Bill Text: IL HR0024 | 2019-2020 | 101st General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Congratulates John A. Ostenburg on his 30-year career in public service and his upcoming retirement as Mayor of Park Forest.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2019-01-29 - Resolution Adopted [HR0024 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2019-HR0024-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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