William Singer

William Singer is an American lawyer, politician, consultant, and lobbyist who formerly served as a Chicago alderman, representing the 44th and 43rd wards during his aldermanic career.^[1]

While on the Chicago City Council, Singer was an independent reformer tied to the lakefront liberals. He was an opponent of the political machine that was led by Richard J. Daley. He partnered with Jesse Jackson to successfully have Daley and his slate of delegates unseated as delegates to the 1972 Democratic National Convention and replaced by a slate of delegates backed by Singer and Jackson. This was the biggest political defeat Daley ever endured. In 1975, Singer forwent running for a third term on the City Council and instead, unsuccessfully, challenged Daley in the Democratic Party primary of the 1975 Chicago mayoral election. He has not run for political office since.

After his career in electoral politics, Singer joined the law firm Kirkland & Ellis, where he became a partner. Singer, who had been an outsider of establishment politics, developed a new role as a political insider and a power broker. He formed an alliance with Alderman Ed Vrdolyak, a member of the political establishment, even working with Vrdolyak on drafting ordinances. Singer also aligned himself with Mayor Jane Byrne during her mayoralty. After Richard M. Daley (son of Richard J. Daley) became mayor in 1989, Singer was appointed by him to the interim Chicago Board of Education. Serving as the interim board's vice president, Singer negotiated an historic contract with the city's teachers that promised higher teacher salaries and reforms to the city's school system structure. However, Singer failed to deliver the promised wage increases for teachers.