Dan Knight never really wanted to be an alderman.
He was content doing the things many 50-something suburban dads do when not working, such as coaching their kids’ sports teams and doing charity work – both through his church, St. Paul of the Cross, and through other organizations.
Little did Dan know what path he was starting down that day back in 2008 when he agreed to support some of his neighbors in challenging the misguided installation of a homeless shelter in the basement of St. Mary’s Episcopal, just a block from Dan’s home.
The instigators of locating such a shelter – operated by a private, Palatine-based not-for-profit corporation called PADS to Hope, Inc. (“PADS, Inc.”) – in Park Ridge were some prominent residents and a group of local clergy calling themselves the “Park Ridge Ministerial Association” (“PRMA”). And, not surprisingly, they were backed by opportunistic local politicians such as then-mayor Howard Frimark.
Like many of his neighbors, Dan didn’t buy into the idea of strangers – most of them acknowledged or suspected alcoholics, drug abusers and/or emotionally disturbed – being trucked into their quiet residential neighborhood one night a week from October to April just so PADS, Inc. could add another shelter to its roster, the better to leverage even more public and private grant funding. So Dan not only joined his neighbors, he became one of their leaders. He attended City Council meetings and other public hearings, asking tough questions and voicing his neighbors’ concerns, even to the point of calling out his own pastor for using religion to play politics.
But Dan also objected to the idea of treating such disadvantaged people like cattle, herding them night by night from a church basement in Park Ridge to a school gym in Evanston, to a church hall in Morton Grove, etc. So he tried to enlist PADS shelter supporters in an effort to provide longer-term housing, either by renting vacant local residences or by booking blocks of rooms in a nearby motel so that the homeless could actually have a “home”: the same place to go to, night after night, for the six months per year the PADS shelter program functioned.
Not surprisingly, that longer-term concept didn’t fly with either the PADS operators or their PRMA allies. But by the time PADS, Inc. and the PRMA walked away from Park Ridge rather than comply with the City’s requirement that PADS, Inc. obtain a special use permit in compliance with the City’s Zoning Code, Dan was hooked.
He became a trusted advisor to then-ald. Dave Schmidt (1st Ward), especially on financial issues. And when Schmidt decided to take on an incumbent Frimark in the 2009 mayoral election, Dan became not only a key part of Schmidt’s policy team but also his campaign treasurer.
Dan’s advice was instrumental in the creation of Schmidt’s noteworthy campaign platform of “H.I.T.A.” – Honesty, Integrity, Transparency and Accountability – that helped Ald. Schmidt become Mayor Dave in an upset victory over Frimark; and it was a hallmark of Schmidt’s administration until his sudden and untimely death last year.
For the initial two years of Mayor Dave’s first term virtually every financial policy initiative he proposed, and virtually every financial position he took, was informed and/or vetted by Dan. So valuable were Dan’s contributions that Mayor Dave encouraged him to run for 5th Ward alderman in April 2011. And so strong was Dan’s support in that ward that nobody ran against him.
Ald. Dan continued to be Schmidt’s sounding board on City issues great and small.
Just weeks into his aldermanic tenure Dan began working closely with the City’s relatively new Finance Director, Allison Stutts, to unravel the City’s arcane and sometimes misleading finances which were in shambles – in no small measure because of that white elephant known as the Uptown TIF that nobody previously had attempted to really understand.
Dan spent countless hours not only with Stutts but also with her successor, Kent Oliven, and his successor, Joe Gilmore, analyzing how best to address all those TIF deficits that kept sucking up money faster than City taxpayers could supply it – and that caused a downgrade in the City’s bond rating.
Once Dan and the finance directors went as far as they could go on their own, Dan advocated for bringing in TIF consultant Kane McKenna to provide the City with the first informed and honest assessment of what the TIF had done to City finances, and it was an eye-opener: as of year-end 2012, the City was still on the hook for over $39 million in TIF-related debt service; and the best-case scenario was that the TIF would end up costing the City over $7 million rather than producing the $20 million in profits the TIF perpetrators had predicted back in 2003-05.
