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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives wish to commend Alderperson Roderick T. Sawyer | ||||||
4 | on his service to the 6th Ward as a member of the Chicago City | ||||||
5 | Council; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer was born and raised in Chicago's 6th | ||||||
7 | Ward, joined the 6th Ward Young Democrats as a child, and has | ||||||
8 | called the 6th Ward home his entire life; he is the youngest of | ||||||
9 | three children born to Celeste C. Taylor and the late | ||||||
10 | Honorable Eugene Sawyer, former Mayor of Chicago and 6th Ward | ||||||
11 | Alderperson; he attended the Howalton Day School before | ||||||
12 | graduating from St. Ignatius College Prep in 1981, earning his | ||||||
13 | Bachelor of Science in Finance from DePaul University four | ||||||
14 | years later; he received his Juris Doctor from IIT-Chicago | ||||||
15 | Kent College of Law in 1990 and was admitted to the Illinois | ||||||
16 | State Bar that same year; and
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17 | WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer has practiced at the Law Office of | ||||||
18 | Roderick T. Sawyer since 1993, becoming an expert on licensing | ||||||
19 | issues and specializing in election, real estate, and | ||||||
20 | administrative law; his legal experience includes serving as | ||||||
21 | an Administrative Law Judge for the Illinois Commerce | ||||||
22 | Commission, a Special Assistant Attorney General for the | ||||||
23 | Illinois Department of Transportation, a prosecutor for the |
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1 | Illinois Secretary of State, and as Counsel to Odelson & | ||||||
2 | Sterk, Ltd.; he also volunteers as General Counsel for the eta | ||||||
3 | Creative Arts Foundation; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer was sworn in as Alderperson of the | ||||||
5 | 6th Ward in May 2011, representing the Chatham, Chesterfield, | ||||||
6 | Englewood, Greater Grand Crossing, Park Manor, and | ||||||
7 | Auburn-Gresham neighborhoods; he was reelected in 2015 and | ||||||
8 | 2019; he additionally became the Democratic Committeeman of | ||||||
9 | the 6th Ward in March 2012, and he was reelected to this | ||||||
10 | position in 2016 and 2020; he co-founded the Chicago City | ||||||
11 | Council's Progressive Reform Caucus in 2013, and he presided | ||||||
12 | as chairman of the Chicago City Council's Black Caucus from | ||||||
13 | 2015 to 2019; and
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14 | WHEREAS, During his tenure, Ald. Sawyer has walked picket | ||||||
15 | lines in support of those seeking a living wage, participated | ||||||
16 | in countless town halls and forums, and offered free space to | ||||||
17 | community organizations; in 2018, he banded together with Ald. | ||||||
18 | Harry Osterman and the Grassroots Alliance for Police | ||||||
19 | Accountability (GAPA) to introduce a proposal for a | ||||||
20 | controversial multilevel plan for civilian oversight of the | ||||||
21 | Chicago Police Department, leading to the eventual passage of | ||||||
22 | Ordinance SO2019-4132 in 2021, which created Chicago's | ||||||
23 | first-ever civilian-led commission empowered to set police | ||||||
24 | department policy; following the police murder of George Floyd |
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1 | in 2020, he led the charge on an ordinance to create a | ||||||
2 | city-backed commission to study possible reparations for Black | ||||||
3 | Chicagoans; and
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4 | WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer has served as chairman of the Chicago | ||||||
5 | City Council's Committee on Health and Human Relations and | ||||||
6 | several joint committees; he has also served as a member of the | ||||||
7 | Committee on Budget and Government Operations, the Committee | ||||||
8 | on Committees and Rules, the Committee on Contracting | ||||||
9 | Oversight and Equity, the Committee on Economic, Capital and | ||||||
10 | Technology Development, the Committee on Finance, the | ||||||
11 | Committee on License and Consumer Protection, the Committee on | ||||||
12 | License and Consumer Protection, the Committee on Public | ||||||
13 | Safety, and several joint committees; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer remains an active participant in all | ||||||
15 | of the 6th Ward's community organizations, including the | ||||||
16 | Resident Association of Greater Englewood (R.A.G.E.), the Park | ||||||
17 | Manor Neighbors Community Council, the Chatham Avalon Park | ||||||
18 | Community Council, the Greater Chatham Alliance, the | ||||||
19 | Chesterfield Community Council, the West Chesterfield | ||||||
20 | Community Council, the Roseland Heights Community Council, and | ||||||
21 | the 7200 Prairie Block Club, where he serves as president; and
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22 | WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer has served on the boards of the South | ||||||
23 | Shore Drill Team, the eta Creative Arts Foundation, the |
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1 | Meyering Park Advisory Council, and St. Mark A.M.E. Zion | ||||||
2 | Church; and
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3 | WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer and his wife, Cheryll, have two | ||||||
4 | children, Sydni Celeste and Roderick T. Jr.; therefore, be it
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5 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
6 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
7 | we commend Alderperson Roderick T. Sawyer for his work on the | ||||||
8 | Chicago City Council, and we thank him for his years of | ||||||
9 | dedicated service to the people of the 6th Ward and the City of | ||||||
10 | Chicago; and be it further
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11 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
12 | presented to Ald. Sawyer as a symbol of our esteem and respect.
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