It has been an exciting first 6 months in office. With the new-year upon us, I wanted to take an opportunity to update you on Village business and our plans for 2010.
Re-Organization, Staffing As most of you have heard by now, in May of 2009 the Village hired a new Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Pamela Newton. Pam was chosen to fill this position in our Village after screening several qualified applicants. She came to us from her position as Lake County Board District 18 Commissioner, and the Executive Director of Messiah Lutheran Pre-School. She holds a Bachelor's Degree from Knox College, as well as Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership from Dominican University. In Pam's 25+ years of elected public service experience, she held numerous positions that serve our Village well, including:
Chairperson of Lake County Building and Zoning
Member of Lake County Law and Judicial Committee
Director of Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO)
Member of Forest Preserves Finance and Administration Committee
National Chairperson of Counties on Environment, Energy, and Land Use
President of Illinois Association of Conservation/Forest Preserves Districts
Member of the Stormwater Management Commission
Vice President of Lake County Forest Preserves
President of the Illinois Association of Park Districts
Board of Commissioners, Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission
Her list of accomplishments and positions held could go much longer, but Ms. Newton's impact on our Village has only just begun to surface.
Her energy and experience are evident, and her spirit is determined and passion is contagious. Ms. Newton has not only played a major role in our re-organization efforts, she also immediately and significantly impacted success on key issues we faced as this new Board took office. Pam is also busy managing our Economic Development Department and is currently overseeing Parks and Recreation programming. All of our Department Heads have taken on additional responsibilities to hold the line on spending until such time these additional positions can be funded. If you have not had the opportunity to meet Pam, please make an effort to do so - you will not be disappointed.
With the hiring of our new Chief Operating Officer, we began the process of re-organization of the Village staff, committees, and resources with the goal of achieving a small efficient business operation. This process has been quite a challenge not only due to the task itself, but also to perform it while effectively handling the daily operations of the Village. We began by simply identifying our core services offered (our product), our available resources (staff/capital), and the desires of our residents (customer/shareholders). While this task may sound rudimentary, it amazes me to see how government and businesses can wander away from these core building blocks of an organization, and how everything we do must relate to these elements in order to grow and succeed.
After assessing all of these aspects we began drawing up a new organizational chart for the Village. This chart is a living, breathing document designed to help us place people and resources in the proper places for achieving our goals. Just like a successful business, there is a logical flow of authority, responsibilities, checks and balances to each department and the overall organization. We also created a mission for each individual department addressing each department's duties, responsibilities, and goals for growth.
During the process, we learned staff did not have job descriptions for their current particular position. Due to the severe staff reductions in 2007 and 2008, many staff members took on tasks that did not utilize their strengths, and in fact created inefficient fragmentation in our operations. So in conjunction with creating a new organizational structure, we wrote specific job descriptions for each position within our Village.
My belief is that by providing each individual the best opportunity for personal success in his or her career, it directly relates to the overall success of the organization. During this process we interviewed and assessed all personnel within our Village with the goal of learning their strengths, their skills, and their ideas for personal success. This process taught me so much about our staff and offered me a new perspective on our past success and failures. It also helped clarify my vision for the complete transformation of our Village governance.
I am happy to say that as a result of our re-organization, every employee was offered a new position in the Village. Some employees have a new set of initiatives and job descriptions, some have entirely new positions in a different department, and all have a new title that falls within our organizational chart. Many of the positions have been created as "place holders", to be filled as the needs and funding become available. Our new organizational chart and vision for building our team was presented to the entire staff at a first ever all employee strategy meeting. We also presented the entire scope of the re-organization to the Board and received their enthusiastic support as they now also share the vision of our staff's future.
We believe we now have the structure for an efficient, responsive, and supportive operation in the Village. Our biggest hurdle to overcome has been the issue of understaffing. I can't begin to describe how much work needs to be done, and how difficult it is for our limited staff to effectively complete that work. In January, we will be adding to our staff in some key areas. A full time employee will be added to work within the Building Department, as well as performing customer service at the Village Hall counter. We will also be adding a full time Parks Program Coordinator responsible for building new programs in our parks for children, adults, and seniors. Additionally, a full time employee will be added to our Public Works department, another area that has been suffering due to a shortage in staffing. In January we also hired 2 new part time Officers in our Police Department. Our Police Department has also been understaffed, which caused a heavy burden on our existing officers. These 2 part time positions will fill shifts and allow our full time officers appropriate time off with minimum impact on our budget. These positions will be funded from cost savings recovered in the budget review process.
Along with our new Chief Operating Officer's position, I am delighted to announce the hiring of our new Chief Financial Officer. On January 1, 2010 Kristin Kazenas joined our Village as our Chief Financial Officer.
