John Norquist

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John Olof Norquist (born October 22, 1949) is an American politician and 37th mayor of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as mayor from 1988 until he left office in 2004 to lead the Congress for the New Urbanism.

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[edit] Personal background

Norquist was born in Princeton, New Jersey, where his father, Rev. Ernest O. Norquist was attending seminary. His mother is Jeanne Norquist.

He is married to Susan Mudd and has one son, Benjamin, and one daughter, Katherine. Susan is the great-granddaughter of Samuel Mudd, the infamous doctor who treated President Abraham Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth.

[edit] Early political career

He was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1975, where he served until seeking and winning a seat in the Wisconsin State Senate in 1983.

[edit] Mayor of Milwaukee

In 1988, Norquist campaigned and won the job of Mayor of Milwaukee. His tenure as mayor of Milwaukee came on the heels of the 28-year reign by Henry Maier.

Norquist can perhaps best be described as a "fiscally-conservative socialist." [1]. He was strongly in favor of light-rail as a solution for the city's transit problems, although his dream never came close to fruition. He was known throughout the country for his anti-freeway stance, and the removal of the "Park East Freeway", the largest highway ever purposely destroyed. He consistently reduced the property tax rate every year since becoming mayor and kept city budgets from growing beyond the rate of inflation.

One of the first controversies of Norquist's tenure occurred in 1988, when he took a trip to Israel. The trip was paid for by local Milwaukee Jewish organizations, but as a result of the controversy, Norquist afterwards paid much of the cost himself. On his return, the Milwaukee Sentinel printed a political cartoon showing him getting off a plane dressed as a Hasidic Jewish rabbi. The cartoon created an uproar, and the Sentinel published an apology for it.

In December 2000, Norquist's future as mayor was thrown into doubt as a staff assistant, Marilyn Figueroa, alleged that the mayor had sexually harassed her. Norquist admitted to a five year consensual affair, but the case refused to go away. When he was presented in June 2003 with the opportunity to lead the Congress for the New Urbanism, Norquist said that he would resign at the end of the year rather than serving his full term which expired in April 2004. The announcement was timed to prevent a special election. Instead, the head of the common council, Marvin Pratt, served as acting mayor.

His term was marked by public conflicts with other city leaders, including Bo Black, former head of Summerfest; Arthur Jones, his one-time bodyguard who became chief of police; and Bradley DeBraska, head of the police union.

[edit] Post mayoral career

At the beginning of 2004, Norquist began working full time as the head of the Congress for the New Urbanism, an urban development organization based in Chicago, Illinois.

[edit] Works

Norquist, John O. The Wealth of Cities (1998). ISBN 0-7382-0134-0

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Henry W. Maier		 Mayor of Milwaukee
1988–2004		 Succeeded by:
Marvin Pratt (acting mayor)
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