Just a month
after Jesse Jackson's wife, Sandi, resigned from the Chicago City Council,
Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced on Feb. 11 that Alabama State University alumna
Natashia L. Holmes ('97) will be the new alderman representing Chicago's 7th
Ward.
"After an
extensive and thorough process, I am pleased to announce that Natashia L.
Holmes will be the new alderman representing the 7th Ward," said Emanuel.
"Natashia will bring professionalism and a strong sense of the needs of the
community to the position and I am confident that she will be a steadfast
advocate for the residents of the 7th Ward."
The selection
of Holmes came after a thorough process in which 48 candidates were reviewed by
a five-member selection committee. Four finalists met with the mayor last week
and he made his final decision over the weekend.
"I am very
excited about this opportunity and I look forward to doing my best to represent
the needs, interests, and aspirations of the people of the 7th Ward," Holmes
said. "We have a lot of opportunity ahead of us and I believe that by working
together we can create a brighter future for everyone."
Holmes is a
career expert in policy development, data analysis and project management and
logistics. Prior to being named alderman, she worked for Metro Strategies.
Metro Strategies provides planning, policy and public affairs services to
public, private and nonprofit entities. She also has served as a senior
official at the Illinois Department of Transportation, where she worked to
foster coordination between transit and rail programs; worked as senior
transportation associate for the Metropolitan Planning Council; and began her
professional career with the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference as a
transportation planning liaison.
Holmes has
lived in Chicago most of her adult life and has been an active resident of the
7th Ward and a vibrant member of the Chicago community. She has served as
president of the Metropolitan Conference on Public Transportation Research for
two years and as a community representative on the Adam Clayton Powell Jr.,
Paideia Academy Local School Council. She is currently a member of the External
Advisory Board for the University of Illinois at Chicago's Institute for
Environmental Science and Policy.
Holmes holds
a B.S. from Alabama State University, College of Education; a Master of
Community Planning from Auburn University, College of Architecture, Design and
Construction; and a J.D. from the Illinois Institute of Technology's
Chicago-Kent College of Law.
"We are
pleased with the selection of our newest colleague,"said Alderman Michelle
Harris (8th Ward), who sat on the selection committee. "We will surely aid our
newest member of the council to ensure that her constituents' needs are
met."
Emanuel
thanked the selection committee for their efforts on behalf of the city of
Chicago.
"The
selection committee undertook a very important task and completed it admirably
and efficiently, and the 7th Ward and the entire city of Chicago will benefit
from their work," said Emanuel. "I am very appreciative of their commitment and
their willingness to use their time on behalf of Chicagoans."
Holmes
appeared in front of the City Council's Rules Committee prior to the full City
Council meeting on Feb. 13 and was sworn in as part of the full meeting of the
council.
The 7th
Ward includes the South Shore, South Chicago, Calumet Heights, Jeffrey Manor
and South Deering communities.
INFORMATION SOURCE: Alabama State University
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