Full Text of SR0107 97th General Assembly
SR0107 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Senator Rickey R. Hendon was born the youngest of | 3 | | four children to Mr. and Mrs. Jimmy G. Hendon of Cleveland, | 4 | | Ohio; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon grew up in Chicago and attended | 6 | | Bryant Elementary School, Mason Upper Grade Center, and | 7 | | Farragut High School; before graduation, his family moved to | 8 | | Detroit, Michigan, where he graduated as an honor student from | 9 | | Northwestern High School; and | 10 | | WHEREAS, With a passion for theater and the arts, Senator | 11 | | Hendon enrolled at Omega State Institute, where he graduated | 12 | | and earned his First Class Communications license, which led | 13 | | him to a career in radio, where for eight years he worked at | 14 | | several radio stations including WVVX, WAIT, and FM 100; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon was appointed the 27th Ward | 16 | | Democratic Committeeman on September 5, 1987, by the Democratic | 17 | | Central Committee after being selected by the late Mayor of | 18 | | Chicago, the Honorable Harold Washington; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon was later elected the 27th Ward | 20 | | Democratic Committeeman for a full four-year term, by a | 21 | | two-to-one margin; he was re-elected Democratic Committeeman |
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| 1 | | in 1992; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon was elected Alderman of the 27th | 3 | | Ward in 1988 and held that position until his election to the | 4 | | State Senate; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon was unanimously elected to a term | 6 | | as Chairman of the Westside Black Elected Officials in April of | 7 | | 1988; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon was appointed Secretary/Treasurer | 9 | | of the Cook County Forest Preserve by President George Dunne on | 10 | | June 6, 1988; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon's desire to become more involved in | 12 | | creating public policy led him to seek office in the General | 13 | | Assembly and he was first elected to the Illinois Senate in | 14 | | November of 1992; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon has served on and led numerous | 16 | | committees during his tenure in the Senate, including the | 17 | | Senate Committees on:
Appropriations, Commerce and Industry, | 18 | | Energy, Environment and Energy (Vice Chairman), Executive | 19 | | (Vice Chairman), Executive Appointments (Minority | 20 | | Spokesperson, and Co-Chairman), Financial Institutions, | 21 | | Gaming, Housing and Community Affairs, Insurance and Pensions, |
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| 1 | | Labor, Labor and Commerce, Licensed Activities (Minority | 2 | | Spokesperson), Local Government and Elections, Rules, and | 3 | | State Government Operations (Minority Spokesperson); and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon was the youngest African-American | 5 | | male appointed to a Senate Caucus Leadership position when he | 6 | | was named Assistant Majority Leader in 2003, a position he held | 7 | | until his retirement; and
| 8 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon, in addition to being a published | 9 | | author, has been the sponsor and a vocal advocate of numerous | 10 | | legislative initiatives aimed at improving the lives of | 11 | | Illinois citizens; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon, early in his legislative career, | 13 | | waged a successful battle to protect neighborhoods in his | 14 | | district by stopping legislative efforts to make hazardous | 15 | | dumping easier; and
| 16 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon has always been a vocal proponent | 17 | | of making Chicago and the State of Illinois a viable location | 18 | | for film production and has served as the lead advocate for the | 19 | | State's film production tax credit, which has led to diverse | 20 | | opportunities for movie and television production throughout | 21 | | the State; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon, seeing Illinois' criminal justice | 2 | | system relying on a flawed practice for administering capital | 3 | | punishment, was an early proponent of calling for its | 4 | | abolishment; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon sought to protect the | 6 | | neighborhoods of his district by advocating for youth | 7 | | intervention services and empowering residents to feel safe in | 8 | | their homes through various initiatives that fight gang | 9 | | violence and discourage drug trafficking, all the while helping | 10 | | citizens retain their civil rights and fighting the unnecessary | 11 | | intrusion of State government into the lives of its citizens; | 12 | | and
| 13 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon, responding to resident | 14 | | complaints, passed legislation creating the Citizen Review | 15 | | Board to monitor activities of the Chicago Housing Authority | 16 | | Police in an effort to bring C.H.A.
residents and police | 17 | | together and to stop abuse and violence in C.H.A.
housing | 18 | | facilities; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon has built a strong record of | 20 | | protecting children from sex offenders by making it unlawful | 21 | | for a convicted child sex offender to be within 500 feet of a | 22 | | school; and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon worked diligently to give drivers a | 2 | | fair shake on Illinois roads by reforming the way the | 3 | | controversial Red Light Cameras are used to enforce traffic | 4 | | violations; and
| 5 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon has always been a champion for | 6 | | Illinois'
children, seniors, and those without a voice in | 7 | | government, ensuring access to quality schools, health care, | 8 | | and transportation, working to ensure the solvency of Illinois' | 9 | | Transit Boards, and providing advocacy for low-income seniors | 10 | | to receive assistance in obtaining reduced transportation | 11 | | fares; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon has always shown his competitive | 13 | | spirit with his colleagues in the General Assembly, but never | 14 | | more so than in defense of the championship of the annual | 15 | | Senate-House softball game, where Coach Hendon has led his | 16 | | team, which he lovingly called "The House of Lords", to many | 17 | | glorious victories over the "Lower Chamber" of the General | 18 | | Assembly; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon has also been the strong leader of | 20 | | his local softball team, The Fighting 5th, which competed in | 21 | | the National ASA Tournament and finished 7th out of 40 teams in | 22 | | Iowa in 2006, in addition to winning two other championships; | 23 | | and |
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Senator Hendon, during his many years of public | 2 | | service, has been the recipient of numerous awards for his | 3 | | outstanding service; and | 4 | | WHEREAS, Senator Rickey "Hollywood" Hendon's retirement | 5 | | from the Illinois Senate will leave an enormous hole, not to be | 6 | | filled by any one individual or voice; and while saddened by | 7 | | his departure, this chamber and its members respect his deeply | 8 | | thought out decision to indulge in the quietness of a private | 9 | | citizen and to enjoy life with his five children, friends, and | 10 | | family; therefore, be it
| 11 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | 12 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we thank Senator Rickey | 13 | | Hendon for his years of service to the people of Illinois and | 14 | | honor him with this resolution; and be it further
| 15 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 16 | | presented to Senator Rickey Hendon as a symbol of our gratitude | 17 | | and with our best wishes for his future endeavors.
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