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Arthur "Art" Schultz (c. 1933) is an American Republican politician.^[1] He is the fifth-term mayor of Joliet, Illinois, which is the fourth largest municipality in the state,^[2] behind Chicago, which is located 35 miles (56.3 km) to the northeast,^[3] Aurora and Rockford.^[2] He was last elected in April 2007. Prior to his first election, he served in the United States Navy and in the Joliet Police Department.^[4]

His first attempt at public service was highly controversial because he finished as first runner-up in the Joliet City Council election of 1989. When a sitting councilwoman died a few months after the election, he was passed over several times for the nomination which customarily is given to the runner-up in the most recent election.^[5] He returned to elective politics to defeat the mayor who refused to nominate him in the subsequent election in 1991.^[6]

In his time in office, the Joliet economy turned around from the economy of a stagnant prison town with declining population^[7] to a fast growing entertainment and tourism economy.^[8] The city benefited from the casino industry which has provided unexpected revenue bounties. Residential and commercial construction has blossomed and the community has seen racing tracks, a baseball stadium and several civic works develop as a result of the booming economy.^[9]

Personal

He was born and raised in Joliet and attended parochial schools in the city.^[4] He was an altar boy.^[10] Schultz, like the two Joliet Mayors who preceded him, is a graduate of Joliet Catholic High School.^[11] After high school, he served four years in the United States Navy during the Korean Conflict. He then worked for the Joliet Police Department for 29 years before being elected mayor in 1991.^[4]

Schultz and his wife were married on November 6, 1954 at The Cathedral of St. Raymond.^[12] As of his fiftieth wedding anniversary in 2004, Schultz had five children and eight grandchildren.^[4][13] His children are Debbie (married to Richard) Fonck, Nancy (Steve) Voots, Art (Nancy) Schultz, Dan (Sue) Schultz and Mike Schultz.^[12] On November 15, 2006, a grand jury in Will County, Illinois indicted his son, Arthur Schultz Jr., for official misconduct and tampering with public records, in a case involving fixing traffic tickets.^[14] His daughter Nancy Schultz Voots, who celebrated her 25th anniversary a few months before her parent's 50th,^[15] is the Will County Clerk.^[16]

On November 16, 1993 Schultz had a laryngectomy after having had vocal chord tumors removed the previous May.^[17] Schultz lost his voice for a period before regaining it after several months of home recuperation with the aid of a voice prosthesis that was inserted into a neck valve.^[4][13]

As of the July 1, 2007 United States Census Bureau population estimates, Joliet had a population of 144,316, which ranked it as the 162 largest incorporated municipality in the United States and the fourth largest in the state of Illinois.^[2]

Political career

Elections

He ran for the election to the Joliet City Council during the Spring 1989 municipal elections.^[18] Schultz advanced from the February 28, 1989 primary election to the general election in what the Chicago Tribune described as a surprisingly strong showing,^[19] but he finished fourth in the six-way April 4 general election race for three seats.^[20] In August 1989, Joliet Councilwoman Margaret Short died with two years remaining in her term and Joliet Mayor Charles Connor had the responsibility of nominating a replacement for consideration by the remaining councilmen. Instead of following the custom of nominating the first runner-up in the most recent council election (Schultz in this case), Connor nominated a political ally in September. The council did not support the nomination and after some delay she withdrew her own name on September 19.^[21][22] When Connor's second nomination was again not one of the runners-up, it was again defeated, which led to council legislation to strip him of his power to nominate councilmen. On October 17, Connor became the first Joliet Mayor since the mid-1970s to refuse to sign legislation passed by the Joliet City Council.^[23] On November 21, there was unanimous agreement on a compromise candidate who was also not one of the runners-up.^[5]

