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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING THE LIFE AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF JIM REILLY
WHEREAS, Jim Reilly, a downstate Illinois lawmaker who became chief of staff to two governors and headed agencies that oversaw mass transit in the Chicago area, state construction projects, and the operations of McCormick Place and Navy Pier, has died at 77; and
WHEREAS, Reilly grew up in Springfield where he attended Springfield High School. His father James was an attorney and his mother Alta a secretary for the American Red Cross. After graduating from Illinois College in Jacksonville, he received his Juris Doctor from the University of Chicago Law School in 1971. He worked for the city of Jacksonville, Illinois, before becoming a state representative in 1977; and
WHEREAS, Reilly entered the Illinois House in the same class as former Governor Jim Edgar. Those years of service propelled Edgar to higher office and brought Reilly, a self-described Rockefeller Republican, to the attention of then Governor Jim Thompson. Thompson, recognizing Reilly's talent, made him his counsel and subsequently chief of staff; and
WHEREAS, when Thompson left office, Reilly took over as head of the agency in charge of the project to rebuild Navy Pier, the Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority (McPier), a signature project of the Thompson administration. During much of the 1990s, he served as chief executive officer of McPier. He helped oversee renovations and expansion including development at the McCormick Place South Building and Hyatt Regency McCormick Place. During his tenure, the pier became the most popular tourist attraction in the state; and
WHEREAS, when Jim Edgar became governor, he brought Reilly back for a second stint as gubernatorial chief of staff. During Edgar's recovery from emergency surgery, Reilly became "a familiar and respected stand-in for the governor," the Tribune reported in 1994. The Tribune described Reilly as "an administrator with a well-known contempt for inertia; and
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