Huntley swears in new trustees
Thursday night was an evening of hellos and Godspeeds in the Huntley village hall.
Village President Chuck Sass and six-year Trustee John Piwko — both incumbents — were sworn into to office, as were newly elected trustees Ronda Goldman and JR Westberg.
At the same time, the village said goodbye to trustees Pam Fender and Ron Hahn.
Sass, village president since 2001, was not contested in his re-election bid. What keeps him coming back, he said, is the opportunity to build on his progress.
“When I first took it, there were things I wanted to accomplish, and they’re still a few out there,” Sass said. “I got (Route) 47 and the tollway (interchange), not just me it’s everybody we work together. I think I’ve done a good job and I enjoy it, OK?”
In the next four years, he’ll aim to relocate the post office from Huntley Square to the downtown for better parking opportunities and to continue to be part of the downtown and Route 47 revitalization.
Five candidates ran for four open spots on the board.
Goldman and Westberg, say they are willing to sit back and learn the issues before diving into their trustee duties.
“Right now, I need to acclimate myself with how the rest of the village operates and how to function as an elected trustee and get my hands wrapped around a lot of the projects that are coming here to Huntley,” Westberg said.
Goldman, the lone woman on the board, felt she needed to send the message of inclusion right away.
As such, she requested that she sit in the second to last seat from the end — Fender used to sit in the last seat at the end.
“For six years, I’ve been attending village meetings along with Rutland Township’s and I noticed that anytime there’s been a female, the females sat to the side,” Goldman said. “So (changing seats) was a promise that the mayor made me and he stood behind it.”
The village gave a nice send off in the form of gifts and proclamations to outgoing trustees Fender and Hahn.
Hahn, appointed to an empty trustee seat in 2011 and had been on the plan commission since 1983, did not seek re-election and will be returning to the plan commission.
Fender, a two-term trustee, did not seek re-election, because she was running to be the Grafton Township supervisor — she lost that election to James Kearns. Looking back on her time in office, Fender is proud of how far Huntley has come and it how successful it was at getting developers to pay for key projects.
“I always had the best interest of the residents of Huntley,” Fender said. “I wanted this to be the absolute best place to live and it is that.”