John B. Daly (New York)

John B. Daly (April 29, 1934 - April 3, 1999) was an American politician from New York who served 22 years in the New York State Legislature and two as Department of Transportation commissioner.^[1]

Early life and career

He was born on April 29, 1929 to Irish immigrants in Woodside, Queens, right outside of New York City. He attended school in New York and graduated with a B.A. from Fordham University. Daly later took courses at the University of Iowa and Harvard Business School. He served as a First lieutenant in the U.S. Army until 1955.^[2]

After serving in the Army, Daly moved to Niagara Falls in 1955 to work for the Kimberly-Clark Corporation. He later joined the Carborundum Corporation as director of PR in 1962.^[1]

Political career

He entered politics as a Republican, and was a member of the City Council of Niagara Falls from 1960 to 1964.^[3] Afterwards he moved to nearby Lewiston, New York.^[4]

He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1973 to 1978, sitting in the 180th, 181st and 182nd New York State Legislatures. He then became a member of the New York State Senate from 1979 to 1995, sitting in the 183rd, 184th, 185th, 186th, 187th, 188th, 189th, 190th and 191st New York State Legislatures.

Daly became the first representative of New York's 61st District on January 1, 1983 during the 185th New York State Legislature when the district was created due to the elimination of five Congressional seats across New York.^[5] As a member of the New York State Senate in 1991, Daly was on a bipartisan committee convened by Gov. Mario M. Cuomo where Republicans were in favor of instituting photo ID system for recipients of Medicaid programs in order to cut down on fraud and abuse.^[6]

In January 1995, he was appointed as Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation^[7] by then Gov. George Pataki.^[8]

In February 1997, he was appointed to the New York Public Service Commission and served as deputy chairman until the time of his death.^[1]

Criticisms

In 1992, The New York Times wrote about Daly's use of taxpayer dollars to produce a 15-minute television show in one of the New York State Legislature's three film studios. The show featured videos of Daly in action that appeared to promote his conservative legislative agenda and was transmitted to the public-access station in Daly's district. The Times raised questions about the cost and advantages inherent in being an incumbent politician highlighting that in 1990, 98.9% of incumbent legislators won re-election where they ran. At the time, Daly was a seven-term State Legislator.^[4]

Personal life

Daly married Catherine McHugh, and they had three children, Robert, Martin and Catherine Daly. His son, Robert, also became an assemblyman for the 138th District. John B. Daly died on April 3, 1999 at his home after a long illness.^[1]

Honors

The "John B. Daly Boulevard" in Niagara County is named after Daly.^[9]

References