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wilmettebeacon.com news
the wilmette beacon | March 8, 2018 | 3
Wilmette Village Board
Trustee Steve Leonard resigns from board
Todd Marver
Freelance Reporter
Trustee Steve Leonard’s
tenure of less than a year
on the Wilmette
Village
Board
concluded
at its Tuesday,
Feb. 27
meeting.
Leonard
announced
Leonard
his resignation from the
Wilmette Village Board
at the meeting. Leonard is
moving to Detroit to take
a new job. Prior to moving
to Detroit, he was senior
vice president at Strategic
Real Estate Services,
which provides commercial
real estate expertise
to all aspects of the retail
market locally and nationally.
“It is with a heavy heart
and great regret that I announce
my resignation as
trustee of the Wilmette
Village Board,” Leonard
said. “I’ve accepted
an exciting new professional
opportunity with
a Detroit-based company
where I’ll be focusing on
national facility expansion
for a privately-held
education provider. The
new position will require
relocation to Detroit and
extensive national and international
travel.”
Leonard won his seat in
the April 2017 election and
was sworn in as trustee in
May 2017. He served as
the chair of the Land Use
Committee and also sat on
the Finance and Judiciary
Committees.
“I wanted to say that this
has been one of my greatest
privileges of my life to
serve the community in
the capacity over the last
year,” Leonard said. “I’ve
greatly enjoyed my time
on the board and appreciate
the confidence you’ve
placed in me over the past
year. Although I wish my
circumstances were different
allowing me to
complete the current term,
I know I leave matters in
good hands and that the vital
village business will be
handled with the highest
level of competency and
skill.”
Leonard has been part
of a Village Board that has
dealt with a number of hot
topics over the past year
such as the county’s minimum
wage and sick leave
ordinances, the Loyola
Academy project and the
stormwater improvement
project.
A final decision is expected
on the stormwater
project on April 17.
“I’ve enjoyed working
with you as we’ve tackled
some really tough challenges
confronting the Village,”
Leonard said. “I’m
very proud of the way
we’ve all been able to address
controversial issues
airing our sometimes differing
perspectives without
letting the conversations
become personal or
antagonistic. This clearly
reflects the respect we all
hold for each other which
is often not the case on
suburban boards.”
Bielinski complimented
Leonard on his time on
the board and wished him
good luck in Detroit.
“You will be missed,”
Bielinski said. “Your expertise
has been very helpful
and it was very gracious
of you to offer your
real estate expertise to this
board and to the Village.
As you described the opportunity
to me, it sounds
like quite an amazing opportunity
and I wish you
the best.”
Bielinski will have 60
days to submit the name
of a qualified individual
to fill Leonard’s vacancy,
upon Leonard’s submittal
of a notarized written resignation.
Upon that 60 days, Bielinski
will present to the
Village Board for their
approval the name of that
individual. If that is approved,
that person becomes
a trustee. But if
the board votes to reject
the person, then Bielinski
would submit a second
name and go through
the same process. If that
second name is rejected,
then without consent of
the board Bielinski may
appoint one of those two
individuals and that person
will become a trustee.
The appointed trustee
would serve until the next
municipal election in April
2019 at which point an individual
would be elected
to fill the final two years of
Leonard’s four-year term.
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