James R. 'Jim' Reilly, the former Chicago McPier, RTA and convention chief, has died at 77.
CHICAGO -- Jim Reilly, a downstate Illinois lawmaker who became chief of staff to two governors and headed agencies that oversaw mass transit in the Chicago area, state construction projects and the operations of McCormick Place and Navy Pier, has died at 77.
"As chairman of the RTA, he did more for transit than any other chairman of that organization that I'm aware of for the last 42 years," Schlickman said."He helped secure a funding initiative that avoided huge cuts in service and fare increases in 2008." In 1967, he graduated from Illinois College in Jacksonville, then went on to get a law degree in 1972 from the University of Chicago.After law school, he taught school in downstate Winchester. He was the city attorney for Jacksonville in the 1970s when he was elected to the Illinois General Assembly.
Starting in 1989, he was chief executive officer for a decade of the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority, the government agency known as McPier that oversees McCormick Place and Navy Pier. He helped oversee renovations and expansion including development at the McCormick Place South Building and Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.
"There are very few people in Illinois history that have ever had such a big effect on major projects and issues," said Kirk Dillard, who worked for Mr. Reilly when he was Thompson's chief of staff and now is chairman of the RTA board."Jim was an instrumental leader in so many projects affecting Illinoisans, from McCormick Place and Navy Pier to mass transit to education."
Mr. Reilly's wife is a senior staff executive assistant with the Illinois treasurer's office, according to Schlickman. Previously, she was a chief deputy in the Cook County assessor's office and served as a senior advisor on Bill Daley's unsuccessful 2013 run for governor. From 1977 to 1990, she worked for then-Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan, the longtime Democratic powerhouse, rising to be director of research on his appropriations staff.
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