CHICAGO - Walter Knorr was shaving the morning of April 12, 1992 when he began hearing reports about some flooding in the basements of buildings in Chicago's Loop.
A few hours later, businesses were shut down, the Loop evacuated, and Knorr, then the city's comptroller, was checking out the situation with then-fire commissioner Raymond Orozco at city hall, where water was rising towards the ground floor.
"You could reach out a catch a carp," Knorr, now the city's chief financial officer, recalled during his keynote address at The Bond Buyer Midwest Public Finance conference here yesterday.
The flood in Chicago's underground tunnels that occurred after a breach in the system has become known as the Great Chicago Flood and the litigation associated with it "continues to be a disclosure (item) in our financials," Knorr said.
Knorr reminisced on the flood, bond deals, and political battles that have marked his public-sector career as he nears 10 years of service to Mayor Richard M. Daley. Knorr did stints working for the city under former Mayors Jane Byrne and Harold Washington, but his tenure with Daley has been his longest consecutive stretch in government.
"It's tremendous longevity ... for anyone in a trivia contest, there's only four of us remaining," Knorr said of Daley's original cabinet appointments.
He recalled the efforts it took to keep the city afloat during past recessions and his excitement when a refunding issue freed up about $60 million from a reserve fund to plug a hole in the 1983 budget.
In 1992, the city took its first stab in the derivatives market with a $200 million swap. "One of my greatest days in the City Council was trying to explain that swap," he said drawing laughter.
In 1993, the city sold about $225 million of bonds for its new 911 emergency center. The project initially was expected to cost only about $100 million. "I still have some scars from that," he said.
He recalled a trip in 1995 - soon after the General Assembly handed control of the troubled Chicago Public Schools to Daley - when he traveled with new school board president Gery Chico to New York City to meet with ratings analysts.
Chico asked Knorr to recommend candidates for the school board. Knorr suggested Gene Saffold, managing director at Salomon Smith Barney Inc. and Norman R. Bobins, president of LaSalle National Bank. Both now sit on the board.
Knorr also talked about his activities on Tuesday, when, instead of finagling deals, he spent the day as principal of the Jesse Owens Community Academy reading "Cat in the Hat" and making cut-outs of ladybugs as part of the schools' annual principal-for-a-day program.
