Eugene Sawyer - Alderman and Mayor

Alderman and Mayor

In 1971, Sawyer was elected as an alderman of the 6th ward. He continued in the position until 1987, when the sudden death of Harold Washington created a vacancy in the position of mayor. Sawyer was elected mayor by the other members of the city council in a tumultuous and bitter meeting protested by thousands of angry minority and progressive citizens, and took over from interim mayor David Duvall Orr.

Sawyer's inauguration for mayor occurred in the parking lot of a closed restaurant at North and Bosworth Avenues at 4:01 am on December 2, 1987. The reason for this was to avoid the type of angry demonstration that accompanied his election. Washington's tenure had culminated in the creation of a coalition of minority and progressive council members who were poised to enact a program of reforms when he died unexpectedly. That coalition had chosen another Washington lieutenant, Timothy Evans, to replace him. The opposition, mostly white old-guard conservative machine politicos, convinced Sawyer to oppose Evans, with their backing, and the progressive coalition was broken.

Washington's time as mayor was filled with controversy and racial hostility from white conservative and white ethnic voters, and while Sawyer's tenure went much more smoothly, the cost was significant. Sawyer managed to pass several major initiatives begun by Washington, including placing lights in Wrigley Field, an Ethics Ordinance to prevent corruption, and one of the first human rights ordinances that protected gays and lesbians from discrimination. However, the progressive coalition that had finally ousted the political machine of former mayor Richard J. Daley was destroyed. Within two years Daley's son, Richard M. Daley, would be elected to succeed Sawyer, going on to reconstitute his father's organization and dominate Chicago politics for the next twenty-two years.