Arlington Hts. sends trustee off with jokes, praise

With jokes and praise, the Arlington Heights Village Board said goodbye Monday night to Thomas Stengren, one of the village's longest-serving trustees.

Village President Arlene Mulder presented a list of long-serving trustees stretching back to 1887, the year the village changed its name to Arlington Heights.

Stengren joined the board 20 years ago, in 1991. Only two trustees were on longer: Albert Goedke served 27 years, 11 as trustee, 1928-1939 and 16 as village president, 1941-1957. Francois Palmatier was a trustee for 24 years, from 1965 -1989.

Twenty years is a rather popular mark. Dwight Walton was on the board for 20 years starting in 1969, although he did it in two segments.

Mulder and Tom Hayes both joined the board with Stengren in 1991 and will exceed his longevity. Mulder has two years left in her current term, and Hayes was just re-elected to a four-year term.

One of Monday night's parting shots was a red scooter that Hayes presented Stengren, calling it the Stengren People Mover. This was inspired by Stengren's response in a goals session early in his career when trustees were asked to come up with a pie-in-the-sky wish if money were no object.

Mulder praised Stengren for his work on downtown redevelopment. She has also said that Stengren “has been committed to the underprivileged and always wanted them treated with respect.”

She mentioned the courage Stengren showed during his first term when he announced he wanted to change his vote from a previous meeting. This meant that group homes would not have to go through a lot of the procedures to get village approval, she said.

“And we have many very successful group homes.”

On Stengren's list of “Top 10 Reasons — actually 11— Why It's Great To Serve On The Village Board” is “You get a key to the Taj Mahal.”

Stengren, a big supporter of the village hall that opened in 2008, was referring to it by its derisive nickname, given by people who deem it extravagant.