Joan Patricia Murphy is Commissioner

Cook County Board of Commissioners

The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district for four year terms. Cook County, which includes the City of Chicago, is the nation's second largest county with a population of 5.2 million residents...

 for the 6th district of Cook County

Cook County, Illinois

Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...

, Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

.

Early life

Joan P. Murphy was born Joan Patricia O'Malley in South Boston, Massachusetts.

Murphy graduated from State Teachers College in Boston, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

.

Public service

Prior to her election as a commissioner, Murphy held several elected positions. From 1965 to 1969 she was the elected clerk of the Village of Crestwood

Crestwood, Illinois

Crestwood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,251 at the 2000 census. In April 2009 the Chicago Tribune reported that for 20 years the city had been drawing its drinking water from a well that was contaminated with toxic chemicals.-Geography:According to the...

, and later the elected clerk for Worth Township

Worth Township, Cook County, Illinois

Worth Township is one of thirty townships in Cook County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 152,239. It was founded in 1849, when the county voted to subdivide itself into townships.-Geography:...

. She went on to be the elected Supervisor for Worth Township and Chief Investigator for the Cook County Board of Ethics.

Murphy is also on the Board of Directors for the March of Dimes, Greater Metropolitan Chicago Area. March of Dimes

March of Dimes

The March of Dimes Foundation is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies.-Organization:...

 is committed to improving the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality. Murphy is a member of the League of Women Voters

League of Women Voters

The League of Women Voters is an American political organization founded in 1920 by Carrie Chapman Catt during the last meeting of the National American Woman Suffrage Association approximately six months before the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution gave women the right to vote...

, Council on Governmental Ethics Law, Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce, and South and South Suburban Mayors and Managers.

Murphy is leading a fight against taking her own furlough days. Cook County Commissioner, Joan Murphy, on refusing to take mandated unpaid furlough leave.

Cook County Commissioner

Murphy is Chairperson of the Labor Committee and vice-Chairperson of the Industrial Claims Committee. Additionally, Murphy serves on 13 committees: Administration, Business and Economic Development, Education, Litigation, Tax Delinquency, Stroger and Cermak Hospitals, Oak Forest Hospital, Provident Hospital, Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations, Health and Hospitals, Finance, Zoning and Buildings, and Roads and Bridges.
As Cook County Commissioner, Murphy voted to uphold a historical 2008 tax increase remaining the highest in the nation. As a result the Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...

has encouraged voters to vote against her in the 2010 elections.

External links

• Cook County profile