Richard F. "Dick" Mell (born May 5, 1938) is an American

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (United States) (D) **Democratic ...

, he served on the Chicago City Council from 1975 to 2013. He retired in 2013 and was succeeded by

Deb Mell Deborah L. "Deb" Mell (born July 30, 1968) is an American politician from Chicago. She is a Democrat and was formerly a member of the Chicago City Council, representing the 33rd ward. She previously served in the Illinois House of Representative ...

, his daughter.

Early life

Mell was born and raised in

Muskegon Muskegon ( ') is a city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Muskegon County. Muskegon is known for fishing, sailing regattas, pleasure boating, and as a commercial and cruise ship port. It is a popular vacation destination because of the expans ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, where he attended high school and college.

Career

After college, he settled in Chicago with his wife Marge and opened a spring manufacturing business. He also became active in local politics. In 1972, Mell was an unsuccessful candidate for 33rd Ward Democratic

Committeeman In the United States, a political party committee is an organization, officially affiliated with a political party and registered with the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), which raises and spends money for political campaigning. Political party ...

, losing by about 500 votes. In 1975, he was elected

Alderman An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council member chosen by the elected members t ...

of the 33rd 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 ...

. In 1976, he was also elected ward committeeman. His ward comprised part of Chicago's Northwest Side. In 1979, Mell was elected by the City Council to serve as the city's vice mayor. He held this position until April 1987. During the

Council Wars The Council Wars were a racially polarized political conflict in the city of Chicago from 1983 to 1986, centered on the Chicago City Council. The term came from a satirical comedy sketch of the same name written and performed by comedian and jo ...

of the mid-1980s, Mell was allied with the

Vrdolyak 29 The Council Wars were a racially polarized political conflict in the city of Chicago from 1983 to 1986, centered on the Chicago City Council. The term came from a satirical comedy sketch of the same name written and performed by comedian and j ...

who opposed then-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 ...

. After the Vrdolyak 29 lost their majority in the city council in the 1986 court-ordered aldermanic elections, Mell offered to cooperate with Washington. Upon Washington's death in 1987, Mell famously stood on his desk in the City Council chambers, demanding to be recognized as the divided council wrestled with the question of who would succeed Washington. In a 1982 handgun ban ordinance that Mell had himself authored, new pistol registrations had been prohibited with existing handgun registrations prior to 1982 allowed to renew. All new registration attempts since 1982 were disallowed. However, in 2007, Mell failed to re-register his extensive firearms collection (which included handguns) as then required by city ordinance. As a result, Mell, along with

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

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 ...

, proposed a one-month amnesty, where the gun registry would be re-opened. Mell claimed that thousands of Chicagoans were in his situation and would benefit, but just 25 people (including Mell) successfully registered guns during the "

amnesty Amnesty (from the Ancient Greek ἀμνηστία, ''amnestia'', "forgetfulness, passing over") is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power offici ...

." Chicago's handgun ban was struck down in 2011 by the United States Supreme Court in '' McDonald v. City of Chicago''. In December 2008, Mayor

gave the city council three days to consider the complicated and lengthy contract to privatize the city's parking meters for 75 years. The city council ultimately approved the deal by a vote of 40 to 5.
chicagotribune.com On July 3, 2013, Mell submitted his letter of resignation, effective July 24, 2013. 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 Mell's daughter Deb as Mell's successor as alderman from the 33rd ward.

Personal life

Dick and Marge Mell have three children:

Patricia Patricia is a female given name of Latin origin. Derived from the Latin word ''patrician'', meaning "noble"; it is the feminine form of the masculine given name Patrick. The name Patricia was the second most common female name in the United State ...

Deborah According to the Book of Judges, Deborah ( he, דְּבוֹרָה, ''Dəḇōrā'', "bee") was a prophetess of the God of the Israelites, the fourth Judge of pre-monarchic Israel and the only female judge mentioned in the Bible. Many scholars ...

, and Richard. His daughter Patricia is married to former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. His daughter Deb was elected to the state house of representatives in 2008 and appointed to the Chicago City Council in 2013. Marge Mell died December 3, 2006, of

progressive supranuclear palsy Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset degenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain. The condition leads to symptoms including loss of balance, slowing of movement, difficulty ...

, a rare and fatal disease.

References

External links

Chicago Council War
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mell, Richard 1938 births Living people Chicago City Council members People from Muskegon, Michigan Illinois Democrats