Full Text of HR0024 101st General Assembly
HR0024 101ST GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | 3 | | Representatives wish to congratulate John A. Ostenburg on his | 4 | | 30-year career in public service and on the occasion of his | 5 | | retirement as the Mayor of Park Forest; and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, John Ostenburg was elected as Mayor of Park Forest | 7 | | in 1999 and was reelected for four more terms; during his | 8 | | tenure as Mayor, he was the Chief Elected Official for 20 years | 9 | | and currently holds the distinction as the longest-serving | 10 | | Mayor in the history of Park Forest; and
| 11 | | WHEREAS, John Ostenburg's visionary approach resulted in | 12 | | many initiatives and successes for Park Forest, including as an | 13 | | All-American City finalist in 2000 and 2006 and a Chicago | 14 | | Tribune Top 100 workplace in 2010; the award-winning Park | 15 | | Forest Sustainability Plan was implemented in 2012, and the | 16 | | city received a 3-STAR designation in 2014 and the SolSmart | 17 | | "Gold" designation in 2015; under his leadership, Park Forest | 18 | | was also the recipient of the Distinguished Budget Award and | 19 | | Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for more than | 20 | | 20 consecutive years; and
| 21 | | WHEREAS, John Ostenburg was instrumental in diversifying | 22 | | and unifying the Park Forest Board of Trustees, both in race |
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| 1 | | and gender, to establish a very cohesive leadership team; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, John Ostenburg's leadership influence expanded | 3 | | far beyond the boundaries of Park Forest, as he was heavily | 4 | | involved at the regional, state, and federal levels; he served | 5 | | in a variety of positions at the appointment of the Cook County | 6 | | Board President and the Illinois Municipal League; he also | 7 | | served as President of the South Suburban Mayors and Managers | 8 | | Association and as Chairman of the Board for the Metropolitan | 9 | | Mayors Caucus; his ascension into these top leadership roles in | 10 | | the SSMMA and the MMC were based on longstanding work on | 11 | | various committees within both entities; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Outside of public service, John Ostenburg's | 13 | | career included teaching at elementary and secondary school | 14 | | levels before becoming affiliated with several institutions of | 15 | | higher learning; in addition to teaching journalism and | 16 | | communications courses, he has served as the Director of Alumni | 17 | | Affairs and Sports Information Director at Lewis University, | 18 | | the Executive Director of the College Foundation at Prairie | 19 | | State College, and the Director of University Relations at | 20 | | Governors State University; his professional career continued | 21 | | with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), where he served as the | 22 | | Editor of the Chicago Union Teacher, the Communications | 23 | | Department Chair, and the Chief of Staff; and
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| 1 | | WHEREAS, John Ostenburg built strong relationships with | 2 | | leaders in Cook County, Springfield, and Washington, D.C.; he | 3 | | was a champion of regionalism, equality, diversity, and an | 4 | | environmentalist; he helped lead efforts toward important | 5 | | housing, economic development, and legislative matters with | 6 | | county and state leaders; therefore, be it
| 7 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | 8 | | HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 9 | | we congratulate John A. Ostenburg on the occasion of his | 10 | | retirement as the Mayor of Park Forest, and we commend his | 11 | | 30-year career in public service; and be it further
| 12 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 13 | | presented to John Ostenburg as an expression of our esteem and | 14 | | respect.
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