Former alderman Leon Despres as often the only alderman in town with enough guts to vote AGAINST Mayor Daley the First. For those who aren’t from Chicago, aldermen are like the mayors of neighborhoods. They’re about as well known for corruption as any other local politician, but Despres was the exception. When columnist Mike Royko found out that Depres rode a bicycle instead of a cadillac, he didn’t believe he was an alderman at all. But Despres’s staff assured Royko that Leon was going to hire someone else to work the pedals.
We were fortunate enough to speak with Despres at Bughouse Square a couple of years ago – the interview as recorded on the Bughouse Square episode of our podcast
Link: Alderman Despres dies at 101.
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