19 applicants line up in hopes of replacing Ald. Michael Scott
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The applications are in – 19 candidates are vying to replace former Ald. Michael Scott on the City Council.
Scott resigned as alderman of the 24th Ward, which includes North Lawndale, to take a job at Cinespace Studios. His final day was Friday of last week.
The 19 potential candidates include Scott's sister, Monique Scott, and his chief of staff, Charles Rice.
Once the application period is over, a mayoral search committee will review the applications and conduct interviews before recommending a slate of candidates to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who will select a finalist for confirmation by the City Council, to serve until the next aldermanic election in 2023.
The mayor has until Aug. 6 to fill the seat.
A close ally of Mayor Lightfoot, Ald. Scott was tapped as chair of the City Council Education Committee after Lightfoot took office in 2019. Vice chair Ald. Sophia King (4th), who also chairs the council's progressive caucus, will take over leadership of the committee after Scott steps down.
Before he was first elected as an alderman in 2015, Scott worked for 12 years at the Chicago Park District, including as a park supervisor and area manager.
His father, Michael Scott Sr., was a top advisor under Mayors Jane Byrne, Harold Washington, Eugene Sawyer, and Richard M. Daley, serving as Chicago Board of Education President, Chicago Park District Board president, and a member of the boards of the Regional Transportation Authority and the Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority.