Longtime Ottawa Commissioner Dies

Flags were flying at half-mast in Ottawa following the death of Commissioner Ed Whitney.

The 71-year-old died Thursday night in Peoria.  He was in the middle of his fifth term on the council serving as commissioner of Public Health and Safety.

Whitney was on the Ottawa City Council since 1995.  Before that he had retired as Ottawa’s police chief after being on the force for over two decades.

Mayor Bob Eschbach says Whitney “always voted his conscience, doing what he believed was best for the city.”