Posted by John Byrne at 2:17 p.m.; last updated at 2:58 p.m.
Mayor Richard Daley today recommended former buildings commissioner Mary Richardson-Lowry as his pick to be the new president of the Chicago Board of Education.
Daley called the appointment "bittersweet" because she will replace Michael Scott, a close friend of the mayor who committed suicide in November.
Richardson-Lowry is Daley’s former building commissioner and assistant corporation counsel and is an attorney with Mayer Brown.
She pledged to review district spending as one of her first orders of business, including the appropriate use of board credit cards.
Scott had been the subject of an internal investigation into spending
at the school board that included Scott’s use of his taxpayer-paid
credit card for thousands of dollars in meals, travel and other
expenses. The Tribune previously had disclosed that Scott improperly
used his board credit card to pay for a trip last fall to Copenhagen to
lobby for Daley’s failed bid for the Summer 2016 Olympics.
Scott died Nov. 16 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Daley said that he will tell her to get to the bottom of accusations that there have been "spending improprieties at the board."
"I’d ask Mary to immediately get on top of this so all our taxpayers see that they are all protected," Daley said. "There cannot be any question about this. Taxpayers must be protected at all times, at every level. They must have the confidence in the board, Chicago Public Schools spending policies and priorities. This includes managers, board members and executives."
While reiterating his friendship with Scott, Daley said he does not "condone any misuse of taxpayers’ money by anyone, no matter who it is."
Richardson-Lowry said she would need to "look at the issue" of board credit card use before taking a position on appropriate action going forward.
"I will be curious to hear what their perspective is on the needs for those cards," Richardson-Lowry said.
A product of public schools in Compton, Calif., Richardson-Lowry said it is important to create "a safe environment" for children to learn.
Richardson-Lowry, 53, said it is important that she give back after her own public school upbringing.
"By all rights I should not have survived some of my early years, and I did," she said at a City Hall news conference. "Someone made an investment in me."
She joined the law firm Mayer Brown in 2002 and is a member of the
firm’s Lateral Hiring and Diversity and Inclusion committees, according
to the firm’s Web site.
In 2006, she led the transition team for then-incoming County Board President Todd Stroger.
Richardson-Lowry got her law degree from Texas Southern in 1984 and bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University in 1981, according to her profile on the law firm’s site.
Daley formally appointed Richardson-Lowry to the school board and recommended the other members elect her president.
Daley said Richardson-Lowry will help Chicago Public Schools focus on improving student achievement at neighborhood schools and "fairly recruit students to special schools."