It is hard to believe that one year ago tonight, I was elected to the Lake in the Hills Village Board. At our Committee of the Whole meeting tonight , I was recalling how my election night watch/victory party buzz was killed around 8:20 pm when the early voting trends showed I was in fourth place and seemingly on the verge of losing my bid for the trustee board.
The room effectively cleared out as people mumbled weak, bare audible "hey - hang in there" "Not all precincts are counted" - type comments.
Only a few die-hards hung out until 9:00 when we got the word that I'd moved into the second place position and secured my seat on the Lake in the Hills Village Board.
I still humbled when I think of the privilege I have to serve the residents of our town. Thanks so much for that trust.
As tomorrow moves me into year two of my four year term, I want to give you a glimpse of something I am working on and hope you will join as we move forward.
Next week, I will be speaking at the 2010 Circle Connection Conference in Champaign about how to build a vibrant and mutually beneficial volunteer program for park districts and park and recreation department officials. I collaborated with a kindred spirit on the presentation and we crafted a message that will surely help many cash-strapped municipalities throughout the state of Illinois.
In a few weeks, we in Lake in the Hills will tackle the same information and look for ways to engage talented village residents to help meet our needs while helping people build resume quality experiences with us.
Please stay tuned because over the next 60-90 days you will see a plan come together to build and sustain a best-in-class volunteer program for our community.
By the way - just want to say thank you again for giving me the opportunity to serve you.
Happy Anniversary!