CFB Mourns the Loss of Father Joseph A. O'Hare, S.J., The Agency's Founding Board Chair

03/30/2020

Chair of the NYC Campaign Finance Board (CFB) Frederick Schaffer issued the following statement in response to the passing of Father Joseph A. O'Hare, S.J., who served as the CFB's founding Board Chair from 1988 to 2003:

"We are deeply saddened by the passing of Father Joseph A. O'Hare, S.J., a towering figure in the history of New York City politics and of the Campaign Finance Board. As the founding Board Chair, Father O'Hare deftly led the CFB through its first fifteen years in operation. With unmatched integrity, fairness, and intelligence, Father O'Hare provided resolute leadership during volatile events that included public battles with sitting mayors and 9/11. Father O'Hare was deeply committed to maintaining the CFB as independent and nonpartisan. Those values will continue to live on in the work of our agency and stand as his legacy to the city he loved for years to come."

“Father O’Hare established a culture of conviction and integrity at the CFB that lasts to this day. This, more than even the structure of the organization, is what has made the CFB the national model it is today.” said Amy Loprest, Executive Director of the CFB.

Father O'Hare oversaw the CFB's first public funds payment in July of 1989. Archival video footage of that historic hearing is available on the CFB's Youtube Channel.

On Father O'Hare's passing, former CFB Executive Director Nicole Gordon stated: “Working closely with him, as I was privileged to do for some 15 years, was an experience next to none. As a leader of troops, Joe's sharp intelligence, political acumen, crushing wit, unquestionable loyalty, and (literally) priestly status gave us daily lessons on how to operate in public and in private, especially when the job is to be independent and fair in a volatile arena and without natural allies.”

Born in the Bronx in 1931, Joseph A. O’Hare attended Regis High School in New York City prior to entering the Society of Jesus in 1949. He trained for the priesthood primarily while stationed at Ateneo de Manila University, where he was ordained in 1961. He returned to the Ateneo and served as a professor there from 1967 to 1972, earning a doctorate from Fordham University in 1968.

In 1975, Father O’Hare was named editor in chief of America magazine. Father O’Hare served at America until 1984, when he was appointed the 32nd president of Fordham University. While president of Fordham, Father O’Hare served on a number of civic boards, including Edward I. Koch’s Mayor’s Committee on Appointments and the Charter Revision Commission.

In 1988, he was appointed the first chairman of the NYC Campaign Finance Board, a role he filled until 2003. After serving 19 years as president of Fordham, the longest tenure in the institution’s history, Joseph A. O’Hare, S.J., retired in 2003 and became once again an associate editor of America. After his retirement from Fordham and in addition to his work at America, Father O’Hare also served one year as president of his alma mater, Regis High School.

Remarking on his tenure at the helm of the CFB, Father O'Hare penned the following statement in the Board's 2001 Post-Election Report, espousing his vision for the direction of the Board:

"As I look forward to the conclusion of my third and final term as chairman of the New York City Campaign Finance Board, permit me to offer a final valedictory word. It is essential that the culture of the Board continue to be, as the architects of the Program intended, nonpartisan. The Board to be faithful to its mandate must operate as an independent agency. This is not always a simple task when the Board must oversee the campaign activities of elected officials who have control over the Board’s budget, the location and condition of its offices, and even the ability of the Board to defend itself against lawsuits. Appointments to the Board are made by the mayor and the speaker of the City Council, but Board members, once appointed, are not the agents of either the mayor or the City Council. The nonpartisan character of the Board has been one of the reasons why the New York City Campaign Finance Program has been hailed as a national model of campaign finance reform. The nonpartisan character of the Board cannot be compromised."