HR0305 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0305 LRB096 12486 KXB 25543 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Mark W. Schwiebert has provided to the citizens of the City of Rock Island decades of public service, capping off his career as mayor of the City of Rock Island; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert graduated from Rock Island Senior High School in 1968; he participated in the semester studies program in political science at American University in 1970; received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history from Augustana College in 1972, where he also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters in 2003; and received a juris doctorate degree from Drake University in 1975 and a masters of arts in history in 1976; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert has had a long and distinguished career of public service, beginning as a legislative intern with United States Senator George McGovern in Washington, D.C.; he served as president of the Representative Assembly at Augustana College; mayor pro-tem of the City of Rock Island from 1985 to 1989; a member of the Rock Island City Council from 1981 to 1989; and mayor of the City of Rock Island from 1989 to 2009; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert is the founder and chairman of the Rock Island Advanced Technology and Sustainability Consortium; serves as chairman of the Bi-State Regional Planning Commission; serves as vice-chairman of the Quad Cities Development Group and as chair of the group's Rock Island Arsenal Task Force; and serves as a member of the Quad City Arts Board of Directors, the Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation, the Rock Island Liquor Commission, and as a trustee of the Rausch Foundation I; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert has been an active member of a number of local civic organizations, including the Rock Island Noon Kiwanis, Rock Island Art Guild, and Contemporary Club of the Quad Cities; and

WHEREAS, In his professional life, Mr. Schwiebert has served as a law clerk, a law lecturer at Marycrest College, is a principal in the law firm of Schwiebert & Schwiebert, and serves on the standing committee on Local Education, Admission, and Competence for the Illinois State Bar Association; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert is a member of the American, Illinois, Iowa, and Rock Island County Bar Associations; the Quad City Estate Planning Council; the National Council on Planned Giving; and the Association for American Justice; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert's work and achievements have earned him numerous awards and honors, including the Commander's Award for Public Service from the United States Army; the Modern Woodmen of America Community Service Award; the Rock Island Rotary Excellence Award; Distinguished Service Awards from the Illinois Quad Cities Chamber of Commerce and the Rock Island Jaycees; Layperson of the Year Award, Division 17, from Kiwanis International; the Spiritual Aims Award from the Rock Island Noon Kiwanis; and the Am Jur Award for Excellence in Business Associates from Drake University; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert was an Inaugural Fellow at the Augustana Institute on Leadership and Public Service; a participant at the National Security Seminar at the United States Army War College; a Supreme Court Day Moot Court Finalist at Drake University; a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa Men's Leadership Fraternity at Augustana College; and an Eagle Scout; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert is the principal sponsor of the Rock Island Economic Growth Corporation, the City of Rock Island Commercial-Industrial Revolving Loan Fund, and the City of Rock Island Historic Preservation Ordinance; he played a leadership role in downtown Rock Island development efforts and Illinois Quad Cities Intergovernmental Cooperation Initiatives; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert has been able to have the fruits of one of his hobbies, watercolor and oil painting, placed on display at the Solo Exhibit of Watercolors at Studio 15 in Davenport, Iowa in 1992, at the Rock Island Public Library in 1993, and at a joint exhibit in 2001; he authored and co-produced text for a CD, "14 Stations, Revisited"; and participated in an archaeological dig in Jerusalem in 1995 and the Sea of Galilee in 2003; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Schwiebert enjoys traveling, running, weightlifting, watercolor and oil painting, writing, reading, and archeology, and he looks forward to spending more time with his wife, Deborah, following his retirement as mayor; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Mayor Mark Schwiebert on his years of public service to the City of Rock Island and for his commitment to the betterment of the Rock Island community; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Mayor Schwiebert as a symbol of our respect.