining that the worker had resigned without admitting guilt and that he was a hard worker with knowledge about the area. Pope also hired the mother of Al Sánchez, leader of the

Hispanic Democratic Organization The Hispanic Democratic Organization (HDO) was a political action committee (PAC) officially started in 1993. History HDO was created by Tim Degnan, Victor Reyes, and Al Sanchez in 1993 to assist Richard M. Daley win his first mayoral election. ...

which helped get Pope elected. Sánchez was a former Commissioner of the City of Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation who in 2008 had been convicted for rigging city hiring so that Mayor Daley's supporters would be rewarded.

Post-aldermanic career

In August 2015, mayor

Rahm Emanuel Rahm Israel Emanuel (; born November 29, 1959) is an American politician and diplomat who is the current United States Ambassador to Japan. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served two terms as the 55th Mayor of Chicago from 2011 ...

appointed Pope as a deputy commissioner in the city's Department of Water Management.

References

External links

City of Chicago
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pope, John (Alderman) Chicago City Council members Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Wabash College alumni