The death of Chicago School Board President Michael Scott was ruled a suicide this afternoon by the Cook County Medical Examiner's office. He died of a gunshot wound to the head, officials said. That was fast. Did they have the death certificate already filled out?
And no need for those pesky toxicology reports that always take weeks to come back ...
When police found his body early this morning, Scott was face down in a foot of water along the Chicago River downtown, a .380-caliber handgun under his body, a source said.
Gun under water = no fingerprints. My compliments
The 60-year-old Scott, Mayor Daley's go-to-guy for years, had a gunshot wound to his left temple.
Just wondering, was he left handed?
He left behind his cell phone on a ledge overlooking the river on the west side of the Apparel Center, 350 N. Orleans. But he left no note, a source said.
So his phone is on the ledge and he's in the water. But only a foot of water. And the gun is under him. I know the area. The ledge is indeed some dozen feet up from the water. So he shoots himself on the ledge and falls into the puddle keeping the gun under him. Difficulty factor 3.8. And I thought the Olympics weren't coming to town!
Scott, who was reported missing by his family Sunday, night had apparently plunged about 15 feet from the ledge into the shallow water. His car -- a blue Cadillac -- was found about 30 feet from his body, a source said. Police found the body at 3:15 a.m. It was taken to the department's Marine Unit headquarters and then transported to the Cook County Medical Examiner's office.
As details continued to emerge about the stunning death of the head of Chicago's school board, family, friends, colleagues expressed their sadness. An ashen Daley said he saw no indication that his close friend was troubled, saying Scott's death "is a shock for everyone." "No, no. None whatsoever," Daley said when asked if he sensed Scott was struggling with personal issues. "Mike was always helping people with troubles."
Daley said he has known Scott for 30 years and said his friend "knows more than anyone else about the school system."
Alarm bell #1
"He was truly a Chicagoan," Daley said. "Born on the West Side, loved the West Side of the City of Chicago. Helped an enormous amount of people. He could diffuse issues at all time with his personality." Daley was scheduled to be the keynote speaker at a conference in Michigan today but abruptly canceled his plans when he heard the stunning news about his longtime friend. Sources said the mayor had to pull himself together before making a personal visit to the home of Scott's widow, Diana Palomar Scott. He also met with Scott's two children and brother this morning.
"He's not just the mayor's school board president, he is his friend of more than three decades," said mayoral press secretary Jacquelyn Heard. "He was a reliable partner -- someone who unquestionably cared about Chicago neighborhoods, the West Side, and cared about children and people who were down on their luck." Scott's family, in a prepared statement, said it "deeply appreciates the outpouring of support during this time of unimaginable grief. Our personal loss is also shared by many throughout Chicago, the home he loved so much. We will miss him greatly." Arrangements for a public memorial service will be announced shortly, the family said.
Scott was reported missing from his home in the Monroe police district on the Near West Side in Chicago Sunday, sources said. He had just visited his sister at a nursing home. Fire crews arrived about 3:20 a.m. to recover the body in the loading dock area of the Apparel Center, which houses the Chicago Sun-Times among other businesses.
Ah, the docks - or "dadocks". Murder on the waterfront? Absurd!
A Chicago Public Schools spokeswoman did not return calls for comment. Belmont Area detectives are conducting a death investigation.
A stunned Rev. Jesse Jackson showed up at the scene Monday morning after hearing about Scott's death on the news. He said he spoke with him last week -- and Scott sounded normal to him. "Everyone thought Michael was their guy," Jackson said. "People are so very sad. .. . The suddenness of it all -- midday has become midnight. The sun has been eclipsed." Jackson described Scott as someone equally comfortable working with Chicago's poorest children or sitting courtside at a Bulls game.
"That's why I think the mayor leaned on Michael the most," Jackson said.
Alarm bell #2
U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan, the former CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, issued a statement saying he was "shocked and saddened." "Michael cared passionately about public education and made many courageous decisions as President of the Board," Duncan said. "He gave his time, energy and talents to improving the life chances of children. Chicago has lost a great leader and the city's schoolchildren have lost a devoted champion. I extend my deepest condolences to his wife and family."
Friends say Scott was extremely distraught recently about the death of his first wife, Millicent, the mother of his children.
Ron Huberman, who replaced Arne Duncan as schools CEO, was at Scott's Near West Side condominium this morning to offer condolences to family and friends. He was joined by schools spokeswoman Monique Bond and Rev. Jackson, who was offering prayers. Huberman, in a statement, said: "We are heartbroken and saddened by the unspeakable tragedy. Our immediate thoughts are with Michael's family and everyone who was touched by him. Michael Scott's commitment to Chicago Public Schools, and especially to our school children, was longstanding. On behalf of his CPS family, he will be greatly missed."
Huberman was among a stream of well-wishers who arrived at the North Ada condo. Many had tear-streaked faces. Some brought bags of food.
Chicago aldermen were stunned by the news of Scott's death. Calling Scott an "eternal optimist" and a consummate problem-solver, some of them refused to believe he had taken his own life.
"No matter what the situation was, Michael could come up with a solution for you. He was too much of a problem-solver to say, 'I'm gonna end my life because of some indiscretion. What could have been so tragic in his life that he'd say, 'The hell with it. I'm gonna end it all.' I just don't see that being Michael," said Ald. Carrie Austin (34th), chairman of the City Council's Budget Committee. "How did you get a person out of the river and just automatically say he committed suicide. Without any investigation at all you just come to that conclusion?"
