| |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives wish to congratulate the administration and | ||||||
4 | staff of the Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst on the | ||||||
5 | occasion of the organization's 20th anniversary; and
| ||||||
6 | WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center is an award-winning, | ||||||
7 | non-profit, non-partisan free community legal organization; | ||||||
8 | the Center was founded in 1993 by Therese Amato, who served as | ||||||
9 | the Center's first executive director for 8 years and currently | ||||||
10 | serves as Board President; and
| ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center seeks to build | ||||||
12 | democracy for the 21st century by strengthening the citizenry's | ||||||
13 | capacities, resources, and institutions for self-governance; | ||||||
14 | to do so, the Center seeks to increase democratic protocols at | ||||||
15 | every level of government and develop the voice of the public | ||||||
16 | through efforts that start at the local level and become | ||||||
17 | State-wide initiatives to address anti-democratic barriers | ||||||
18 | rooted in State law; and
| ||||||
19 | WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center operates through the | ||||||
20 | use of community lawyers who protect the public's assets and | ||||||
21 | promote meaningful participation in the democratic process; as | ||||||
22 | an institution made of community lawyers, the Center engages in |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | a multi-faceted approach to building democracy through | ||||||
2 | community organizing, coalition building, legal advocacy, | ||||||
3 | civic education, and litigation to make government more | ||||||
4 | accountable, accessible, and transparent; and
| ||||||
5 | WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center makes itself open for | ||||||
6 | the public to obtain free civic resource materials, ask | ||||||
7 | questions of the Center's community lawyers on matters of | ||||||
8 | public concern, engage in civic discussion, learn about local | ||||||
9 | issues, attend training workshops, and develop skills for | ||||||
10 | participating in civic affairs; and
| ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center is committed to making | ||||||
12 | government more accountable to the people by developing and | ||||||
13 | empowering the voice of citizens; promoting individual and | ||||||
14 | community efforts to resolve contemporary societal problems | ||||||
15 | involving the health, safety, and general well-being of the | ||||||
16 | communities of the western and far western suburbs of Chicago; | ||||||
17 | furthering the public knowledge and understanding of | ||||||
18 | democratic tools and how they can be employed for societal | ||||||
19 | problem solving; stimulating citizen awareness of and | ||||||
20 | involvement in the community; helping citizens to act on issues | ||||||
21 | of public significance; litigating on behalf of select citizen | ||||||
22 | causes to sustain access to justice; and monitoring local | ||||||
23 | government to insure accountability and to deter officials from | ||||||
24 | acting contrary to the general interest of the community; and
|
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center engages local | ||||||
2 | communities through numerous public initiatives, including the | ||||||
3 | Civic Empowerment Zone, the Center's youth civic education | ||||||
4 | program; the Center's community lawyers have worked with | ||||||
5 | journalists on Open Meetings Act, Freedom of Information Act, | ||||||
6 | and First Amendment issues; the Center has also launched a | ||||||
7 | Midwest Open Government Project, a comprehensive study of the | ||||||
8 | Freedom of Information and Open Meetings Acts in Illinois, | ||||||
9 | Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota, among many other | ||||||
10 | initiatives; and | ||||||
11 | WHEREAS, The administration and staff of the Citizen | ||||||
12 | Advocacy Center serve as models of hard work, integrity, and | ||||||
13 | dedication for the people of the State of Illinois; therefore, | ||||||
14 | be it
| ||||||
15 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | ||||||
16 | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
17 | we congratulate the administration and staff of the Citizen | ||||||
18 | Advocacy Center on the occasion of the organization's 20th | ||||||
19 | anniversary and wish them continued success and happiness in | ||||||
20 | the future; and be it further
| ||||||
21 | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | ||||||
22 | presented to the Citizen Advocacy Center as a symbol of our |
| |||||||
| |||||||
1 | esteem and respect.
|