By Adam Studzinski
BLOOMINGTON – A former Bloomington alderman is being remembered for his longtime public service.
Jim Finnegan, 82, died on Sunday. He served 12 years on the Bloomington City Council beginning in 1997.
Current Alderman Karen Schmidt, a council member since 1999, said it was never hard to know where Finnegan stood on an issue.
“He didn’t have a lot of patients with politics or people spending too much time on an issue,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt added Finnegan was not a politician, he was a public servant.
“I think that’s a very important distinction, particularly when things can become so politicized,” said Schmidt. “His view of his work was to represent people and to look after the dollars that we were given to spend on behalf of the community to move it forward.”
Beyond that, Schmidt said Finnegan was always respectful, even when he disagreed on an issue. She spoke particularly to when they both voted against approving the U.S. Cellular Coliseum.
“As soon as that vote was over, he was very much, ‘let’s move onto other things,’” Schmidt said.
Schmidt said she has kept in contact with Finnegan since he left the council and she’ll miss the opportunities she had to get his perspective on current issues.
Adam Studzinski can be reached at adam.studzinski@cumulus.com.