Be careful, Carrie. You never know when someone might take you down by the river
Austin said she has known Scott for more than 25 years and he has been a constant source of encouragement for her during some of the lowest moments of her life. The cheerleading started with the death of Austin's husband, Ald. Lemuel Austin (34th). "Michael said, `You can get through this. Lemuel wants you to get through this.‚ When he found out I was in line for the appointment, he told me, `Carrie, hold your head up now. You can get this. I was like, `I have so many drawbacks. I've got kids.' And he said, `You can work all that in. You did it when Lemuel was alive. You can do it now," Austin said.
Cook County Board President Todd Stroger issued a statement through a spokesman Monday morning offering his condolences. "My wife and I would like to extend our heartfelt condolences to the family of Michael Scott," Stroger said. "Mr. Scott was a strong advocate for education. His contributions to the minority communities of Cook County will be sorely missed. In particular, his love for the upward mobility of residents from Chicago's West Side where he spent his life."
Scott was Daley's long-time go-to guy but raised eyebrows earlier this year when he disclosed to the Sun-Times that he had been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury investigating how students were selected for the system's elite selective-enrollment high schools.
Bing! There goes that alarm bell again
Scott insisted he had done nothing wrong, but the system responded with a massive crackdown on college prep principals' ability to handpick up to five percent of their seats outside the normal selection process. An aide to Scott had requested such a pick at Whitney Young High School, but later withdrew the request at Scott's insistence, sources said at the time.
This has been a quiet scandal. Ev'ryone knows that Chicago has two public school systems: the usual one for the poor kids and the 'magnet' schools for the middle-class kids. Your kid could test well and get into a magnet school, but it's a lot easier if you know someone, you know?
The furor emerged after Daley had appointed Scott to serve a second stint as school board president. Scott had recommended that sports agent Rufus Williams succeed him in that job, but Williams ruffled so many feathers that he resigned under pressure and Daley re-installed Scott to head the school board and oversee the city's public schools -- a top Daley priority.
Daley said Monday that Scott was not bothered by the federal subpoena. "That didn't bother him," Daley said.
Did it bother you, Mayor Daley? And just how much?
Wonder how Richie knew that Scott wasn't bothered. And did he take Scott's word?
Scott was an activist president, meeting on his own time with local residents, and even recently visiting troubled Fenger High School to personally observe an effort to bus kids from Altgeld Gardens to Fenger in the wake of the murder of Fenger honor student Derrion Albert. He was a calm and steady leader at sometimes raucous School Board meetings, often diffusing angry outbursts from the audience or speakers.
Scott, a West Side resident, also had served on the Mayor's 2016 Olympic committee and as former head of the Chicago Park District.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Funny but I don't think he had a degree in education ...
In August, he was forced to answer questions about his involvement in a development proposal near the the proposed Douglas Park Olympic site. He insisted he would not profit from the deal."I would not profit . . . not at all," Scott told reporters at a Chicago Board of Education press conference.
That would make you the only Chicago pol who wouldn't
He was responding to a published report contending he was "potentially positioning himself to cash in" if the Olympics come to Chicago because he was helping a group of ministers try to turn some city-owned lots across from what could have been an Olympic site into affordable housing. Chicago eventually lost out to Rio de Janiero, which will host the 2016 Summer Games.
Scott noted at the time that the ministers, whom he said he has known for years, came to him with their development idea in the summer of 2006 -- a year before he was appointed to a committee that has been trying to bring the Olympics to Chicago. Scott said he agreed to advise the ministers on how to put the deal together, navigate city departments and train people on how to sell affordable housing.
But everyone knew that Chicago was gunning for the Olympics since at least 2004, and they knew Da Mayor's preferred site; King and 31st where the old Michael Reese Hospital is now being torn down. The west side of King Drive has lots of 'property' that could be 'developed', if only one had the right expertise and friends ...
Any profits were to be split among the ministers because "I have no monetary interest,'' Scott said. "These people are my friends. They asked for my help and I helped them on a part-time basis.''
Yeah, we believe that. Pure as the driven snow.
The city has shown no interest in the idea for two years, said Scott. "The city has no formal plan or deal for any lots to be sold or conveyed for any amount of money for this proposal,'' Scott said.
This kind of plan doesn't get written down. Or spoken of in public
But strangely understood by everyone who speaks the right dialect. It's almost like Esperanto ...
Scott owns Michael Scott and Associates, a real estate development firm.
Real estate development? Ding! Ding! Ding!
Told you he didn't have an education degree ...
West Side Ald. Isaac Carothers (29th) praised Scott on Monday, saying "he was a great individual who added value to every position he served" in city government. Carothers -- who was indicted in May for allegedly accepting $40,000 in home improvements, meals and sports tickets from a West Side developer in exchange for zoning changes that netted the developer millions -- spent a year secretly recording public officials and real estate developers for the feds, the Sun-Times disclosed earlier this year.
On Monday, Carothers cut off a conversation with a reporter when asked whether he had recorded any conversations with Scott. He would only say, "He was just a great friend and a great individual. My heart goes out to his family. It's just a tragedy."
"I ain't saying nuthing, see!"Carothers said he has known Scott for "15-to-20 years, at least."
"He was a great negotiator, a great facilitator," the alderman said.
Bing! Bing! Bing!
Pressed further about any business dealings he might have had with Scott, Carothers said, "All I have is what I gave you." He then hung up the phone. A source said Carothers did not record any conversations with Scott.
Yup, he recorded conversations ...
Marilyn Stewart, Chicago Teachers Union president, offered her condolences. In a statement, she said she spoke with Scott on Saturday about an upcoming Board of Education meeting. "He recently told me he didn't think he was going to be around for long and saw his appointment as president being an interim one," Stewart said. She added that "his death leaves a huge void to fill at a time when the Board desperately needs stability in its leadership."