But finally understanding the situation ultimately led to some TIF-related bond refunding that already has saved the City several million dollars of debt service, with the possibility of more to come. And that refunding, along with the policy of “prudent austerity” combined with “reasonable…tax and fee increases” (according to Moody’s Investors Service) instituted by Schmidt, not only helped put the brakes on the decline in the City’s bond rating but, also, caused Moody’s to remove the “negative outlook” for the City’s Aa2 general obligation bond rating.
Yet all this is only a fraction of what Ald. Knight did for this community in his slightly more than five years in office – most of which the general public will never know or appreciate. Which is the way he wanted it.
Dan never shied away from telling it like it is, often displaying the candor of his South Side Irish origin by calling “B.S.” on any public official or special interest lacking the proper respect for the City and its taxpayers. That’s why you could find no more honest and genuine a public official – in any branch of Park Ridge local government – and why he earned the respect and trust of his Council colleagues and of his constituents, who re-elected him without opposition in 2015.
“The pipes” called Danny Knight last week at age 58, leaving a legacy of service and accomplishments not unlike those of his friend and ally, Mayor Dave. Although they were public officials, they most definitely were not “politicians” because they would rather be right, and do right, than be popular.
Both of them left us far too early and with much still to be done. But they also left behind colleagues committed to H.I.T.A. and to putting the taxpayers first.
James Madison said: “If men were angels, no government would be necessary.”
So we take some small comfort in believing that where Danny now is, no further duties will be required of him.
Slán, Dan…do anois.
12 comments so far
Well said Bob. It has been a really tough year and a half for this council with Dave, Bob Wilkenning and now Dan’s loss.
We were lucky to have officials like Dave and Dan pull us back from the brink of financial disaster and set us on a course of recovery and growth.
Although their loss is disheartening, I want to believe that the current council and the council to be after April 4th will continue down the path Dave and Dan set for us.
When Dan passed I lost a good friend, trusted advisor and ally on matters of transparency and open meetings. Dan almost always voted with me to not go into closed sessions. After Mayor Dave appointed me on the Uptown TIF committee I worked closely with Dan, the city’s bond advisor and the city manager in tackling the TIF and coming up with ways to ease the burden on the city. It was during those meetings that I watched Dan in his element, probing and questioning every facet and coming up with and suggesting innovative and out of the box ideas to deal with the crushing debt.
Expertise, knowledge and commitment such as Dan’s are hard to replace and our city has suffered a setback with his loss. His contributions went much deeper and further than what you and I have covered here.
He was chairman of the Mayor’s Advisory Board and put substantial amounts of time in to organize and run those meetings where we interviewed and carefully appointed volunteers to staff the city’s many boards and commissions.
He attended many Library Board meetings as the City Council’s liaison to that body and spent untold hours working with the city’s various finance directors and city managers in ensuring we stayed the course in fiscal matters.
He was always a phone call away when I needed to bounce an idea off someone else or to clarify an issue on the meeting packet before a council meeting.
When Dave passed away Dan and his beloved Sue were the first ones to jump in and ensure that Dave’s Grilling for the Arts fundraiser continued and grew, raising more and more money every year for the Park Ridge Fine Arts Society. The list goes on and on.
He always gave of himself and his time freely and generously, happy to serve and honored to represent. As humorous and as laid back as he was as a person he was serious and all business when it came to carrying out his duties as a public servant and elected representative.
I will certainly miss him but hope to follow his example and carry on the work.
Farewell Dan.
Ald. Knight was an outstanding public official in his own right, but I did not realize how closely he worked with Mayor Schmidt. Park Ridge was fortunate to have both of them, although for far too short a time.
I hope Ald. Milissis is right and that the City Council continues to follow the principles these two great leaders followed.