At the time of the non-partisan February 26, 1991 Mayoral primary election, the Chicago Tribune described Joliet as suffering from stagnant economy and sagging population. Between 1980 and 1990 the population had declined to 76,836 from 77,956, according to the United States Census Bureau.^[7] Connor was challenged by three candidates, including Schultz.^[7] Schultz narrowly won the primary election by a 2,709–2,545 (38%–36%) margin over Connor, but both candidates advanced to the April general election since they finished first and second in the primary.^[24] On April 2, Schultz won by a 6,081–5,534 margin.^[6]

Schultz has been approved handily in his re-election bids. In 1995, he earned 67 percent of the vote in the primary election and 68 percent in the general election.^[25][26] He was unopposed in 1999.^[27] In 2003, he became the first four-term mayor for Joliet, which was incorporated in 1852, by taking 83% of the vote in a four-way contest.^[28][29] In 2007, he earned 73% of the vote in a three-way contest.^[30]

Service

In June 1989, with the blessing of Will County officials,^[31] the Illinois Senate approved riverboat gambling by passing two bills that permit gambling along the Mississippi, Illinois and Des Plaines Rivers.^[32] Both houses of the Illinois General Assembly agreed on riverboat gambling in January 1990,^[33] but gambling did not commence in Joliet until June 17, 1992.^[34] However, by January 1993, gambling in Joliet was so successful that Schultz described Joliet as "the riverboat-gambling capital of the world".^[34] In October 1993, Schultz noted that crime in the city declined with the advent of gambling.^[35] The first few years of gambling were so successful that by 1995, before Indiana approved gambling, Joliet expected to be debt free in 2001.^[36] Schultz described the surprisingly sizable gambling industry revenues as "manna from Heaven" and encouraged other cities to try legalized gambling.^[37]

Between 1993 and 1997 Schultz only received a total of US$1,500 in gambling-related political contributions.^[38] During the 1990s, Joliet was one of the fastest growing cities in the state, and in 2000 its residential and commercial construction were at record-setting levels, according to Schultz.^[39][40] Schultz also credits gambling revenues with having enabled the city to halt tax increases for a decade and to build a new police station and three new firehouses.^[9] Despite the success and growth Joliet has seen there have been disappointments such as the fact that Harrah's Joliet Casino did not build its hotel nearly as quickly as Schultz would have liked.^[41]

In 1999, the Joliet City Council approved the construction of the Chicagoland Speedway on 930 acres (3.76 km²) of land next to the Route 66 Raceway.^[42] Between 2000 and 2002 Joliet was the tenth fastest growing city in the United States.^[9] Under Schultz, the city ended nearly 150 years as a prison town with the closure of the Joliet Correctional Center and focussed its economy on entertainment and tourism.^[8]

Silver Cross Field, which was built in 2002 to host the Joliet Jackhammers of the Northern League is located at 1 Mayor Art Schultz Dr.^[43]

Joliet's growth is partly due to a series of successful but contentious annexations that occurred under Schultz. In the early 1990s the city annexed 55 acres (0.22 km²) for the construction of the Empress Riverboat Casino complex.^[44] In 1999, the city annexed 923 acres (3.74 km²) for the construction of the Chicagoland Speedway, which when combined with the Route 66 Raceway made Joliet the only racing facility host in the United States capable of hosting races from each major category in professional auto racing.^[45][46][47] In 2001, the city acquired 12 parcels totaling 8 acres (32,000 m²) through expedited condemnations to build Silver Cross Field.^[48] In 2005, the city annexed 988 acres (4.00 km²) to provide a growth corridor for commercial and residential growth.^[49] By 2007, the recent history of prosperous growth and prospects of continued future growth necessitated that Joliet agree on borders with one neighboring municipality and that it consider future borders with others.^[50]

Notes

Mayors of cities with populations of 100,000 in Illinois     Richard M. Daley (Chicago) Tom Weisner (Aurora) Larry Morrissey (Rockford) Arthur Schultz (Joliet) A. George Pradel (Naperville) Timothy Davlin (Springfield) Jim Ardis (Peoria) Ed Schock (Elgin)