Another Daley will push for Olympics

2016 GAMES | Chicago team adds big guns to woo USOC at D.C. presentation

Chicago's Olympic pitch will have a family flair Saturday with Mayor Daley's brother William joining the team making the case in Washington to host the 2016 Summer Games.

Officials had earlier named the mayor; Patrick Ryan, insurance magnate and Chicago 2016 chairman; and Michael Conley, an Olympic gold medalist in triple jump.

The group hoping to persuade the U.S. Olympic Committee board to choose Chicago over Los Angeles to represent the nation in international competition will also include Valerie Jarrett, a real estate executive and former CTA chairwoman.

Jarrett, an African American, raised her Olympic profile this year when she addressed black aldermen who complained that the local Olympic organizing committee appeared to be a "white man's party club.'' Conley, also an African American, is the executive director of World Sport Chicago, a group charged with organizing Olympic-style events.

Linda Mastandrea, a Paralympic Games gold medalist in wheelchair track and a Rogers Park lawyer, rounds out the six-member pitch team. The squad will make a 40-minute presentation to the USOC board at a Washington hotel.

William Daley, a former U.S. secretary of commerce and chairman of the Midwest for JP Morgan Chase, has civic and business contacts around the world. Those global credentials might appeal to the USOC board as it looks ahead to the international competition to host the games against such cities as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Madrid, Spain, and Tokyo.

Daley said he visited 45 countries in his three years as commerce secretary. Also, "we've got an enormous network of Chicago companies that have facilities, people and relationships around the world that we're going to tap into'' who could make the case for the city, he said.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) has pledged support in developing a $150 million "safety net" of state money if Olympic revenues fall short.