HR0279 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0279 LRB096 12332 KXB 25176 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to congratulate John Perry, Village Administrator for the Village of Woodridge, on his retirement; and

WHEREAS, John Perry graduated from the University of Chicago in 1970 with a B.A.; he received his M.P.A. from Syracuse University in 1972; when he began his professional management career in 1972, John Perry saw his role as one of a "community builder" willingly contributing as a member of the management team to the progress of his first employer, Park Forest; he was promoted four times during his seventeen years in Park Forest, advancing from Assistant to the Village Manager to Village Manager; and

WHEREAS, He helped form, and served as a Charter Member of, the Illinois Public Employer Labor Relations Association for six years; he also served as chairman of the Intergovernmental Risk management Agency; during that time Park Forest was named an All-American City; John Perry pioneered municipal involvement in supporting diverse communities long before it became fashionable; he served as the first Chair of the Housing Coalition of the South Suburbs; and in 1983, his efforts to defend the municipal right to achieve a diverse community led to a landmark Supreme Court case that established support for these community initiatives, especially marketing, to achieve successful community diversity; and

WHEREAS, In 1989, John moved on to become Village Administrator of Woodridge; one of Mr. Perry's main goals with the Village of Woodridge was to reduce the tax burden on Village taxpayers; he implemented a strategy of prioritizing expenses and expanding the tax base, resulting in twenty-three years of declining municipal property tax rates; Mr. Perry also focused on promoting high quality balanced development; and

WHEREAS, John Perry has guided three significant retail developments and seven new business parks which together account for more than twenty-five percent of municipal property and sales tax revenues; he used his knowledge and experience in diversity to work with the intergovernmental and citizen Quality Community Task Force appointed by Woodridge's Mayor in the early 1990s; this community improvement process led to a broad-based action plan, the most noteworthy aspect of which is the multi-family licensing ordinance; in the mid-1990s he received the intergovernmental cooperation award from the Dupage Mayors and Managers Conference for his work on this initiative; and

WHEREAS, John Perry once again won the intergovernmental award in 2007 following work that he did to support communities working on issues related to interoperable radios and regional water supply; in 1997 Mr. Perry received the Special Service Award from the Illinois City/County Management Association for his efforts to involve managers throughout the State in the Annual Illinois Municipal League Conference; encouraging participation of managers helped cement relationships between the elected and appointed officials; and

WHEREAS, The DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference annually recognizes the innovations of its member communities and Woodridge gained the initial award for its multi-family license program; it has since repeated the annual award for programs as diverse as cultural enrichment for at-risk neighborhood youth, sponsored by the Police Department, and a Public Works hydro excavator; Woodridge is the only three-time winner of this Municipal Innovation Award; and

WHEREAS, The Village of Woodridge has excelled under John Perry's stewardship, and in 2007 it was designated one of the 100 Best Communities by Money Magazine; Woodridge has also been named one of the World's Greatest Communities by the producers of the "World's Greatest" TV Show; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate John Perry on his retirement and wish him the best in his future endeavors; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to John Perry as a symbol of our respect and esteem.