Thomas Michael Whalen III, also known as Tom Whalen, (January 6, 1934 – March 4, 2002) was an American attorney and politician, and a three-term mayor of

Albany, New York Albany ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of New York, also the seat and largest city of Albany County. Albany is on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River, and about north of New York City. ...

, serving from 1983 to 1993.Eric Pace, "Thomas M. Whalen III, 68, Three-Term Mayor of Albany," '' New York Times'', March 8, 2002, found a
New York Times Obituary
Accessed February 18, 2009. A native of Albany, he graduated from

Manhattan College Manhattan College is a private university, private, Catholic Church, Catholic, Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts university in the Bronx, New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the Institute of the Brothers of ...

and

Albany Law School Albany Law School is a private law school in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1851 and is the oldest independent law school in the nation. It is accredited by the American Bar Association and has an affiliation agreement with University at Al ...

Early life and education

Thomas Michael Whalen III was born to an ethnic Irish Catholic family in Albany in 1934. He attended Vincention Institute for elementary, middle and high school. He graduated from

in 1955 and

Career

After law school, Whalen joined the law firm of Cooper, Erving & Savage and went into private practice in Albany. He became interested in politics, joining the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa * Botswana Democratic Party * Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *De ...

. Whalen was elected as a city court judge and served from 1969 to 1975. He continue to take part in city government, including serving on the Albany Housing Authority and as chairman of the university council for the

State University of New York at Albany The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

. In 1981, as part of

Erastus Corning 2nd Erastus Corning 2nd (October 7, 1909 – May 28, 1983) was an American politician. A Democrat, Corning served as the 72nd mayor of Albany, New York from 1942 to 1983, when Albany County was controlled by one of the last classic urban political ...

's "Team for the Future", he was picked as his successor, and nominated and elected as President of the Albany Common Council. Whalen's election to the Common Council's presidency put him in position to ascend to the Mayor's Office in City Hall. Mayor Corning died in 1983 in Boston. In accordance with Albany's charter, Whalen, as Common Council President, ascended as Mayor. At that time, New York State Comptroller Ned Regan was preparing to impose a Financial Control Board over the City of Albany, which was struggling with debt due to a downturn in its economy and loss of jobs. Whalen quickly set about establishing proper financial controls so that Albany could maintain control over its own finances; in addition, he worked to strengthen the economy and attract new residents and businesses. By all accounts he was successful. Whalen served as a delegate to the 1984 Democratic National Convention. His administration encouraged the city's year-long Tricentennial celebration together with its business community. Among the project was restoration of the historic

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a keyboard and consists of at least 23 cast-bronze bells. The bells are hung in fixed suspension and tuned in chromatic order so that they can be sounded harmonio ...

Albany City Hall Albany City Hall is the seat of government of the city of Albany, New York, United States. It houses the office of the mayor, the Common Council chamber, the city and traffic courts, as well as other city services. The present building was desi ...

. Whalen served the balance of Corning's 11th term, and was elected in his own right in 1985. He won a second full term in 1989. He is credited with a variety of reforms in city government, including reducing patronage and the reach of the political machine that Corning had ruled for more than four decades. He retired from public office on December 31, 1993 after being recommended for the US federal bench by Senator

Daniel Patrick Moynihan Daniel Patrick Moynihan (March 16, 1927 – March 26, 2003) was an American politician, diplomat and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he represented New York in the United States Senate from 1977 until 2001 and served as an ...

of New York. Mayor Whalen withdrew his name from consideration after waiting over a year for Bill Clinton to officially back his nomination, not an uncommon circumstance. He then returned to the practice of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vari ...

and other endeavors, including teaching a government course to university students. He died in a car accident at the age of 68.

Marriage and family

In 1960 he married Denis Marie O'Connor. They had five children together: Laura Whalen, who lives in Albany as an adult; and four sons, Thomas, of Clarksville; Mark, of New Salem; Matthew of Garden City; and Jon.

Legacy

Whalen is credited with leading a broad revitalization of both the City of Albany and the Capital District through the 1980s and into the early 1990s. His tenure is noted for its focus on prudent financial and civil service reform, opening up city hall, and using the arts and the city park system as a catalyst for growth. Whalen was involved in improving the city's image both domestically and worldwide. In 1991, he founded the Albany-Tula Alliance with

Tula Tula may refer to: Geography Antarctica *Tula Mountains * Tula Point India * Tulā, a solar month in the traditional Indian calendar Iran * Tula, Iran, a village in Hormozgan Province Italy * Tula, Sardinia, municipality (''comune'') in the ...

, then a city in the

U.S.S.R. The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

, now

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

. The city was designated an "All-American City" under his leadership, attained the highest possible bond rating from Moody's and hosted many successful downtown cultural events. Whalen is remembered for his encouragement of renovation of historic architecture in the city and adaptive re-use, as well as encouraging new construction. He helped attract federal monies for such reinvestment, adding to the character of the city. On the other hand, he opposed preservation of the

Albany Pine Bush The Albany Pine Bush, referred to locally as the Pine Bush, is one of the largest of the 20 inland pine barrens in the world. It is centrally located in New York's Capital District within Albany and Schenectady counties, between the cities of ...

, an area of pine barrens on the outskirts of Albany, which he wanted developed for an office building. A small group of activists has worked to preserve this area, gaining cooperation of residents and officials of three towns for a Pine Bush Preserve Commission, founded in 1988, and sometimes fighting for protection through lawsuits.Brian Nearing, "Nature preservers: For 30 years, Save the Pine Bush has fought for ancient barrens," ''

Albany Times-Union The ''Times Union'' is an American daily newspaper, serving the Capital Region of New York. Although the newspaper focuses on Albany and its suburbs, it covers all parts of the four-county area, including the cities of Troy, Schenectady and Sa ...

'', 30 March 2008, found a
Save the Pine Bush website
Accessed February 18, 2009. The

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

Internship program at the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assemb ...

is named in his honor.Press Release: "Latest News"
University College Cork website, Accessed February 18, 2009. In 2000, Whalen joined the staff at University College Cork. He decided to found an internship program for that college's students to go to the

College of Saint Rose The College of Saint Rose is a private Roman Catholic college in Albany, New York. It was founded in 1920 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet as a women's college. It became fully co-educational in 1969; the following year, the college a ...

in Albany for experiential education in the American city, especially working with the state legislature. He died in a car accident in 2002, just as the first "Irish Interns" were set to arrive in Albany. Whalen was

eulogized A eulogy (from , ''eulogia'', Classical Greek, ''eu'' for "well" or "true", ''logia'' for "words" or "text", together for "praise") is a speech or writing in praise of a person or persons, especially one who recently died or retired, or a ...

at Albany Law, his '' alma mater''. An award is granted by the Neighborhood Resource Center in his honor. The "Thomas M. Whalen III Foundation for Cultural Arts" was founded in his honor by friends and family. A memorial statue of him can be found in downtown Albany's Tricentennial Park.Statue of former mayor unveiled
(2005-05-05),

Capital News 9 Spectrum News 1 Capital Region (formerly Time Warner Cable News Capital Region) is an American cable news television channel owned by Charter Communications as an affiliate of its Spectrum News slate of regional news channels. The channel provi ...

, accessed 2006-04-19. (Link may be dead as of February 18, 2009.)

References

External links