Margaret Laurino

Margaret Laurino Barnette (born June 17, 1952) is a former alderman of the 39th Ward of the City of Chicago.[1] She is the daughter of former Alderman Anthony C. Laurino, the sister of former state Representative William Laurino, and the wife of former 39th Ward Democratic Committeeman Randy Barnette.[2]

Margaret Laurino
City of Chicago Alderman
from the 32nd Ward
In office
July 24, 1994 – May 20, 2019
Preceded byAnthony C. Laurino
Succeeded bySamantha Nugent
Personal details
Political partyDemocratic
ResidenceChicago, Illinois
Alma materNortheastern Illinois University

Early life

Laurino is a lifelong resident of Chicago; she attended St. Edward's Elementary School and Alvernia High School. She went on to Northeastern Illinois University where she earned her bachelor's degree in Education and master's degree in History.[3]

Family legacy and controversy

Her father, Anthony C. Laurino, became the 39th ward alderman in 1965 and served for nearly three decades; he was quoted in a 1987 interview with the Chicago Tribune as saying that he walked the alleys of the ward to get to know residents and became known as the "alley alderman."[4] When he resigned in 1994 due to poor health, she was appointed to replace him by Mayor Richard M. Daley.

Family indictments and convictions in ghost-payrolling

A year later, the elder Laurino was indicted by federal investigators on a ghost-payrolling scheme. He died before the trial was concluded, but several family members were convicted, including his wife, Bonnie Rhein Laurino; another daughter, Marie D'Amico; and D'Amico's husband, John.[4][5][6]

Aldermanic career

Laurino is Chairperson of the Economic, Capital and Technology Development Committee where she has worked on a proposal for citywide wireless Internet access. She also created the Aldermanic Technology Task Force, which meets quarterly to discuss technological needs in city government.[3]

As of February, 2012 Alderman Laurino is Chairman of the Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety.

She also serves on the Committee on Budget and Government Operations, Committee on Committees, Rules and Ethic, Committee on Education and Child Development, Committee on Finance, Committee on Workforce Development and Audit, Committee on Zoning, Landmarks and Building Standards.[7]

In addition to technology advancements, Laurino has proposed several other ordinances: legislation that regulates restrictive covenants on land occupied by grocery and drug stores, and legislation that created mandatory ethics training for all city employees that could be done online.[3]

Laurino's accomplishments include: a new police station in her ward, a new health center at Roosevelt High School, and helping bring $500,000 for improvements into the homes of senior citizens.[3]

In 2013 she was elected by the Chicago City Council to serve as its President Pro Tempore.[8][9][10]

Aldermanic challenges

In 1995, Laurino was forced into a challenging run-off[11] with Tony Fornelli, ultimately winning with 61 percent of the vote. In 1999 she again won 61 percent of the vote, then ran unopposed in 2003 and received 79 percent of the vote in 2007.[12]

2011 campaign

In 2010, four candidates filed to run in the 39th Ward aldermanic campaign; with the exception of Laurino, all of them later faced objector petitions claiming that they failed to gather enough signatures. All of the objector petitions were filed by Rosa and Pat J. Kelly, and Pat Kelly reportedly works in Laurino's office.[13] Matthew J. Robinson was kept off the ballot but ran as a write-in candidate. Lyndon A. Johnson was also kept off the ballot and possibly was running a mock-campaign.[14] Mary Hunter stayed on the ballot and ran a grassroots campaign. Laurino won with 76% of the vote to Hunter's 24%.[15]

2015 campaign

In 2014, community organization president Robert Murphy ran against Laurino. Murphy dragged Laurino under 60% for the first time in a three way race.[16]

gollark: It's vaguely ridiculous that when I just decided to add reactions to things and randomly picked cacti this happened, but it's quite good.
gollark: 🌵world
gollark: \🌵life
gollark: \🌵freedom
gollark: \🌵discrimination

References
  1. Our Campaigns.com.-Margaret Laurino
  2. Randy Barnette
  3. http://www.aldermanlaurino.com/about.php
  4. Struzzi, Diane; Washburn, Gary (1999-03-28). "Anthony C. Laurino, 88, Former 'Alley Alderman' Of 39th Ward". Chicago Tribune.
  5. O'Connor, Matt (1994-10-13). "Ghost Payroller 'Worked' 3 Jobs". Chicago Tribune.
  6. O'Connor, Matthew (1995-02-22). "Laurino Son-in-law Charged In Payroll Scam". Chicago Tribune.
  7. "Office of the City Clerk - Laurino, Margaret".
  8. "Mayor Emanuel Announces New City Council Committee Chairmanships". www.chicago.gov. City of Chicago. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  9. "Ald. Laurino: New City Council Post Will Benefit 39th Ward". DNAinfo Chicago. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  10. "Congressional Record". www.congress.gov. United States Congress. 13 June 2019. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  11. Kogan, Rick (2006-02-19). "The Family Business". Chicago Tribune.
  12. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2011-05-04. Retrieved 2011-02-19.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. https://web.archive.org/web/20110315071219/http://www.windycitizen.com/blog/albany-park-post/2010/12/08/matthew-j-robertson-running-39th-ward-alderman. Archived from the original on March 15, 2011. Retrieved February 19, 2011. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2010/12/09/meet-lyndon-johnson-rock-and-roll-aldermanic-candidate
  15. http://www.chicagoelections.com/en/wdlevel3.asp?elec_code=25
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2016-03-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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