Schaumburg Mayor Tom Dailly was inaugurated as the 2023-2024 Northwest Municipal Conference (NWMC) President on Wednesday, June 14.
Dailly is the organization’s 65th President and fourth from the Village of Schaumburg. Hanover Park Mayor Rod Craig was installed as Vice-President, with Libertyville Mayor Donna Johnson and Skokie Village Manager John Lockerby installed as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. Their terms run through June, 2024.
The inauguration took place at the NWMC’s Annual Gala at the Hyatt Regency Deerfield. One hundred and forty members and guests celebrated the accomplishments of outgoing NWMC President and Deerfield Mayor Dan Shapiro as well as the inauguration of President Dailly.
President Shapiro began his remarks by recognizing former Buffalo Grove Village President Beverly Sussman for her eleven years of service to the organization. He discussed the City of Highland Park and the region’s response to last year’s mass shooting while noting the remarkable leadership of Mayor Nancy Rotering and Manager Ghida Neukirch. He announced the Conference will present the first-ever NWMC President’s Award to the City of Highland Park, recognizing “the City’s bravery, courage, resilience, leadership, compassion and determination to emerge stronger in the aftermath of the Highland Park Shooting. Together Highland Park Unidos.”
President Shapiro thanked the membership and staff for their collective achievements over the past year. He thanked legislators for approving an increase in the Local Government Distributive Fund (LGDF) in the state budget. In addition to Senate President Don Harmon, Speaker Chris Welch and Governor JB Pritzker, President Shapiro specifically thanked “Senator Laura Murphy and Representative Anthony DeLuca for being our LGDF champions and to the chief budget negotiators in the Senate and House, Senator Elgie Sims and Representative Jehan Gordon-Booth for bringing the LGDF increase over the finish line in the budget.”
In his inaugural remarks to the membership, President Dailly identified a number of initiatives for the year, including: continuing work to increase the Local Government Distributive Fund; protecting use of Tax Increment Financing (TIF) and other economic development tools; increasing utilization of the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative; improving collaboration with IDOT to expedite project approval processes; and, discussing the creation of a new strategic plan.
Finally, he thanked and called on all members to become actively involved in the Conference’s committees and activities, noting that “the strength of this organization lies in the commitment of time and resources of the membership and staff to get the job done. Thank you for the trust and confidence you have in me to lead the Northwest Municipal Conference and I look forward to working with all of you to achieve our mutual goals.”
The Northwest Municipal Conference is a membership-supported association of 42 municipalities and 1 township representing a population of over 1.2 million Illinois residents. Established in 1958, the Conference serves to strengthen local government and enhance intergovernmental cooperation in the north and northwest suburbs of Chicago.
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