HR0206 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0206 LRB098 11553 MST 43825 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives are pleased to recognize William F. Murphy on the occasion of his retirement as mayor of the Village of Woodridge; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Murphy is the longest serving mayor in DuPage County; he was first elected to the Woodridge Village Board as a trustee in 1973 and served 8 years; in 1981, he was elected mayor and was re-elected 7 more times and will have served 32 years when he steps down on April 30, 2013; his 40 years in office have been years of transformation and progress for Woodridge; under his leadership, the population has grown by 46% and the square miles of village territory has doubled; Woodridge has evolved from a bedroom community to a diversified and stable community; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Murphy has been a leader in numerous areas during his time in office; he was instrumental in reginal water planning and in bringing Lake Michigan water to DuPage County, creating the DuPage Water Commission, the construction of the North-South Tollway, maintaining the Argonne National Laboratory as a strong national research facility, and ultimately winning the Advance Photon Source; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Murphy has been active in many organizations such as serving twice as president of the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference, serving as president of the Illinois Municipal League, serving as vice-chair of the Illinois International Port District, serving on the National League of Cities Board of Directors and Advisory Council, and as a member of the U.S. Conference of Mayors; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Murphy's governing style incorporated input from the community at large; he introduced a community recognition program that every year recognized the most outstanding business, youth, citizen, association, advisory commission member, and public employee; he championed a strategic management process that seeked input from the community to identify goals and use them to create goals that are then carried out by staff; he organized an annual community needs survey and implemented a 5-year financial planning process to ensure both the stability of the Village and the ability to achieve the goals identified by the community; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Murphy helped to create many different ways for those who needed help to obtain it; he started the Pro Logis Fund which provides grants to high schoolers to assist with college costs, aided charitable programs such as Support our Troops, the Woodridge Golden Years program, the Woodridge Community Resource Center, and the Diversity Committee, and he created the Quality Community Task Force to address neighborhood needs; he served as board member on the Community Pantry, sponsored the Robert Shields Memorial fundraiser, and has assisted St. Scholastic Catholic Church in a variety of capacities; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Murphy spent 34 years working for Woodridge School District 68; he previously served as principal within the district and retired in 2004 as the assistant superintendent of personnel; upon his retirement, the Woodridge School was renamed the William F. Murphy School to honor his service to the district and the community; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Murphy has received a number of awards throughout his career such as the Illinois State Board of Education's "Those Who Excel Award of Merit" 1993-94, the ISBE's Certificate of Commendation 1986, the DuPage County State's Attorney's Certificate of Merit 1989, the Woodridge School District Board of Education's Exemplar of Excellence Award 1991, the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education, the National Catholic Educational Association Distinguished Graduate Award 1999, the DuPage Mayors and Managers Conference Intergovernmental Cooperation Award 2001 & 2002, and the Woodridge Chamber of Commerce Award of Excellence 2001; and

WHEREAS, Mayor Murphy will be honored at a retirement celebration on April 24, 2013; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we congratulate Mayor William Murphy on his retirement, thank him for his service to his community, and wish him all the best in his future endeavours; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to Mayor Murphy as an expression of our esteem and respect.