HR0305 LRB096 12486 KXB 25543 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, Mark W. Schwiebert has provided to the citizens of
3 the City of Rock Island decades of public service, capping off
4 his career as mayor of the City of Rock Island; and
 
5     WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert graduated from Rock Island Senior
6 High School in 1968; he participated in the semester studies
7 program in political science at American University in 1970;
8 received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Augustana
9 College in 1972, where he also received an honorary doctorate
10 of humane letters in 2003; and received a juris doctorate
11 degree from Drake University in 1975 and a masters of arts in
12 history in 1976; and
 
13     WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert has had a long and distinguished
14 career of public service, beginning as a legislative intern
15 with United States Senator George McGovern in Washington, D.C.;
16 he served as president of the Representative Assembly at
17 Augustana College; mayor pro-tem of the City of Rock Island
18 from 1985 to 1989; a member of the Rock Island City Council
19 from 1981 to 1989; and mayor of the City of Rock Island from
20 1989 to 2009; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert is the founder and chairman of the
22 Rock Island Advanced Technology and Sustainability Consortium;

 

 

HR0305 - 2 - LRB096 12486 KXB 25543 r

1 serves as chairman of the Bi-State Regional Planning
2 Commission; serves as vice-chairman of the Quad Cities
3 Development Group and as chair of the group's Rock Island
4 Arsenal Task Force; and serves as a member of the Quad City
5 Arts Board of Directors, the Rock Island Economic Growth
6 Corporation, the Rock Island Liquor Commission, and as a
7 trustee of the Rausch Foundation I; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert has been an active member of a
9 number of local civic organizations, including the Rock Island
10 Noon Kiwanis, Rock Island Art Guild, and Contemporary Club of
11 the Quad Cities; and
 
12     WHEREAS, In his professional life, Mr. Schwiebert has
13 served as a law clerk, a law lecturer at Marycrest College, is
14 a principal in the law firm of Schwiebert & Schwiebert, and
15 serves on the standing committee on Local Education, Admission,
16 and Competence for the Illinois State Bar Association; and
 
17     WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert is a member of the American,
18 Illinois, Iowa, and Rock Island County Bar Associations; the
19 Quad City Estate Planning Council; the National Council on
20 Planned Giving; and the Association for American Justice; and
 
21     WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert's work and achievements have
22 earned him numerous awards and honors, including the

 

 

HR0305 - 3 - LRB096 12486 KXB 25543 r

1 Commander's Award for Public Service from the United States
2 Army; the Modern Woodmen of America Community Service Award;
3 the Rock Island Rotary Excellence Award; Distinguished Service
4 Awards from the Illinois Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce and
5 the Rock Island Jaycees; Layperson of the Year Award, Division
6 17, from Kiwanis International; the Spiritual Aims Award from
7 the Rock Island Noon Kiwanis; and the Am Jur Award for
8 Excellence in Business Associates from Drake University; and
 
9     WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert was an Inaugural Fellow at the
10 Augustana Institute on Leadership and Public Service; a
11 participant at the National Security Seminar at the United
12 States Army War College; a Supreme Court Day Moot Court
13 Finalist at Drake University; a member of the Omicron Delta
14 Kappa Men's Leadership Fraternity at Augustana College; and an
15 Eagle Scout; and
 
16     WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert is the principal sponsor of the
17 Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation, the City of Rock
18 Island Commercial-Industrial Revolving Loan Fund, and the City
19 of Rock Island Historic Preservation Ordinance; he played a
20 leadership role in downtown Rock Island development efforts and
21 Illinois Quad Cities Intergovernmental Cooperation
22 Initiatives; and
 
23     WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert has been able to have the fruits of

 

 

HR0305 - 4 - LRB096 12486 KXB 25543 r

1 one of his hobbies, watercolor and oil painting, placed on
2 display at the Solo Exhibit of Watercolors at Studio 15 in
3 Davenport, Iowa in 1992, at the Rock Island Public Library in
4 1993, and at a joint exhibit in 2001; he authored and
5 co-produced text for a CD, "14 Stations, Revisited"; and
6 participated in an archaeological dig in Jerusalem in 1995 and
7 the Sea of Galilee in 2003; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert enjoys traveling, running,
9 weightlifting, watercolor and oil painting, writing, reading,
10 and archeology, and he looks forward to spending more time with
11 his wife, Deborah, following his retirement as mayor;
12 therefore, be it
 
13     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
14 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we
15 congratulate Mayor Mark Schwiebert on his years of public
16 service to the City of Rock Island and for his commitment to
17 the betterment of the Rock Island community; and be it further
 
18     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
19 presented to Mayor Schwiebert as a symbol of our respect.