John Bernard "Jack" O'Reilly Jr. (born September 21, 1948) is an American retired politician who served as the 6th mayor of Dearborn, Michigan from 2007 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served on the Dearborn City Council from 1990 to 2007.
John B. O'Reilly Jr. | |
|---|---|
.jpg) O'Reilly in 2018 | |
| 6th Mayor of Dearborn | |
| In office February 27, 2007 – January 1, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Michael Guido |
| Succeeded by | Abdullah Hammoud |
| Personal details | |
| Born | September 21, 1948 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse |
Christina O'Reilly (m. 1973) |
| Children | 3 |
Career
editDearborn City Council
editO'Reilly began his political career serving as Washington staff counsel and district director for then-U.S. Congressman John D. Dingell, before serving as chief of staff in the Michigan State Senate. He was elected as a city councilman for Dearborn for 17 years between 1990 and 2007. [1]
Mayor of Dearborn
editFollowing the passing of mayor Michael Guido from cancer O'Reilly was appointed the interim mayor until a special election could be held. He proceeded to run as a candidate during the special election and won and would be sworn in as a full mayor on February 27, 2007. As mayor he greatly improved the city's public infrastructure, notably overseeing the construction of the John D. Dingell Transit Center, in an effort to turn the city into a regional transportation hub. As mayor he also greatly streamlined the bureaucratic process in the city, cutting out red tape.[2]
O'Reilly also promoted economic development and community programs, most notably with Ford Land, where he worked with Ford Land’s Wagner Place development, which remade part of Dearborn’s west downtown area. [3] O'Reilly was elected president of the Michigan Municipal League from 2015 – 2016 where he received the 2022 Honorary Life Membership Award for the most active and inspiring leaders dedicated to the League and its mission. He was also active with the Urban Core Mayors, Downriver Community Conference, Conference of Western Wayne, United States Conference of Mayors, and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments while maintaining a role with the Urban Core Mayors, a bipartisan, multi-regional coalition of 13 central city mayors. [4]
In January 2019, Dearborn Historian editor Bill McGraw had his contract terminated for an Autumn 2018 issue concerning Henry Ford. That issue, concurrent with the 100th anniversary of Ford's acquisition of the Dearborn Independent newspaper, detailed the anti-Semitic influence that Ford infamously exerted. The city government's suppression of the issue received widespread exposure, with some calling for Dearborn officials and others related to Ford's industry to recognize the impact of Ford's antisemitism.[5][6] As a result of the national publicity, the Dearborn Historical Commission held an emergency meeting in which the commission created a resolution that called for the end of censorship of the issue.
At a municipal deposition on February 13, 2019 mayor O'Reilly was unable to answer basic personal questions, forgetting how many children he had, their names and ages, as well as stating he took his Bar exam in 1890.[7] However, despite this he continued to serve as mayor for an additional two years until in another deposition on June 26, 2021, where he was too mentally unfit to even appear, instead having to issue all his statements through curated press releases.[8] He would announce on July 9, 2021 that has been suffering from an undisclosed illness preventing him from making public appearances and that he will not be seeking another term as mayor, retiring after 32 years of public service.[9]
Personal life
editO'Reilly is married and has three sons.[7] His father, John B. O'Reilly Sr., was mayor from 1978 to 1985 and also Dearborn's police chief.
References
edit- ^ Nkata, Fatima (27 November 2017). "Dearborn Keeps O'Reilly in Office". www.mirrornews.hfcu.org/. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
- ^ Herndon, Dave (21 December 2021). "Tribute video to Mayor O'Reilly's 32 years of public service available to watch". www.pressandguide.com/. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ Bowerman, Stacy (21 December 2016). "Ford Land development transforms downtown Dearborn into 21st century hip locale". www.michiganbusiness.org/. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
- ^ Schwanky, Morgan (19 October 2022). "John B. "Jack" O'Reilly Receives 2022 Honorary Life Membership Award". www.mml.org/. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
- ^ "Perspective | Why Ford needs to grapple with its founder's anti-Semitism". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ^ Eisenstein, Paul A. (2019-02-04). "Mayor's attempt to censor local article about Henry Ford's anti-Semitism draws national attention". CNBC. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
- ^ a b Warikoo, Niraj. "www.freep.com/". Dearborn residents: How long did council know about mayor's cognitive issues?. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ Rahal, Nour. "Dearborn Mayor John O'Reilly Jr. dealing with health issues, unable to speak publicly". www.freep.com. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ Herndon, Dave (9 July 2021). "Dearborn Mayor John O'Reilly cites undisclosed illness as the reason for his lack of public appearances". www.pressandguide.com. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
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