Rockford loses 'courageous' advocate for city's west side

Linda McNeely was an elected official who was unafraid to serve as a voice of dissent on the Rockford City Council.

The 13th Ward Democrat was found dead in her Rockford home Monday night at age 67.

"I will remember Linda as a woman of strength, of courage and of insight," Ald. Frank Beach, R-10, said. "She was focused and not concerned about what people may have thought about her or her positions if she thought something was right."

Ald. Mark Bonne, D-14, said McNeely, who served on the council for 26 years, was never shy about casting a lone "no" vote against any measure if she thought it in her ward's best interest.

"Linda was courageous, really," Bonne said. "She said and did what she thought was the right thing to do without concern about her own popularity or standing."

No memorial plans have been announced for the westside alderwoman who was first elected in 1997. She served with four administrations. Although no cause of death was reported, officials said McNeely had quietly battled a serious illness in the months before her death.

McNeely is the second Rockford alderman to die this year. Ald. Tuffy Quinonez, D-11, died Feb. 27 after a severe stroke.

Bonne, a former journalist for the Rockford Register Star, recalls that as a reporter he would often attend Mayor Charles Box's weekly Friday news conferences. Afterward, Bonne would wonder who he could call on City Council for a differing opinion.

He often thought of McNeely.

"If you were going to speak out against something Mayor Box wanted, you didn’t do it casually," Bonne said. "You would think the natural thing to do would be to call a Republican, right? But Linda was not afraid to challenge the mayor’s thought process."

Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara said McNeely will be remembered as a dedicated and passionate public servant.

McNeely had intended to run for Congress last year after the retirement of U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos. But she was removed from primary election ballots after objections to her paperwork were sustained by the Illinois State Board of Elections.

McNeely was a Rockford native who graduated a semester early from Auburn High School in 1973. She earned an associate's degree from Wright Junior College in Chicago before earning a degree in political science and anthropology from the University of Denver and a master's degree in accounting and taxation from Roosevelt University.

She decided to run for office after returning to Rockford to care for her ailing parents.

Former Mayor Larry Morrissey said that McNeely was a "fierce advocate but also a friend."

By the time Morrissey left office after a third term, he said that McNeely and he had built mutual respect for each other. Morrissey said she ultimately supported implementation of the city's 1% infrastructure and road sales tax, changing how the city funds road repair and leading to record investments in the city.

Coming from an area of the city that had too often been neglected and ignored, Morrissey said McNeely had come to distrust traditional power structures.

"Quite frankly, I knew what to expect with Linda," Morrissey said. "It came from her goal of being an advocate and being willing to take on authority and to take on the administration. I respected that because she did it from a standpoint of wanting to be an advocate for her community."

Jeff Kolkey can be reached at  (815) 987-1374, via email at jkolkey@rrstar.com and on Twitter @jeffkolkey.

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Ald. Linda McNeely was often voice of dissent at Rockford City Council