We need you!

The Village Manager Association (VMA) is hosting a Wine and Cheese Party at Marion Street Cheese Market on September 14th at 7:00 pm, to meet fellow citizens who may be interested in either:

• Running in the Spring 2011 Village election for Village Trustee,

OR

• Joining the Selection Committee, a group of citizens like yourself who will help interview applicants for Village Trustee and choose the best candidates to endorse.

If you want to learn more about these exciting opportunities, come join us!

Marion Street Cheese Market
101 N. Marion
Oak Park, IL
Tuesday, September 14th

7:00 pm to 9:00 pm

You can also read more about the Selection Committee. If you have any questions, contact Steven Rouse at (708)927-5565 or selections@vma-oakpark.org

• The site is searchable (see the search box to the right).
• All past posts are now available.
• We now support RSS, so if you have a “feed reader” you can link to the VMA website and get notifications of new posts without having to check the site.

Also, if you haven’t joined the VMA facebook group, please do so. It’s a great way to stay involved with the VMA!

You are cordially invited to the VMA Kick-Off to Summer Reception:

June 15th from 7:30-9:30 p.m
Oak Park Place Club Room / Rooftop Deck
7th floor of the Oak Park Place Apartments
479 N. Harlem (Trader Joe’s building)

Wine, beer, soft drinks and light appetizers will be served. Please also feel free to bring a friend to meet the other members of the VMA. We would like to use this event as an opportunity to introduce new people to the organization and reacquaint old friends, so we encourage you to bring a friend our two. We also want to let people know what is going on within the organization and around town. Of course we want to have a little fun too.

Please RSVP to me by June 8th at (708) 386-3228 or send me an email.

I look forward to seeing everybody on June 15th!

Very truly yours,

Bob Tucker
Vice President Membership

Saturday, February 27, 2010
3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Held at the Dole Branch of the
Oak Park Public Library
255 Augusta Street, Oak Park, IL 60302

• Meet the VMA Board of Directors and learn how to become involved!
• Become a member or renew your membership

We wish you joy and peace in the new year!

Sunday, 9/13, 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
Back Patio of 1033 South Blvd., Oak Park

Plan to bring a friend for music, food, and catching up on VMA news.

Please RSVP by Wednesday, 9/9 to Gail Moran

We offer the candidates our congratulations on a well run campaign and wish them success in their new terms. For more information about the newly elected candidates and the other elected officials endorsed by the VMA, see the Village Officals page.

The Village Manager Association (VMA) proudly endorses its slate for the upcoming elections in Spring 2009:

“We are extremely pleased with the candidates we have slated,” said Bob Kane, VMA President. “The Candidate Selection Committee held interviews with several strong candidates over the course of seven weeks, and we are confident that we have endorsed a slate of very qualified individuals.”

David Pope was elected President of Oak Park in April 2005. He brings to the role a professional background as a management consultant, having served as a Principal with Price Waterhouse’s Strategy Consulting Practice.  Mr. Pope has made intergovernmental coordination a priority and has instituted improved accountability and a results orientation that goes well beyond typical public sector practices. In 2007, the senior leadership of the U.S. Conference of Mayors (the Mayors of Trenton, Miami, and Seattle) appointed Mr. Pope to that organization’s leadership group (comprised of 40 mayors from around the country) and named him Co-Chair of the Conference’s Sustainability Task Force. Mr. Pope also represents Oak Park’s interests as a member of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus among other regional forums. Prior to his election as Village President, Mr. Pope served as a Village Trustee and as a Member of the Oak Park Plan Commission. He received his MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School as an Austin Fellow.  He is a founding Board Member of RAINN – the United States’ national rape crisis hotline.  He also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Thailand for two years.

Glenn E. Brewer currently serves as a Community Affairs Specialist, Community Affairs Program, Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection with the FDIC, in the Chicago Regional Office. Glenn began his career with the FDIC in November 1993. As a Community Affairs Specialist for the Chicago region (covering Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin), Glenn’s responsibilities include acting as a liaison between community groups, bankers and the FDIC on fair lending regulations and community development and reinvestment opportunities. Glenn also acts as a resource person for FDIC compliance examiners on matters concerning fair housing and fair lending laws. Prior to his current FDIC position, he investigated complaints on fairness in housing in his role as Investigations Manager for the Leadership Council for Metropolitan Open Communities, one of the premier fair housing agencies in the country. Glenn is also a real estate and family law attorney, in practice for 12 years. Mr. Brewer lived in Oak Park 25 years ago, moved away, then returned to Oak Park in 2002. He lived in Bellwood for 16 years. While in Bellwood, Mr. Brewer volunteered on the Zoning Board of Appeals and Planning Commission, and served there for five years, with the last two years as Chairman. After returning to Oak Park, Mr. Brewer continued his record of community service. He joined the board of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center in 2005, and has served as President since 2006. Mr. Brewer currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Unity Temple Unitarian Universalist Congregation as Treasurer. He received his undergraduate degree in Communications from Northwestern University. Mr. Brewer is a graduate of Chicago-Kent College of Law – Illinois Institute of Technology and a member of the Bar of the State of Illinois and the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

