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1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3 Representatives are pleased to honor William T. Lichter for his
4 23 years of dedicated service as Village Manager of Lombard;
5 and
 
6     WHEREAS, William T. Lichter earned his bachelor's degree
7 from the University of Vermont and his master's degree in
8 public administration from American University; he is
9 currently completing his dissertation for his Ph.D in Political
10 Science from Northern Illinois University; and
 
11     WHEREAS, William T. Lichter began service for the Village
12 of Lombard on January 7, 1985, when he became the 9th Village
13 Manager for the village; prior to becoming Village Manager, he
14 served as the Assistant City Manager of Mentor, Ohio and as an
15 Administrative Assistant in Grand Rapids, Michigan; he
16 currently has more than 30 years of ICMA recognized service;
17 and
 
18     WHEREAS, As Village Manager for the Village of Lombard,
19 William T. Lichter has brought several critical issues to
20 closure to secure the long-term financial health of the
21 community, including revenue enhancement, balancing the
22 budget, securing the long term vision of the community as a

 

 

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1 hospitality/restaurant destination, repositioning the retail
2 base and addressing downtown development; he introduced
3 multi-year financial forecasting as a tool to effectively guide
4 the Village Board and Finance Committee's discussions on the
5 availability of resources to fund new programs and services to
6 help guide the recent economic slowdown from 2000 through 2005;
7 despite many hard choices, he managed to bring the economic
8 slowdown under control through hiring freezes and tax hikes;
9 and
 
10     WHEREAS, William T. Lichter was also responsible for the
11 massive growth in revenue for the Village of Lombard through
12 such ventures as the creation of a hotel/conference center
13 owned by the Village, an undertaking that required lobbying the
14 State legislature to change State law and garnering the support
15 of the Village Board for the project through cost and time
16 delays; thanks to the efforts of Mr. Lichter, the hotel project
17 remained ahead of schedule and under budget, with eventual
18 direct ownership by the Village of Lombard; Mr. Lichter's
19 persistence will see in excess of $50 million annually expended
20 in the local economy of Lombard in addition to funds
21 distributed to other governments as part of the annual hotel
22 surpluses; he was also responsible for the redevelopment of a
23 regional shopping mall which had a 240,000 big box anchor close
24 several years; due to Mr. Lichter's help, the redevelopment
25 efforts will now bring $2.7 million into the Village coffers

 

 

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1 annually, an impressive turnaround from a potentially
2 disastrous economic situation; and
 
3     WHEREAS, William T. Lichter was instrumental in the growth
4 of the Village's technology base, which has expanded during his
5 tenure from a system of eight stand-alone personal computers
6 and mainframe system to an expansive system of local and wide
7 area networks of more than 200 personal computers and a
8 mid-range computer with an enterprise software system; he
9 supported the creation of a Technology Reserve Policy which
10 provides for funds to be allocated on an annual basis toward
11 the future replacement and enhancement of Village hardware and
12 software systems; he also outsourced the information
13 technology department so that it could provide the most
14 advanced skill sets to the Village of Lombard; and
 
15     WHEREAS, Under William T. Lichter's direction, the Village
16 of Lombard created a formal performance management system which
17 is used to guide supervisors in measuring individual
18 performance and the attainment of uniform goals and objectives;
19 he personally hosted a training session for newly elected
20 officials as part of the Illinois Municipal Conference to
21 familiarize them with various parts of Village government; he
22 also hosted two delegations of Chinese officials interested in
23 the operation of local government; and
 

 

 

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1     WHEREAS, Due to William T. Lichter's efforts, the Village
2 of Lombard has received the Government Finance Officers
3 Association of the United States and Canada Certificate of
4 Achievement for Excellence in Financial Reporting for 20
5 consecutive years and the Distinguished Budget Presentation
6 Award for 19 consecutive years; and
 
7     WHEREAS, William T. Lichter's superb performance as
8 Village Manager of Lombard is a model of good, honest, and
9 productive public service for the people of the State of
10 Illinois; therefore, be it
 
11     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
12 NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
13 honor William T. Lichter for his 23 years of dedicated service
14 to the citizens of the Village of Lombard and wish him
15 continued success in the future; and be it further
 
16     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
17 presented to William T. Lichter as a symbol of our esteem and
18 respect.