Richard F. "Dick" Mell (born May 5, 1938) is an American
politicianA politician or political leader is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making. This includes people who hold decision-making positions in government, and people who seek those positions, whether by means of election, coup d'état, appointment, electoral fraud, conquest,...
and long-time member of the
Chicago City CouncilThe Chicago City Council is the legislative branch of the government of the City of Chicago in Illinois. It consists of fifty aldermen elected from fifty wards to serve four-year terms...
. He is a
DemocratThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
. Mell is the chairman of the Rules Committee and has a history of feuding with Chicago Mayor
Richard M. DaleyRichard Michael Daley is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party and current Mayor of Chicago, Illinois. He was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007...
.
Biography
Mell was born and raised in
MuskegonMuskegon is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 40,105. The city is the county seat of Muskegon County...
,
MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
. 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, losing by about 500 votes. In 1975, he was elected
AldermanAn alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions. Historically the term could also refer to local municipal judges in small legal proceedings...
of the 33rd Ward of the City of
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
(
map); in 1976 he was also elected ward committeeman. His ward comprises part of Chicago's Northwest Side.
During the
Council WarsCouncil Wars was a racially-polarized political conflict in the city of Chicago from 1983-1986, centered on the Chicago City Council.The term came from a satirical comedy sketch of the same name written and performed by comedian and journalist Aaron Freeman in 1983, using the good-v.-evil plot line...
of the mid-1980s, Mell was allied with the Vrdolyak 29 who opposed then-Mayor
Harold WashingtonHarold Lee Washington was an American lawyer and politician who became the first African American Mayor of Chicago, serving from 1983 until his death in 1987.- Background and early career :...
. However, after the 1986 court-ordered aldermanic elections, he 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.
Dick and Marge Mell have three children: Patricia,
DeborahDeborah L. Mell, commonly known as Deb Mell, is an American politician from Chicago. A Democrat, she is a member of the Illinois House of Representatives representing from the 40th district. She was elected in 2008 and took office on January 14, 2009....
, and Richard. His daughter Patricia is married to former Illinois Governor
Rod BlagojevichMilorad "Rod" Blagojevich is an American politician who served as the 40th governor of Illinois from 2003 to 2009. A Democrat, Blagojevich was a State Representative before being elected to the United States House of Representatives representing parts of Chicago. He was elected governor in 2002,...
. Marge Mell died Dec. 3, 2006, of a brain disease.
Mell was a driving force behind Blagojevich's successful gubernatorial campaign in 2002. However, in 2005, Blagojevich and Mell had a public feud when Blagojevich shut down a
landfillA landfill, also known as a dump , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
owned by a distant cousin of Patricia Blagojevich for environmental problems. It was later revealed that Mell had served as an advisor to the cousin. Legislation was eventually passed giving the
Illinois Environmental Protection AgencyThe Illinois Environmental Protection Agency of the state of Illinois is the primary body concerned with the protection of the environment for the state...
more authority over landfills and preventing relatives of top Illinois officials from owning landfills.
In June 2005, Mell served as honorary co-chairman of an event for State Representative
Jack FranksJack Franks is a Democratic member of the Illinois House of Representatives, representing the 63rd district since 1999.-Career:In 2008, Franks was a member of Hillary Clinton's Illinois Steering Committee and February 5 Rapid Responders....
, a longtime Blagojevich critic who had been rumored as a possible primary challenger to the Governor. Mell's other daughter,
Deb MellDeborah L. Mell, commonly known as Deb Mell, is an American politician from Chicago. A Democrat, she is a member of the Illinois House of Representatives representing from the 40th district. She was elected in 2008 and took office on January 14, 2009....
, is a
lesbianLesbian is a term most widely used in the English language to describe sexual and romantic desire between females. The word may be used as a noun, to refer to women who identify themselves or who are characterized by others as having the primary attribute of female homosexuality, or as an...
who has encouraged Blagojevich to support
same-sex marriageSame-sex marriage is a term used to describe a legally or socially recognized marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Other terms used to describe this type of recognition include gay marriage or gender-neutral marriage.Same-sex marriage is a civil rights,...
and who was elected to the
state house of representativesThe Illinois House of is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The state House of Representatives is made of 118 representatives elected from individual...
in 2008.
In 2007 Mell failed to re-register his extensive firearms collection, as required by Chicago's gun control law, a law which he helped to write. Mell, along with
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
Mayor
Richard M. DaleyRichard Michael Daley is a United States politician, member of the national and local Democratic Party and current Mayor of Chicago, Illinois. He was elected mayor in 1989 and reelected in 1991, 1995, 1999, 2003, and 2007...
, proposed a one-month amnesty, where the gun registry would be re-opened. Pistol registration was closed in 1982 and the window only allowed guns registered before then, so all new registration attempts were rejected. Mell had claimed that thousands of Chicagoans were in his situation and would benefit, but just 25 people successfully registered guns during the "
amnestyAmnesty is a legislative or executive act by which a state restores those who may have been guilty of an offense against it to the positions of innocent persons. It includes more than pardon, in as much as it obliterates all legal remembrance of the offense. The word has the same root as amnesia...
."
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