RIP, Ald. Knight. You will be missed by many of us.
I’ve started this several times, all I can say is that you will be greatly missed by many of us Dan, and that seems so trite. But it’s the truth. Peace to you.
Unlike some others who see city council as a mere stepping stone to a “higher office” (preferably with a salary and a pension–township or state govt) Dan was an alderman seeking to do the right thing for our city and to maintain not only its fiscal integrity but its small town pleasant family friendly atmosphere. Let’s hope others are inspired by his acts and step up –and let’s not let those with special interest agendas infiltrate our city for the sake of private profit. Dan will be missed. The best tribute to him is to support and elect those that will act like he acted and who will protect the city like he protected it. Get informed, get involved, vote correctly.
Rest In Peace Dan. There are many of us that will work hard to continue your good works.
Ald. Knight was a plain-speaking man of the people who you correctly branded as “genuine.” We need more what you see is what you get people like him in government.
He will be missed.
Dan was a good friend, not to mention my alderman. Living in Illinois the past couple of decades has made me cynical; it never seems that any elected official, at any level of local, city, county or state government and/or taxation, really represented my interests. Dan did. I hope that current and future city council members follow his example, and that neighbors we elect to other taxing bodies note carefully Dan’s hard work and interrogative approach. That would be a great way to carry on Dan’s (and Dave’s) legacy.
God bless you, amigo.
He was my alderman and he was so well respected by other fifth ward residents I know that he probably would have been re-elected again without opposition. The good die too young.
I hope the fifth ward can find somebody capable of living up to Ald. Knight’s standards. We have lost a true man of integrity. Godspeed, Alderman.
And Knight will be missed. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to PR. Rest In Peace
Won’t be missed here.
He didn’t care for our Officers or FF’s for that matter. He along with Mayor Dave were two peas in a pod for sure. Maybe we can locate a volunteer that cares for all of Park Ridge…not just the better side. The hard on for many included the fag flap by lowering the American flag when Dave passed as well. Too much kool aid….
EDITOR’S NOTE: Frankly, not being missed by the likes of you is just another sign of his (and Mayor Dave’s) value to this community – where police officers and FFs have a sweet enough deal (because crime is so low, major fires are rare, and the pay is relatively good) that they rarely, if ever, leave for another force/dept.; and there are plenty of applicants for every vacancy.
Mr Knight seemed like a good guy but his and Schmidt’s and your brand of team party politics is one of the factors responsible for getting Trump elected. Thanks guys.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Not sure what you mean by “your brand of team party politics,” but if you were to check the voting records you would find that only Schmidt regularly voted Republican: Knight and this editor more often voted Democratic.
As for “getting Trump elected,” it’s totally unfair to take any credit for that away from Hillary Clinton.
Quite honestly I have lived in town for over 30 years and raised and continue to, my family here.This is the first time I have seen nor written in this forum. I had the honor of meeting Dan when his son and mine played soccer together. For many years I coached and cut orange slices along with Sue and Dan. We reconnected years ago as Dan became involved in the Park Ridge political scene and I started investing /developing properties in Park Ridge . He made me feel that both of us had a value in making this town a better place to live, he told me when he thought my visions were good and sometimes not so good. He stood with his constituents most of the time but often spoke up if they were not accurate as well.Bottom line he was a class act and will be very missed. I had the pleasure of seeing Sue in town the other day and it really hit home he was no longer with us. Point to consider is to keep in touch with people you like or enjoy because our time here is limited at best. Dan made an impact on many peoples lives and I am glad we reconnected in his last few years. Rest in Peace my friend!!
EDITOR’S NOTE: Welcome, Mr. Cioromski, and thank you for your kind words about Ald. Knight – who called ’em like he saw ’em, irrespective of whether you were friend or foe.
We hope you will check back over the upcoming few months, especially in connection with the mayoral election. We promise that you will be both informed and entertained.
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