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1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives wish to commend Alderperson Roderick T. Sawyer
4 on his service to the 6th Ward as a member of the Chicago City
5 Council; and
6 WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer was born and raised in Chicago's 6th
7 Ward, joined the 6th Ward Young Democrats as a child, and has
8 called the 6th Ward home his entire life; he is the youngest of
9 three children born to Celeste C. Taylor and the late
10 Honorable Eugene Sawyer, former Mayor of Chicago and 6th Ward
11 Alderperson; he attended the Howalton Day School before
12 graduating from St. Ignatius College Prep in 1981, earning his
13 Bachelor of Science in Finance from DePaul University four
14 years later; he received his Juris Doctor from IIT-Chicago
15 Kent College of Law in 1990 and was admitted to the Illinois
16 State Bar that same year; and
17 WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer has practiced at the Law Office of
18 Roderick T. Sawyer since 1993, becoming an expert on licensing
19 issues and specializing in election, real estate, and
20 administrative law; his legal experience includes serving as
21 an Administrative Law Judge for the Illinois Commerce
22 Commission, a Special Assistant Attorney General for the
23 Illinois Department of Transportation, a prosecutor for the
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1 Illinois Secretary of State, and as Counsel to Odelson &
2 Sterk, Ltd.; he also volunteers as General Counsel for the eta
3 Creative Arts Foundation; and
4 WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer was sworn in as Alderperson of the
5 6th Ward in May 2011, representing the Chatham, Chesterfield,
6 Englewood, Greater Grand Crossing, Park Manor, and
7 Auburn-Gresham neighborhoods; he was reelected in 2015 and
8 2019; he additionally became the Democratic Committeeman of
9 the 6th Ward in March 2012, and he was reelected to this
10 position in 2016 and 2020; he co-founded the Chicago City
11 Council's Progressive Reform Caucus in 2013, and he presided
12 as chairman of the Chicago City Council's Black Caucus from
13 2015 to 2019; and
14 WHEREAS, During his tenure, Ald. Sawyer has walked picket
15 lines in support of those seeking a living wage, participated
16 in countless town halls and forums, and offered free space to
17 community organizations; in 2018, he banded together with Ald.
18 Harry Osterman and the Grassroots Alliance for Police
19 Accountability (GAPA) to introduce a proposal for a
20 controversial multilevel plan for civilian oversight of the
21 Chicago Police Department, leading to the eventual passage of
22 Ordinance SO2019-4132 in 2021, which created Chicago's
23 first-ever civilian-led commission empowered to set police
24 department policy; following the police murder of George Floyd
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1 in 2020, he led the charge on an ordinance to create a
2 city-backed commission to study possible reparations for Black
3 Chicagoans; and
4 WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer has served as chairman of the Chicago
5 City Council's Committee on Health and Human Relations and
6 several joint committees; he has also served as a member of the
7 Committee on Budget and Government Operations, the Committee
8 on Committees and Rules, the Committee on Contracting
9 Oversight and Equity, the Committee on Economic, Capital and
10 Technology Development, the Committee on Finance, the
11 Committee on License and Consumer Protection, the Committee on
12 License and Consumer Protection, the Committee on Public
13 Safety, and several joint committees; and
14 WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer remains an active participant in all
15 of the 6th Ward's community organizations, including the
16 Resident Association of Greater Englewood (R.A.G.E.), the Park
17 Manor Neighbors Community Council, the Chatham Avalon Park
18 Community Council, the Greater Chatham Alliance, the
19 Chesterfield Community Council, the West Chesterfield
20 Community Council, the Roseland Heights Community Council, and
21 the 7200 Prairie Block Club, where he serves as president; and
22 WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer has served on the boards of the South
23 Shore Drill Team, the eta Creative Arts Foundation, the
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1 Meyering Park Advisory Council, and St. Mark A.M.E. Zion
2 Church; and
3 WHEREAS, Ald. Sawyer and his wife, Cheryll, have two
4 children, Sydni Celeste and Roderick T. Jr.; therefore, be it
5 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
6 HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
7 we commend Alderperson Roderick T. Sawyer for his work on the
8 Chicago City Council, and we thank him for his years of
9 dedicated service to the people of the 6th Ward and the City of
10 Chicago; and be it further
11 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
12 presented to Ald. Sawyer as a symbol of our esteem and respect.
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