Wauconda names David Lawry as director of village operations

The Mayor and Board would like to welcome David Lawry to the Village of Wauconda staff.

For the past year, Village Administrator David Geary has been assisting the Village by simultaneously filling three positions - Village Administrator, Director of Public Works and Director of the Building Department. While all staff members have worked to accommodate additional duties, the Board has determined that there is now a need to fill the role full time and add additional responsibilities to the position.

The reconfigured, appointed position is now titled "Director of Village Operations" and will include all the responsibilities formerly associated with the position of the Director of Public Works, with additional duties such as improved customer service, enhanced communications with the Board and community, and a renewed emphasis on infrastructure planning and engineering.

Mayor Mark Knigge said, "The Village has had significant contacts with developers over the past few months, and we continue to evaluate the benefits of bringing Lake Michigan water to our community, so Mr. Lawry's arrival at this time is opportune and his comprehensive background will certainly serve the Village well. Dave Lawry's extensive experience in facilities management, engineering and grant seeking will be a tremendous addition to Wauconda. Bringing someone like Dave in from the outside gives the Village a fresh perspective to help us become even more efficient and make customer service improvements in all areas, Village wide."

The Mayor continued, "Mr. Lawry will be a great addition to the staff, in fact, he has been named this year's 'Public Works Director of the Year' from the Fox Valley Branch and the Chicago Metro Chapter of the American Public Works Association (APWA), and he has been nominated for national recognition for his contributions to the Public Works field."

David earned his degree in Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He has extensive public works experience, having been employed by a structural engineering consulting firm, the Illinois Department of Transportation, and the City of Elgin. Dave is an active member in the American Public Works Association (APWA) both locally and nationally, having been elected President of both the Fox Valley Branch and the Chicago Metro Chapter organizations, while also serving on the national APWA finance and conference committees.

Mr. Lawry is currently a member of the steering committee for the Illinois Public Service Institute, is an experienced speaker on public works topics, and has published articles on snow and ice control for trade publications. We are happy to welcome David to Wauconda, and think he will be a great asset to the Village.