South Barrington administrator to retire in fall

South Barrington's village administrator for the past 11 years, David Pierce, has announced his retirement from a career spent in the public sector. Among his previous posts was mayor of Aurora.

South Barrington Village President Frank Munao said the position was recently advertised. The village's legal and human resources committee this week will begin discussing the selection criteria and interview questions to sort through the candidates.

"We certainly didn't want to see him go," Munao said of Pierce. "David has been a wonderful administrator. If we get another one like him, we'll be blessed."

Pierce was two years past his 12-year run as the full-time mayor of Aurora when he was hired as South Barrington's first full-time administrator in July 1999.

The summer of '99 was a time of flux and political turmoil in the village. Village President Pat Graft and two trustees had just resigned from the board over conflicts with three newly elected trustees. Senior Trustee Michael Neben then became president to oversee the hiring of Pierce.

Pierce said an administrator's job is to carry out the will of the board - something that was in flux during his early years in the job - as well as to serve as an adviser.

As mayor of Aurora, he was both administrator and chief executive officer of the city. "I always enjoyed the management side a lot more than the politics," Pierce said.

Before being elected mayor of Aurora, Pierce was Kane County clerk, a job which he said gave him a helpful overview of all the responsibilities of county government. In a world where people are increasingly becoming specialists, there are few good training grounds to be a generalist, he said.

While government is something people have increasingly turned their anger toward over the years, Pierce is hopeful that young people can still recognize the opportunity for good in public service.

"It can be very challenging, and rewarding," Pierce said. "The politics has become far more angry, even to some extent at the local level."

What people have to recapture, he said, is the idea that most political conflicts aren't so much a conflict between good and evil but between two concepts of what's better.

Pierce said the biggest visible change in South Barrington during his time there has been the addition of The Arboretum - the first significant retail presence in the largely bedroom community.

A change that's still in progress is the gradual replacement of the village's core of longtime residents with more recent arrivals.

Pierce has told the board he hopes to retire Oct. 15, but is willing to stay just a little longer if it insures a smooth transition to his successor.

Pierce, 63, said he is not looking for a new job but is planning to spend more time doing the things he enjoys, like travel.