[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 150 (Thursday, December 7, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2148]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO THE LATE JAMES DAKEN

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARCY KAPTUR

                                of ohio

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 7, 2000

  Ms. KAPTUR. Mr. Speaker, with great respect, gratitude, but sadness, 
I enter into the Congressional Record the life story of Mr. James 
Daken, one of the most accomplished city managers in our nation, who 
died earlier this year in Peoria, Illinois.
  For those of us who knew Jim as City Manager for the City of Toledo, 
there is no question his professionalism and leadership remain with us 
even until today. He served our community honorably, beginning in 1967, 
and then moved to Peoria in 1979 to continue his work building 
America's midwestern heritage. For certain, it was Toledo's loss and 
Peoria's gain.
  I can remember Jim as the type of manager that would compliment other 
city employees, even beginning staffers in low level positions. He was 
a team builder and lifted public administration to a higher level in 
our community, for which we remain grateful always.
  To his wife, children, and family, may I officially extend deepest 
sympathy coupled with true admiration for a superb public servant who 
moved America forward in the 20th century.

              [From the Blade, Toledo, OH, July 12, 2000]

              Ex-Toledoan Set U.S. Record as City Manager

       James B. Daken of Peoria, Ill., a former Toledo city 
     manager who was America's youngest manager of a major city 
     when he took the job at age 29, died of lung cancer Monday in 
     his home. He was 58.
       In 1971, the International City Management Association 
     named him one of its 10 outstanding young men.
       Mr. Daken, who was born, raised, and educated in 
     Cincinnati, came to Toledo in July, 1967, when he took the 
     job of assistant city manager. He was promoted to city 
     manager in March, 1971, and held the post until October, 
     1976, when he moved to Hartford, Conn., to become its city 
     manager.
       Former Mayor Harry Kessler credited Mr. Daken with being 
     ``largely responsible for the success I had as mayor. He and 
     [the late] Frank Pizza did the most. I was questioned 
     seriously about hiring a 29-year-old as city manager, but Jim 
     was a 29-year-old going on 39 years old or 49.''
       Under the city charter at the time, city council selected 
     the city manager from candidates recommended by the mayor.
       Mr. Kessler said after he became mayor, he organized a 
     citizens committee to study municipal government to help city 
     officials identify problems and possible fixes.
       ``More than 90 per cent of the committee's recommendations 
     were adopted,'' Mr. Kessler said. ``Jim Daken was responsible 
     for organizing the recommendations of the committee so that 
     they could be made into ordinances that would pass council's 
     scrutiny.''
       Ohio Supreme Court Justice Andy Douglas said he was a 
     member of the Toledo council committee that selected Mr. 
     Daken for the city manager's job.
       ``His major contribution was bringing stillness to troubled 
     waters,'' Justice Douglas said. ``He inherited a number of 
     cumbersome, difficult, and complicated matters, and he 
     provided solutions generally acceptable to all.''
       Expansion of Toledo's water and sewer services to outside 
     communities in Lucas and Wood counties was a priority with 
     Justice Douglas as a councilman, and he credited Mr. Daken 
     with helping the city to achieve those sales.
       ``The only thing the city makes money on is the sale of 
     water,'' Justice Douglas said. ``I think the city's water-
     pumping capacity was increased from about 140 to 160 million 
     gallons a day, and there are plans to raise that to more than 
     200 million gallons. He was directly involved in bringing 
     that about.''
       Former Toledo Councilwoman Carol Pietrykowski said she was 
     chairwoman of the council committee that hired Mr. Daken. She 
     noted that ``Jim came in and made a presentation, very 
     professionally, and I was impressed with it. Whatever Jim 
     did, he did well.''
       Later, Mr. Daken as city manager impressed Mrs. 
     Pietrykowski again with his ability to explain to each 
     council member complicated legislation that was coming before 
     council.
       ``He was the most communicative and the easiest city 
     manager to work with while I was on council,'' Mrs. 
     Pietrykowski said. ``When there was an issue, he would come 
     to every councilman. He would answer every question we had. 
     And he was very fair with the city council's office staff.''
       Mrs. Pietrykowski added that Mr. Daken ``knew who he worked 
     for. It was city council in those days.''
       J. Michael Porter, a former city manager, said that when he 
     was Toledo's director of natural
       Mr. Porter added that Mr. Daken was a ``professional's 
     professional. He believed in the city-manager system and did 
     everything he could to enhance the profession.''
       Mr. Daken was city manager in Peoria from 1979 to 1987 and 
     was vice president of the Foster and Gallagher, Inc., mail 
     order and telemarketing firm in Peoria from 1987 to 1996. He 
     was executive director of the Peoria Historical Society from 
     1997 to 1999, when he took his most recent job as Peoria 
     County administrator.
       His daughter, Amy, described him as a very intelligent and 
     just person who ``had a lot of integrity. I think he just 
     really tried the hardest to do what he truly believed was 
     right. He had a very strong sense of social justice and civil 
     rights: He always stood for people who were oppressed and 
     always thought about them.''
       She added that he recently told her a story about his trip 
     to Peoria just before he became city manager there.
       ``The first thing he said was, `Show me the slums, because 
     that's what the state of the city is,' '' she said.
       He also recently refused to get a higher pay increase than 
     the people working for the county under him, she said.
       Raised in Cincinnati where he finished high school, Mr. 
     Daken held a bachelor's in political science and a master's 
     in public administration from the University of Cincinnati. 
     In 1964, he began his career as a student intern for the city 
     of Cincinnati. He later worked as a budget analyst for the 
     city of Cincinnati until the city of Toledo hired him as its 
     assistant manager.
       Mr. Daken was a member of Toledo's Downtown Kiwanis, Old 
     Newsboys Goodfellow Association, American Society for Public 
     Administration; Children's International Summer Villages 
     Association and YMCA, Peoria Rotary Club, where he was 
     president in 1997, and the Peoria Symphony, for which he was 
     a longtime member of the board.
       Surviving are his wife, Peggy; daughters, Amy and Sarah, 
     and sons, Russ and Kevin.
       Memorial services will be at 10 a.m. tomorrow in St. 
     Vincent de Paul Church, Peoria. Visitation will be after 4 
     p.m. today in Wright and Salmon Mortuary, Peoria.
       The family request tributes to a charity of the donor's 
     choice.

     

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