James (Jim) Gerard Soorley (born 1951) is an Australian politician. He served as Australian Labor Party Lord Mayor of Brisbane. Soorley is a former Roman Catholic Priest and continues to be a strong human rights advocate. Soorley has a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in psychology, from Macquarie University, and a Master of Arts in organisational psychology from Loyola University, Chicago. A politician is an individual involved in politics to the extent of holding or running for public office. ... The Australian Labor Party or ALP is Australias oldest political party. ... Councillor Patrick (Pat) John Stannard, Lord Mayor of Oxford (2004). ... Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the state of Queensland, Australia. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... Human rights are rights which some hold to be inalienable and belonging to all humans. ... Macquarie University is an Australian university located in the Sydney suburb of Macquarie Park, although many mistakenly identify it as being located in the adjacent suburb of North Ryde. ... Several historic and current educational institutions are named in honor of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. ... Chicago (officially named the City of Chicago) is the third largest city in the United States (after New York City and Los Angeles), with an official population of 2,896,016, as of the 2000 census. ...

Soorley was known through the media as "Lord Mayor Jim", with local radio station B105 having a character by the same name on their widely popular morning show with Jamie Dunn. The "Lord Mayor Jim" character was noted for answering the phone with a low guttural "helllllllllllllo" that quickly rose to an almost ear piercing pitch by the end of the word. Over the years this trademark "hello" continued to grow in length until the "hello" lasted almost as long as the actual conversations with the radio presenters. The real "Lord Mayor Jim" rarely answered his phone this way! B105 FM is one of Brisbane, Australias main FM radio stations, primarily targeted at youth. ... Jamie Dunn is an Australian comedian and entertainer. ...

Soorley served as Lord Mayor of Brisbane from 1991 to 2003, winning four elections. 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The 1991 election was a close election with Soorley just edging out the then Lord Mayor of Brisbane Sally Anne Atkinson through the preferences of Drew Hutton, the Australian Greens candidate. Soorley was not expected to wrest the Lord Mayoralty from the very popular first female (and first Liberal Party of Australia) mayor of Brisbane. The transition period between Atkinson's administration and the incoming Soorley administration was difficult, with the outgoing Atkinson refusing to believe she had lost the election for many weeks afterwards. The Australian Greens, commonly ‘The Greens’, is the national Greens party in Australia. ... The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian liberal conservative political party. ...

Soorley was a virtual "unknown" at that first election, but was one of the few Australian politicians to increase his popular vote in each of the next three elections in which he stood over the next 13 years.

Soorley defeated the following Liberal candidates: 1991 Sally Anne Atkinson; 1994 Bob Ward; 1997 Bob Mills; and 2000 Gail Austen. 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1994 (MCMXCIV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International year of the Family. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article is about the year 2000. ...

Some of the changes in Brisbane that Soorley has been credited with include: allowing widespread footpath dining; introduction of the City Cat ferries; advancing the Busway system; building the Inner City Bypass; starting River Festival including the popular River Fire fireworks and the River Feast;, bringing all sewerage treatment up to at least secondary treatment standards (with removal of nitrogen and phosphorous to additional standards); a city wide recycling program; gas CNG powered buses; started air conditioning the buses; accelerated the purchase of "at risk" bushland and maintaining that bushland; implemented a system of long term re-habilitation for old municipal solid waste tips; and a long term plan to link riverfront land and open it up to the people of Brisbane through a series of pathways called Riverwalk. Bus rapid transit (BRT) is a relatively new umbrella term for urban mass transportation services utilizing buses to perform premium services on existing roadways or dedicated rights-of-way. ... CNG is a TLA that can mean one of the following: Compressed natural gas Comfort Voice Generator ... Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the state of Queensland, Australia. ...

Soorley also instituted a number of institutional changes inside of Council including a 24/7 Call Centre; "business style" accounting for budgets and annual reporting; enterprise bargaining; significant changes to leave and other entailments; increased employment opportunities through increased apprenticeships, traineeships and community jobs programs, including a nationally awarded program for "at risk youth" who were recovering from drug addiction; as well as a shift from Brisbane Council being only concerned with "rates, roads, rubbish" to taking on issues such as drug use, homelessness, domestic violence and social justice. It has been suggested that VoIP call center be merged into this article or section. ...

Before leaving office Soorley started the major infrastructure projects Green Bridge from Dutton Park to St Lucia and North South Bypass Tunnel.

Soorley currently writes a weekly column for theSunday Mail and is a management consultant. Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the state of Queensland, Australia. ...