Deedee Corradini

Deedee Corradini
32ndMayor of Salt Lake City
In office 1992 – January 3, 2000
Preceded by	Palmer DePaulis
Succeeded by	Rocky Anderson
56thPresident of the United States Conference of Mayors
In office 1998–1999
Preceded by	Paul Helmke
Succeeded by	Wellington Webb
Personal details
Born	Margaret Louise McMullen (1944-04-11)April 11, 1944 Providence, Rhode Island,U.S.
Died	March 1, 2015(2015-03-01)(aged 70) Park City, Utah,U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Businesswomanandpolitician

Margaret "Deedee" McMullen Corradini(April 11, 1944 – March 1, 2015) was an Americanbusinesswomanandpoliticianwho served as the 32ndmayorofSalt Lake City,Utah,from 1992 to 2000. Corradini was the first woman to serve as mayor ofSalt Lake City.

Corradini, at the time of her death Senior Vice President for Prudential Utah Real Estate, was also the President ofWomen's Ski Jumping-USA.She was on the WSJ-USA board, and served as president for three years, taking a lead role in the battle to get women's ski jumping into theOlympic Winter Games.

Life and career

Corradini was born Margaret Louise McMullen(although Deedee was a childhood nickname)in Providence, Rhode Island, the daughter of Marie-Louise (Strehlau) and the Rev. Horace "Mac" Martin McMullen.Corradini attended school inLebanonandSyriafor 11 years as a child. She attendedDrew Universityfrom 1961 to 1963. She received aBachelor of Artsin 1965 and aMaster's degreein 1967, both inPsychologyfrom theUniversity of Utah.She served asPress SecretarytoCongressmanWayne Owensof Utah and then Rep.Richard Ottingerof New York in the early 1970s.

Although Utah leans strongly toward the Republican party, Corradini was a Democrat. This is not unusual for Salt Lake City, which tends to vote Democratic far more than other regions of Utah.

Corradini was fluent in French and Arabic.

Corradini's efforts gave Utah the initial shove that landed the state the2002 Winter Olympics.Corradini was the first woman to receive theOlympic flag,in front of a television audience of hundreds of millions of viewers, when it was passed to Salt Lake City at the1998 Winter OlympicsinNagano,Japanat the closing ceremonies.

Under Corradini's watch, the city'spopulationexperienced a tremendous growth spurt, as the metropolitan area of Salt Lake City and the rest of the state began to grow by thousands of families a month.

But she also endured scrutiny as a result of the fallout of Bonneville Pacific, a publicly traded alternative energy producer that went through bankruptcy proceedings in 1991. While never an executive of the company, Corradini had been a director, and - facing being dragged into years-long legal proceedings which would cost millions regardless of actual responsibility or outcome - agreed to a settlement of $805,000, a huge amount given that no responsibility or liability had or has ever been shown. Corradini was later criticized for soliciting some $231,000 in cash gifts and loans from friends and acquaintances to help pay the settlement; although insinuations were made, particularly in the alternative press, no serious allegations of impropriety were ever advanced. In January 1999, she announced she would not seek reelection the following year.

TheACLUand the First Unitarian Church ofSalt Lake City,among others (including her successorRocky Anderson), were upset with a deal she negotiated on behalf of the city to sell a block of Main Street — then city property — adjacent toTemple Squaretothe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints(LDS Church).However, the conversion of this block into a church plaza was one of the 14 major projects put forth by the city in its 1962 Second Century Plan.The 1962 plan stated: "It is proposed that Main Street between the two church blocks either be closed to vehicular traffic or an underpass installed. This would strongly unify these two blocks as a visual anchor on the north end."

During her tenure, Corradini pushed hard (and ultimately successfully) for the relocation of theUnion Pacificrailroad tracks that divideddowntown,pushed through theTRAXlight-railsystem, and won massive federal funding for reconstruction of thefreewaysystem in advance of the Olympic Games (one of the largest single public works transit projects in recent American history). She also was the guiding force for the construction of the popular baseball stadium for the (then) AAASalt Lake Buzz,at the time, thefarm teamfor theMinnesota Twins), the redevelopment of a 50-year-old rail yard into the 30-acre (121,000 m²), $375 millionThe Gatewaymixed-use development,resulting in two million square feet (186,000 m²) of shops, restaurants, office space, and housing, a 12-screenmovie theatre,theClark Planetarium,andDiscovery Gateway,a children's museum.

