Full Text of HR0782 99th General Assembly
HR0782 99TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to recognize Dorothy Brown for her 15 | 4 | | years of service as the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook | 5 | | County and as one of the longest-serving countywide | 6 | | African-American elected officials; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Dorothy Brown was elected Clerk of the Circuit | 8 | | Court of Cook County in 2000 and has been re-elected
to 3 | 9 | | additional terms; 4 consecutive victories by overwhelming | 10 | | margins illustrate voter
confidence in her abilities as the | 11 | | official keeper of records for all judicial matters brought | 12 | | into one of the
largest unified court systems in the world; she | 13 | | is responsible for managing an annual operating budget
of more | 14 | | than $100 million and has a workforce of 1,800 employees; and
| 15 | | WHEREAS, Dorothy Brown has brought revolutionary changes | 16 | | to the operations of the circuit court clerk's office through
| 17 | | her focus on improving services within 5 strategic areas: 21st | 18 | | century technology, operational efficiency,
customer service, | 19 | | employee training and development, and financial | 20 | | accountability; she has
implemented a host of innovative | 21 | | programs that have streamlined processes, improved quality | 22 | | service, saved
millions of dollars for taxpayers, and increased | 23 | | revenue for Cook County; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, Before her time as Clerk of the Circuit Court of | 2 | | Cook County, Dorothy Brown served from 1991 to 2000 as the | 3 | | General Auditor for the Chicago Transit Authority; prior to | 4 | | that, she worked for one of the "Big Eight" accounting firms, a | 5 | | major utility company, and a major Chicago Bank; she also | 6 | | helped start a minority CPA firm; and
| 7 | | WHEREAS, Dorothy Brown is a past
President of the National | 8 | | Woman's Political Caucus of Greater Chicago, a past President | 9 | | of the Lutheran Social
Services of Illinois, and a past | 10 | | President of the Southeast Case Management Auxiliary Board; she | 11 | | has
served as Treasurer for both Working in the Schools (WITS) | 12 | | and the Illinois Chapter of the American
Association of | 13 | | Attorneys and Certified Public Accountants; she is the founder | 14 | | and executive director of the
Dorothy Brown Scholarship and | 15 | | Community Development Fund, an organization developed to | 16 | | secure funding
for college-bound students; she is a member of | 17 | | the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and a member
of the King of | 18 | | Glory Tabernacle Church of God in Christ; her professional | 19 | | memberships include the Chicago
Bar Association, the Cook | 20 | | County Bar Association, the Black Women Lawyers' Association, | 21 | | and the Illinois
Association of Certified Public Accountants; | 22 | | and | 23 | | WHEREAS, Dorothy Brown has been recognized by various |
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| 1 | | organizations for
her outstanding professional and public | 2 | | service; among her numerous accolades, she was awarded the
2002 | 3 | | Hillary Rodham Clinton Leadership Award from the Illinois | 4 | | Democratic Women, the 2003 Marks of
Excellence Award from the | 5 | | National Forum for Black Public Administrators, the 2003 Women | 6 | | of Achievement
Award from the Anti-Defamation League, the 2004 | 7 | | NAACP Medal of Freedom from the Proviso/Leyden
Township in | 8 | | Illinois, the 2004 Pakistan Women Association Outstanding | 9 | | Community Service Award, the 2005
"Voice of Freedom Award" from | 10 | | the Harriet Beecher Stowe Fine & Performing Arts Academy, the | 11 | | 2006 Justinian Society of Lawyers Humanitarian Award, the 2006 | 12 | | Indian American Medical Association Public
Service Award, the | 13 | | Information Integrity Coalition's 2007 Excellence in | 14 | | Information Integrity Award Finalist,
Nielsen's 2007 "Single | 15 | | Mama of the Year" award, the Illinois Institute of Technology | 16 | | 2007 Professional
Achievement Award, the Youth Pride Center's | 17 | | 2008 Youth Advocate of the Year Award, the Demoiselle 2
Femme's | 18 | | 2008 Community Partnership Award, the Illinois Traffic Safety | 19 | | Leaders 2009 Joanne Blair
Award, the 2009 Chicago-Kent | 20 | | Professional Achievement Award, and the Cook County Bar | 21 | | Association's
"2010 Law Day Award of Appreciation"; and | 22 | | WHEREAS, Dorothy Brown graduated from Webster High School, | 23 | | where she was in the top 10% of her class and captain of the | 24 | | girls' basketball team; she graduated magna cum laude from | 25 | | Southern University in 1975; she received her Certified Public |
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| 1 | | Accountant certification in 1977, her Master's in Business | 2 | | Administration with honors from DePaul University in Chicago in | 3 | | 1981, and her Juris Doctorate with honors in 1996 from | 4 | | Chicago-Kent College of Law; she lives in Chicago with her | 5 | | husband, Dr. Benton Cook, and has a daughter, Detris; | 6 | | therefore, be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 8 | | NINETY-NINTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we | 9 | | recognize Dorothy Brown for serving 15 years as the Clerk of | 10 | | the Circuit Court of Cook County and as one of the | 11 | | longest-serving countywide African-American elected officials | 12 | | and we wish her many more successful years; and be it further
| 13 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 14 | | presented to Dorothy Brown as an expression of our esteem and | 15 | | respect.
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