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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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| <- |
2003-01-01 |
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| Name | John O. Norquist |
| Address | 736 South 32nd St.
Milwaukee, Wisconsin , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | None |
| Born |
October 22, 1949
(74 years)
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| Contributor | Thomas Walker |
| Last Modifed | Mr. Matt
Oct 04, 2020 01:44pm |
| Tags |
Caucasian - Swedish - Straight -
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| Info | John Olof Norquist 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.
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. In 1974 he ran against completing the Stadium South Freeway, which was to run from Milwaukee County Stadium south to I-894. In 1974, nearly 50% of the freeway segment was either built or the land was cleared for construction. Mr. Norquist opposed the Stadium South despite his constituents voting for completion in the November 1974 Milwaukee County freeway referenda. This was common of the time, with other local officials opposing freeway segments--claiming to represent their constituents--but then losing the referendum votes. All 5 remaining Milwaukee County freeway segments passed in the November 1974 referendum (complementing the April 1967 city vote in favor of the Park East-Lake Freeway project). Ignoring majority wishes for additional freeway construction, Norquist joined forces with emerging generation of legislators including James Moody (later a U.S. Congressman) in opposing freeway expansion and was re-elected to the Assembly and advanced to the State Senate. While in the Senate, Norquist served on the powerful Joint Finance Committee and was recognized by Milwaukee Magazine as a leading legislator.
Norquist can perhaps best be described as a "fiscally conservative socialist." Also going by the nickname "Dorky Norqi", 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 for 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.
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.
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