HR0181LRB101 11549 ALS 57458 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of
3Representatives wish to congratulate the staff and Board of
4Directors of the Citizen Advocacy Center in Elmhurst on the
5occasion of its 25th anniversary; and
 
6    WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center opened to the public
7in 1994 and is an award-winning, non-profit, non-partisan free
8community legal organization that has been recognized at the
9local, state, and national levels; and
 
10    WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center was founded by Theresa
11Amato, who served as the Center's first executive director for
12eight years and has been a member of the organization's
13dedicated Board of Directors for 25 years; and
 
14    WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center dedicates itself to
15building democracy for the 21st century by strengthening the
16citizenry's capacities, resources, and institutions for
17self-governance; to advance its mission, the Center developed a
18pioneering community lawyer model that protects the public's
19assets, increases democratic protocols at every level of
20government, and develops the voice of the citizenry through a
21multi-faceted approach that includes community lawyering,
22organizing, policy analysis, legal advocacy, civic education,

 

 

HR0181- 2 -LRB101 11549 ALS 57458 r

1coalition building, and litigation; and
 
2    WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center advances reforms
3through efforts that start at the local level and become
4State-wide initiatives, where undemocratic barriers rooted in
5State law prevent or deter meaningful participation in the
6democratic process; and
 
7    WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center is open to the public
8and offers a wide spectrum of services to further the
9citizenry's skills, confidence, and understanding of civic
10tools, to promote individual and community efforts to resolve
11issues of public concern, and to stimulate the citizenry's
12awareness of and action on issues of public significance;
13services include a library of free resource materials, legal
14and advocacy advice on matters of public concern from community
15lawyers, frequent discussion forums on local to statewide
16issues and the impact on community members, and civic and legal
17trainings for the public; and
 
18    WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center is committed to making
19government more accountable, accessible, and transparent
20through improving access to areas such as government-held
21information and government institutions, the airwaves, the
22ballot, and the courts, to monitoring local government entities
23to insure accountability and to deter officials from acting

 

 

HR0181- 3 -LRB101 11549 ALS 57458 r

1contrary to the general interest of the community, to providing
2journalism training on government issues, and to litigating on
3behalf of select causes to sustain access to justice; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center's pursuit of building
5democracy includes many public initiatives, such as the Civic
6Empowerment Zone with a library of resources, teacher and
7student trainings, and a hands-on internship program that has
8mentored hundreds of high school, college, and law students and
9includes the Public Access Counselor Rulings database, which
10makes more than 200 decisions immediately available to the
11public, various government audits that assess compliance with
12state laws or practices in areas such as election
13administration, the Freedom of Information Act, and the Open
14Meetings Act, and journalism education on policy issues and
15much more; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The Citizen Advocacy Center has contributed to
17advancing statewide reforms, including civic education, the
18Freedom of Information Act, the Open Meetings Act, access to
19the ballot, protecting the First Amendment Rights of the
20citizenry, tax increment financing, ethics, and campaign
21finance; and
 
22    WHEREAS, The Board of Directors and staff of the Citizen
23Advocacy Center serve as a model of hard work, integrity, and

 

 

HR0181- 4 -LRB101 11549 ALS 57458 r

1dedication for the people of the State of Illinois; therefore,
2be it
 
3    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE
4HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
5we congratulate the administration and staff of the Citizen
6Advocacy Center on the occasion of its 25th anniversary and
7wish them continued success in the future; and be it further
 
8    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
9presented to the Citizen Advocacy Center as a symbol of our
10esteem and respect.