Corradini served as the President of theU.S. Conference of Mayorsin 1998. She was also President of the International Women's Forum, Chair of the Utah Symphony Board of Directors, of which she was a Lifetime Board Member.

Corradini died from lung cancer on March 1, 2015, at the age of 70.

2002 Winter Olympics

Corradini's efforts gave Utah the initial shove that landed the state the2002 Winter Olympics.

Corradini crisscrossed the globe meeting withInternational Olympic Committeemembers for Salt Lake City's 2002 bid. She lobbied theUtah Legislaturefor a voter-approved sales-tax hike to build winter-sports facilities to help lure theWinter Games.

Corradini was the first woman to receive theOlympic flag,in front of a television audience of hundreds of millions of viewers, when it was passed to Salt Lake City at the1998 Winter OlympicsinNagano,Japanat the closing ceremonies.

Corradini was instrumental in adding women'sbobsleighandskeletonevents to the2002 OlympicsinUtah.

Women's ski jumping

Corradini campaigned for the2002 Winter Olympicsas mayor and then led the effort to bring women's ski jumping to the Winter Games.When theInternational Olympic Committee(IOC)told her and women ski jumpers in 2008 regarding participation in the2010 Winter Olympicsthat women would not be allowed to jump, Corradini and other women ski jump advocates then filed suit inCanada,suggesting that exclusion of the event violated the human rights of the athletes. The lawsuit was rejected before the2010 Winter Olympics.In 2011, based on improvements in performance and participation, theIOCgave its approval to add women's ski jumping,starting with the upcoming2014 Winter Olympics.For nearly a decade, Corradini had led the fight, which included an appeal to theSupreme Court of Canadawhen athletes fought for the right to compete in the2010 Winter Olympics.TheIOCtwice ruled against adding the sport to the Vancouver Games, saying participation worldwide wasn't widespread enough.

After women's ski jumping was added to the Olympic program, Corradini said: "We have only one event, and that's the normal hill jump. The men have normal hill, large hill, the team event and Nordic combined. We're already thinking 2018 to become really equal with the men, so we still have our work cut out for us."

SLC Transit

During her tenure, Corradini pushed hard (and ultimately successfully) for the relocation of theUnion Pacificrailroad tracks that divideddowntown,pushed through theTRAXlight-railsystem, and won massive federal funding for reconstruction of thefreewaysystem in advance of the2002 Winter Olympic Games(one of the largest single public works transit projects in recent American history).

Corradini became an early advocate for light rail, which debuted on Main Street in the final year of her mayoral run. She helped lay the groundwork for a transportation hub that connectsTRAX,FrontRunnercommuter trains and buses in what used to be the city's red-light district.

In championing the initial TRAX spur, Corradini ran into stiff resistance from business owners, who balked at having Main Street torn up for months of construction to accommodate the rails.

Infrastructure

Corradini pushed to renovate the blighted west side of the city's business district with an ambitious 50-block project that involved moving roads, bridges and freeway corridors. That paved the way for The Gateway shopping and residential center — a $375 million mixed-use development boasting 2 million square feet of shops, restaurants, offices and housing, as well as a 12-screen movie theater, a planetarium and a children's museum.

Corradini also led the effort to renovateSalt Lake City International Airportand added a third runway.

Community involvement and awards

• President of theU.S. Conference of Mayorsin 1998
• President ofWomen's Ski Jumping USAfor more than 10 years
• President of theInternational Women's Forum
• Chair of theUtah SymphonyBoard of Directors, of which she was a Lifetime Board Member
• Served on the board ofUtah Power and Light
• One of the first female members of theAlta Club
• Senior Distinguished Fellow inUrban Studiesat The Richard W. Riley Institute of Government, Politics and Public Leadership atFurman University
• Senior Vice President of Prudential Utah Real Estate
• In 2012, Corradini was recognized byWomen's eNewsas part of the "21 Leaders for the 21st Century."
• Presented with a World Championships bib, signed by 30 of the top women jumpers in the world in 2015