William M. Beavers (born February 21, 1935) is a former Democratic politician from

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

, US. He is a former Chicago alderman and former

County Commissioner A county commission (or a board of county commissioners) is a group of elected officials (county commissioners) collectively charged with administering the county government in some states of the United States; such commissions usually comprise ...

for the

4th district Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

Cook County, Illinois Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

, which encompasses part of

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

's South Side and southern suburbs. He has been convicted of federal

tax evasion Tax evasion is an illegal attempt to defeat the imposition of taxes by individuals, corporations, trusts, and others. Tax evasion often entails the deliberate misrepresentation of the taxpayer's affairs to the tax authorities to reduce the taxp ...

Early life

Beavers was born and raised in Chicago's Kenwood-

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

neighborhood, one of six children in an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

family. Beavers' mother worked in retail and as a waitress. Beavers' father was a steel mill worker. Later, Beavers' father worked for a wrecking company and died in an accident on the job. Beavers was educated in the

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

s and attended

Harold Washington College Harold Washington College is a community college, part of the City Colleges of Chicago system of the City of Chicago, in Illinois, United States. It is located in the downtown "Loop" area of the City, near the series of parks along the lakefro ...

. Beavers was a Chicago police officer for 21 years.

Chicago Alderman

Beavers was an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

of the 7th Ward in Chicago's far south side. A member of 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 *Demo ...

, he served in the

Chicago City Council The Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of 50 alderpersons elected from 50 wards to serve four-year terms. The council is gaveled into session regularly, usually mont ...

from 1983 to 2006. Beavers said he had read

Linda Lovelace Linda Lovelace (born Linda Susan Boreman; January 10, 1949 – April 22, 2002) was an American pornographic actress who became famous for her performance in the 1972 hardcore film '' Deep Throat''. Although the film was an enormous success, Bor ...

's autobiography ''Ordeal'', and had visited a topless beach and a

nude beach A nude beach, sometimes called a clothing-optional or free beach, is a beach where users are at liberty to be nudity, nude. Nude beaches usually have mixed bathing. Such beaches are usually on public lands, and any member of the public is allow ...

, but had never visited a

nudist camp A naturist resort or nudist resort is an establishment that provides accommodation (or at least camping space) and other amenities for guests in a context where they are invited to practise naturism – that is, a lifestyle of non-sexual socia ...

, speaking on April 11, 2000 during testimony at a public hearing before the Finance Committee of the Chicago City Council on a proposed designation of a part of Walton Street in Chicago's

Streeterville Streeterville is a neighborhood in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, United States, north of the Chicago River. It is bounded by the river on the south, the Magnificent Mile portion of Michigan Avenue on the west, and ...

neighborhood, the location of the first

Playboy Club The Playboy Club was initially a chain of nightclubs and resorts owned and operated by Playboy Enterprises. The first Playboy Club opened in Chicago in 1960. Each club generally featured a Living Room, a Playmate Bar, a Dining Room, and a Club R ...

, as "Hugh Hefner Way" in honor of

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

founder

Hugh Hefner Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obsc ...

Cook County Commissioner

In 2006, Beavers reportedly engineered a complex deal concerning the retirement of Cook County Board President

John Stroger John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

, who suffered a stroke in March of that year. The deal called for Beavers to assume Stroger's County Commissioner seat, Stroger's son,

Todd Stroger Todd H. Stroger (born January 14, 1963) is the former president of the Cook County, Illinois Board and a former alderman for the 8th Ward in Chicago. Stroger is a member of the Democratic Party. In 2001, he was appointed to the Chicago City Counc ...

, to replace his father on the November 2006 ballot as County Board president, and for Chicago 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 ...

to appoint Beavers' daughter and chief of staff, Darcel Beavers, to her father's 7th Ward seat.

Tax evasion conviction

On February 23, 2012, Beavers was indicted on four federal charges alleging he filed false tax returns and "endeavoring to obstruct and impede" the

Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

. Following the indictment, he lashed out against the federal prosecutor. On March 21, 2013, Beavers was found guilty of tax evasion and faced a maximum three-year prison term on each of the four tax counts he was found guilty of. Beavers was sentenced to six months in jail, a $10,000 fine, and ordered to pay almost $31,000 in back taxes. In June, 2014, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld his conviction.

Personal life

Beavers has a son and two daughters. One daughter, Darcel, was his aldermanic chief of staff and was appointed to succeed Beavers as alderman. "I like to go to the gambling boats, maybe twice a week. Play the slots. That's my relaxation," Beavers said in profile in the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...

'' ''Sunday Magazine'' in 2006.

References

External links

*
William Beavers
archive at the ''

Chicago Reader The ''Chicago Reader'', or ''Reader'' (stylized as ЯEADER), is an American alternative weekly newspaper in Chicago, Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. It was founded by a ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Beavers, William 1935 births Chicago City Council members Chicago Police Department officers Illinois Democrats Living people Members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners Illinois politicians convicted of crimes American people convicted of tax crimes African-American city council members in Illinois 21st-century African-American people