John Hedges is a current Village Trustee elected to a two-year term in 2007. He has a long record of service to the village, having served as Director of the Park District of Oak Park for twenty years. During this time he also served as the interim Village Manager. Other work experience included Directorship of the Lyle and Franklin Park Park Districts, Executive Director of the Pleasant Home Foundation, Faculty at the University of Iowa, and Officer in the U.S. Navy. His community service work includes: Village Trustee (elected in 2007 to a two year term), Board Member of the Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust, Board of Governors of the Oak Park, River Forest and Forest Park United Way and Community Chest (President and Campaign Chair), Madison Street Business Association (Vice President six years), Oak Park Council of Governments, Pleasant Home Foundation (Board President and recipient of the John L. Hedges Preservation Award), Oak Park River Forest Rotary Club (President and Chair of the Scholarship Committee), Oak Park River Forest High School Citizens Advisory Committee on Athletics and Activities(Chairperson), Village of Oak Park and School District 97 Task Force on Diversity (Co Chair of the Education Sub-Committee), Oak Park Area Convention and Visitors Bureau(President), Oak Park River Forest Gang and Drug Task Force (Charter Member), Oak Park River Forest High School Strategic Planning Committee, Recipient of the Oak Park Education Foundation William Stazack Award for service to youth. Mr. Hedges’ education includes B.S. in Business Administration Indiana University, M.S. Recreation and Park Management Indiana University.

Collette Lueck is a current Trustee who recently was selected to serve as Oak Park Trustee to fill the term vacated by the resignation of Ernest Moore. Ms. Lueck, LCSW, is Managing Director for the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership (ICMHP), a statewide collaboration charged with developing and implementing a Strategic Plan for Building a Comprehensive Children’s Mental Health System in Illinois, with annual progress to the Governor. Prior to joining ICMHP, Ms. Lueck served as Clinical Director for System of Care Chicago, a federal initiative with the goal of developing a system of care approach by providing mental health staff and Family Resource Developers to identified Chicago Public Schools. She has worked for over twenty years in community mental health with a focus on developing parent partnerships, school based collaborations and home based services. She also authored three chapters of the Child and Adolescent Training Curriculum, developed by the Department of Human Services Division of Mental Health, and has conducted numerous state and national trainings on mental health system development. Ms. Leuck served as a member and then Chair of the Oak Park Plan Commission. She has also served as a member and then chair of the Oak Park River Forest High School Parent Teacher Organization Liaison Program, and a member of the District 97 Finance Work Group, the Collaborative for Early Childhood Care and Education Project Steering Committee, and the Board of the Village Manager Association. She is Chair of Forum Oak Park. She was selected as “Volunteer of the Year” in 2006.

Teresa Powell, formerly Teresa Wedoff, is a 32-year resident of Oak Park. Prior to moving to Oak Park, she worked as a Congressional Aide to Abner Mikva where she was a liaison to governmental agencies to assist constituents to resolve issues with the Federal government.  She worked for 13 years at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, where she established a business travel department which automated systems for greater accessibility and was recognized for customer service and responsiveness. As President of the Midwest Business Travel Association, she received the 2004 Business Professional Leadership Award. Since 2002 she has worked with the Arts and Business Council of Chicago, where she currently serves on the Board Development Team. Ms. Powell has a long record of Oak Park community involvement: she served on the Racial Diversity Task Force in 1982 as Secretary of the Education Committee; was Chair of the Education Committee of the Community Relations Committee; served on the AIDS Committee of the Board of Health in the early 90’s; and served on the Task Force considering a Performing Arts Center of the Oak Park Area Arts Council. She has also worked with a number of local non-profit organizations in leadership positions and as a consultant. For twenty years, she owned an apartment building on Harrison Street, and was a member of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center. If elected as Village Clerk, she would bring management and leadership skills, as well as experience in selection and implementation of new technology and streamlining of customer service processes. She holds an MBA in Health Information Management and an MPH (Public Health) from University of Illinois, and holds a MS in Education from University of Chicago.

Mr. Kane added, “With the challenges facing the Village in 2009 and beyond, these candidates will bring a great mix of continuity, strong leadership, and fresh perspective that will be essential to helping Oak Park not only survive, but thrive in the next four years.”

We need you!

Sunday, 11/23/08, 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm

Oak Park Conservatory
615 Garfield Street
Oak Park, IL 60304

At the meeting, you will have an opportunity to:

• see the first public appearance of our VMA-endorsed slate of candidates AND
• renew your membership ($20/year to join/renew)

Please plan to join us!