Mayor Rahm Emanuel has appointed Mark Kelly to head the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. Kelly, who is set to begin at the new position in about a month, has been Vice President for Student Success at Columbia College Chicago for more than 30 years. He will replace Michelle T. Boone, DCASE Commissioner since 2011, and the architect of the 2012 Chicago Cultural Plan. The Plan meant “to elevate the City as a global destination for creativity, innovation and excellence in the arts,” but has been criticized as “an expensively out-sourced and pretty much useless epic of self-congratulation.”