CHICAGO -- Edward J. Bedore, Chicago's chief financial officer, is considering taking early retirement, a spokeswoman for Mayor Richard Daley said yesterday.
Under the city's early retirement program. Bedore has until May 31 to make a decision, according to a city official.
Bedore, who is 55 years old, has been the city's top finance official since Daley took office in 1989. Municipal bond industry officials in the city called Bedore a central figure in Chicago debt issues.
"He's obviously a real important person -- the most important on the city's financial stuff," one official said.
Walter Filkin, a senior vice president at the Chicago Corp., said "the buck sort of stops" with Bedore n debt issues as far as the mayor is concerned.
"If Ed Bedore passes judgment [on a bond deal], it's going to be done," Filkin said.
One public finance professional said that while Daley and city Comptroller Walter Knorr have input into picking firms for bond syndicates, Bedore was viewed as having the most influence on the appointment of firms.
Bedore's reported departure would mark the second one this week for high-ranking officials in the Daley administration.
On Tuesday, Daley announced that Frank Kruesi, his chief policy adviser since May 1989, has been nominated to a post at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
A press release from the mayor's office said that President Clinton intends to nominate Kruesi as assistant secretary for transportation policy. In that position, Kruesi would be responsible for coordinating domestic policy related to highways, public transportation, public aviation, airport operation, and rail and water transportation, according to the release. His nomination is subject t confirmation by the U.S. Senate.
Calling Chicago "the transportation crossroads of the nation," Kruesi said that through his work with the city he has "come to understand how vital transportation is for the economic vitality of Chicago, the region, and the nation."
Along with Tim Degnan, director of the mayor's office of intergovernmental affairs, Bedore and Kruesi are considered Daley's closest advisers.
