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1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois General Assembly wish
3to honor 4 south suburban mayors as they complete their time in
4office; Mayors Irene H. Brodie, Donald Peloquin, Lou Sherman,
5and Jack Swan have decided to retire after years of public
6service; and
 
7    WHEREAS, Irene Brodie launched her campaign for the
8mayorship of the Village of Robbins in 1989 and has held the
9position ever since; she is the current, longest-serving,
10female, African-American mayor in the nation; her reign as
11mayor saw improvements in the water and sewer systems, roads
12and transportation, code enforcement, economic development,
13grant procurement, land acquisition, residential development,
14and public safety; her 36-year tenure in government consists of
1512 years as municipal clerk for the Village of Robbins and 24
16years as the mayor; she is a longtime educator and
17administrator; her scholarship program has funded the tuition
18costs for hundreds of students throughout the years and her
19individual efforts have produced teachers, lawyers, doctors,
20engineers, and educators around the globe; she has hired,
21financially supported, tutored, counseled, and graduated
22hundreds of residents from Robbins and the surrounding
23communities; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Irene Brodie was the vice-president of the
2Illinois Municipal League, executive board member and
3assistant secretary of the National Conference of Black Mayors,
4and the chair of the Education Committee and Scholarship
5Committee for the National Conference of Black Mayors; she has
6been appointed to numerous gubernatorial transition teams and
7has been on various State and federal advisory boards; she was
8a member of the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus under Mayor Richard
9Daley, served on President Clinton's environmental think-tank
10group, and was a guest lecturer at the Harvard University
11Graduate School of Business; she is married to J. Edmon Brodie
12and they have one child, Jeraye E. Brodie; and
 
13    WHEREAS, Donald Peloquin is a lifelong resident of Blue
14Island and has been mayor since 1985; he was alderman of the
154th Ward from 1981-1985; he is a member of various
16organizations including the Southwest Conference of Mayors,
17the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, and the
18Metropolitan Mayors Caucus; he is chairman of the CREATE
19Committee of the Metropolitan Planning Council; and
 
20    WHEREAS, Lou Sherman has been the Steger Village President
21since 1973; during his years as mayor, he served as president
22of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association and as
23head of the organization's transportation committee; he was a
24member of the Chicago Area Transportation Study; he has held

 

 

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1volunteer positions at the county and State level, being
2appointed to the Cook County Community Block Grant advisory
3board in 1977 and as vice-president of the Illinois Municipal
4League in 1994; he moved to Steger in 1958 and became a member
5of the Steger Kiwanis Club and head of its boy's baseball
6league; he and his wife, Andrea, are members of St. Liborius
7Church; he is a former Kiwanis Lt. Governor and a life member
8of the organization as well as three-time president of the
9local Kiwanis; he is a member of the Steger DARE committee, the
10Chamber of Commerce, and the American Legion; and
 
11    WHEREAS, Jack Swan has been the Thornton Village President
12for the past 20 years; during his 5 terms as village president,
13he has established a full-time paramedic program, expanded the
14police and public works departments, and created a full-time
15recreation department; he has overseen numerous large economic
16development projects within the community and has helped keep
17Thornton's tax rates stable; during and after his office hours
18he always made himself available to residents to listen to
19their ideas and concerns; he spearheaded the free senior
20citizen driveway and sidewalk plowing program and at times,
21personally plowed the school-route sidewalks for Wolcott
22students; he has lived in Thornton for 45 years and has been
23married to Peggy for 46 and they have 3 children, Jim, Penny,
24and Jackie; and
 

 

 

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1    WHEREAS, Mayors Sherman, Brodie, Peloquin, and Swan will be
2honored at the South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association
3dinner on March 21, 2013; therefore, be it
 
4    RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
5NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
6SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we honor and thank these 4
7individuals for the service they have given to their
8communities over these past many years and wish them well in
9all their future endeavours; and be it further
 
10    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
11presented to Mayors Irene Brodie, Donald Peloquin, Lou Sherman,
12and Jack Swan as an expression of our esteem and respect.