HJ0028 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0028 LRB098 11362 MST 42873 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois General Assembly wish to honor 4 south suburban mayors as they complete their time in office; Mayors Irene H. Brodie, Donald Peloquin, Lou Sherman, and Jack Swan have decided to retire after years of public service; and

WHEREAS, Irene Brodie launched her campaign for the mayorship of the Village of Robbins in 1989 and has held the position ever since; she is the current, longest-serving, female, African-American mayor in the nation; her reign as mayor saw improvements in the water and sewer systems, roads and transportation, code enforcement, economic development, grant procurement, land acquisition, residential development, and public safety; her 36-year tenure in government consists of 12 years as municipal clerk for the Village of Robbins and 24 years as the mayor; she is a longtime educator and administrator; her scholarship program has funded the tuition costs for hundreds of students throughout the years and her individual efforts have produced teachers, lawyers, doctors, engineers, and educators around the globe; she has hired, financially supported, tutored, counseled, and graduated hundreds of residents from Robbins and the surrounding communities; and

WHEREAS, Irene Brodie was the vice-president of the Illinois Municipal League, executive board member and assistant secretary of the National Conference of Black Mayors, and the chair of the Education Committee and Scholarship Committee for the National Conference of Black Mayors; she has been appointed to numerous gubernatorial transition teams and has been on various State and federal advisory boards; she was a member of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus under Mayor Richard Daley, served on President Clinton's environmental think-tank group, and was a guest lecturer at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business; she is married to J. Edmon Brodie and they have one child, Jeraye E. Brodie; and

WHEREAS, Donald Peloquin is a lifelong resident of Blue Island and has been mayor since 1985; he was alderman of the 4th Ward from 1981-1985; he is a member of various organizations including the Southwest Conference of Mayors, the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus; he is chairman of the CREATE Committee of the Metropolitan Planning Council; and

WHEREAS, Lou Sherman has been the Steger Village President since 1973; during his years as mayor, he served as president of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association and as head of the organization's transportation committee; he was a member of the Chicago Area Transportation Study; he has held volunteer positions at the county and State level, being appointed to the Cook County Community Block Grant advisory board in 1977 and as vice-president of the Illinois Municipal League in 1994; he moved to Steger in 1958 and became a member of the Steger Kiwanis Club and head of its boy's baseball league; he and his wife, Andrea, are members of St. Liborius Church; he is a former Kiwanis Lt. Governor and a life member of the organization as well as three-time president of the local Kiwanis; he is a member of the Steger DARE committee, the Chamber of Commerce, and the American Legion; and

WHEREAS, Jack Swan has been the Thornton Village President for the past 20 years; during his 5 terms as village president, he has established a full-time paramedic program, expanded the police and public works departments, and created a full-time recreation department; he has overseen numerous large economic development projects within the community and has helped keep Thornton's tax rates stable; during and after his office hours he always made himself available to residents to listen to their ideas and concerns; he spearheaded the free senior citizen driveway and sidewalk plowing program and at times, personally plowed the school-route sidewalks for Wolcott students; he has lived in Thornton for 45 years and has been married to Peggy for 46 and they have 3 children, Jim, Penny, and Jackie; and

WHEREAS, Mayors Sherman, Brodie, Peloquin, and Swan will be honored at the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association dinner on March 21, 2013; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we honor and thank these 4 individuals for the service they have given to their communities over these past many years and wish them well in all their future endeavours; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Mayors Irene Brodie, Donald Peloquin, Lou Sherman, and Jack Swan as an expression of our esteem and respect.