Mayor Tom Henry’s first term could roughly be divided into two halves.
The first part was rocky, with missteps or simply bad decisions. The mayor’s handling of a local casino, a request of the state for a tax increase after the City Council had acted and lack of transparency, among other issues, dragged down the administration’s credibility. But the second part ran smoothly, with the mayor recording several accomplishments.
Beginner error may well be blamed for some of those early problems, but it’s no accident that the administration really began turning things around after Beth Malloy became deputy mayor. The announcement that Malloy will leave in mid-January – 19 months after she was hired – represents a loss for the administration. How Henry replaces her will be a key factor in how his second term runs.
Perhaps Malloy’s greatest achievement was in pulling back the curtain on government documents and financial records, establishing the city’s SmartGov website that made previously hard-to-get records available with a few mouse clicks. She has also played major roles in the behind-the-scenes work necessary to complete city and county collaborations, a task that has never been easy here.
The Chicagoan’s status as an outsider very likely helped Henry, offering new perspective and an independent voice, someone who didn’t have a long history with any of the mayor’s team.
The relative short term isn’t unusual for the mayor’s No. 2. Graham Richard had no less than four people in his first term holding the post of either deputy mayor or chief of staff. Nor is it unusual for a government professional such as Malloy to take a job or consultancy, accomplish the task, then move to another.
“I’m really sad in a lot of ways about leaving,” Malloy said. “I’ll miss the city and the work that goes on here.”
Malloy will be working for Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, overseeing several strategic projects for the governor’s office and the state Department of Revenue.
Who’s next?
Her resignation comes at the end of Henry’s first term, a natural time for transition. No other key Henry administration officials are expected to leave as the second term begins.
As far as the next deputy mayor goes, City Hall observers will look to see whether Henry appoints someone from within his administration, a local businessperson or a government pro like Malloy.
Some observers have mentioned Karen Goldner, who lost her City Council spot in the November election, as a possible replacement.
Goldner previously worked for the city for 17 years, including three as economic development director. But she has a good position with the business consultancy and venture capital firm Ruffolo Benson, where she is president of a venture fund. So a Deputy Mayor Goldner is far from a given.
