New Village Board Members Take Their Seats

Trustees Bob Schultz and Cindy Williams took markedly different approaches Tuesday night to their final meeting as Hinsdale Village Board members.

Throughout the meeting, Schultz had plenty of comments on matters before the board. But when Village President Tom Cauley offered him a chance to make some parting remarks, Schultz simply said, "No, thanks."

Williams, meanwhile, was largely silent during the meeting, but took the opportunity to conclude her tenure on the board with a closing statement.

“First, I’d like to thank the village residents who gave me the honor of serving for the last eight years,” Williams said. “It was truly an honor.”

She also thanked her four children, whom she said never complained about their mother missing school activities because of board meetings.

“Sometimes that worked in their favor when I couldn’t go to parent-teacher conferences,” Williams joked.

Williams said she had just attended a farewell event for outgoing Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley and was struck by a quote Daley shared from Winston Churchill: “Success is not final; failure is not final. It is the courage to continue that counts.”

“My immediate reaction to that quote was that it reminded me of what it takes to serve on this board,” Williams said. “The resilience that it takes, the deliberation, the determination, the decisiveness, the ability to suffer from losses, to experience wins, and to continue to do what you have to do over the course of your term to wake up and come to another meeting or another committee meeting and start all over again.”

Cauley makes committee appointments

Chris Elder and Bill Haarlow, both elected last month, were sworn in as new board members by Cauley and were promptly appointed by the president to serve on board committees.

Elder will serve on the Administration and Community Affairs (ACA) Committee and the Zoning and Public Safety (ZPS) Committee. Haarlow will sit on the Environment and Public Services (EPS) Committee and ZPS Committee.

Trustee Doug Geoga will continue to chair the ACA Committee and Laura LaPlaca will remain the EPS chair. Bob Saigh will chair the ZPS Committee.

Cauley said at some point the board might wish to reconsider whether or not the present committee structure works well.

“In some instances it has, and in some instances I don’t think it has,” he said.

Cauley picked Roddy Biggert to fill Haarlow's vacated seat on the Zoning Board of Appeals. Debra Braselton was promoted to appeals board chair, Haarlow's old position, and Robert Nieman was named vice chairman.