Kristin had been our acting Finance Director for most of 2009. She comes to us from a highly respected public accounting firm Lauterbach & Amen. Kristin has over 19 years of governmental experience and has a BS and an MBA in accounting from Northern Illinois University. Kristin has her CPA and has also worked in the public auditing industry. Prior to joining our Village, Kristen had been working contractually for several municipalities in the area. She was highly sought after for a full time position by many of those Villages. After spending time in Hawthorn Woods, she began to believe in our vision for the future, and I am delighted in being able to count her as a full time team member. On a part time basis in 2009, Kristen was the key person in turning the financial health of our Village 180 degrees. Prior to taking office, and since becoming Mayor, I have personally witnessed her dedication and commitment in her work. Her professionalism and integrity are precisely the ingredients that we lacked in this department. After years of either outright vacancy or mediocrity in this position, we have in Kristin a trustworthy, talented, and highly effective person to lead us in these extremely challenging financial times. Kristen also comes to us with a strong background in Human Resources, and as such will also be our Human Resources Director to lend a supportive role to our entire staff.
It is a great time to be part of the Village of Hawthorn Woods. While most municipalities are announcing cuts and layoffs, our Village is growing stronger each day.
Notable Accomplishments
Police Union Contract - In May of 2009 we began discussions with the Police Union in an effort to settle upon a final contract. I twice met with Union Representatives along with Trustee Ansani, Chief Paulus, and Chief Administrative Officer Donna Lobaito (no attorneys) to discuss terms of the contract with our Police Officers. We successfully and amicably found mutual ground and negotiated a final agreement with the officers in June of 2009. Our approach was to discuss logical and mutually beneficial terms without the high cost of legal counsel. Once we agreed to terms, we had the contract reviewed and approved by our labor attorney and the Board approved the contract in July of 2009.
SSA Road Program -Our final year of the SSA road program was completed this fall. After the work was completed, staff reported a savings over budget of approximately $130,000. This was achieved by utilizing a new cost savings recycling technique, and by eliminating the scheduled landscape cul-de-sac islands. The excess funds have been reserved to be used for future road repairs only, along with annual MFT funds received by the State of Illinois.
SSA #4 (Midlothian Sewer Project) - After holding many meetings with the affected property owners, and successful negotiations with Lake County, the Village was awarded our long sought IEPA permits to begin construction on this project. This was a landmark achievement as construction will begin in the early spring and revitalize our Midlothian Corridor Commercial development plan after a near 3-year delay. This important infrastructure project puts Hawthorn Woods in an excellent position for commercial development as our economy rebounds. Since the news of this project commencement, we have been approached and met with several developers interested in bringing projects to our Village. We are cautiously optimistic, and eager to bring these new developments to our residents.
Glenshire Water Project - If you have recently driven in the Glenshire area you have noticed that the work has begun to bring water to these roughly 224 homes long affected by an aging well system. The project is being constructed through a firm contracted by Lake County. While the residents are still absorbing the cost, the final cost came approximately 50% less than anticipated which was welcoming news to those affected residents. During May's legislative session in Springfield, I was able to work directly with State Representative Ed Sullivan, Jr. and secured an additional $175,000 in State Capital Funding dollars that will be distributed directly to Glenshire residents to lessen the burden of the cost to build the system. We anticipate the system to go online in the fall of 2010.
New Village Amenity - In July of 2009 our Village worked with one of our existing developers to plan and approve a new golf driving range in the Village in conjunction with a new home development and equestrian center. Construction has begun and will be completed in the Spring of 2010. The golf range will be located on Rt. 176 adjacent to the Steeple Chase Golf course. Not only will this be a wonderful new facility for our residents, it also will bring revenue to the Village through our amusement tax.
2010 Budget Approved In November, the Village Board approved and adopted the annual budget for 2010. Late in 2008, the Village moved to a calendar budget year running Jan-Dec as opposed to the previous April-May cycle.
This year, the budget development process was unlike anything the Village has ever done in the past. We began the process early in mid-summer with the re-organization and resource analysis. This year we prepared our budget by a process known as "zero based budgeting". This buzz phrase has been used frequently in the media lately, but I can tell you we truly used the process to develop our best financial plan ever. Zero-based budgeting is a technique that reverses the working process of traditional budgeting. We also budgeted using dollars that we know will be available in 2010. Gone are the days of wishful thinking in revenues and the reliance on builder and developer donations.
In traditional incremental budgeting used by the Village in the past, only increases over the previous year budget and what has been already spent is automatically sanctioned. By contrast, in zero-based budgeting, every department function is reviewed comprehensively and all expenditures must be approved, rather than only increases. Budgets are then built around what is needed for the upcoming period, regardless of whether the budget is higher or lower than the previous period. This also allows the Village to budget expenditures relative to the current market condition and needs. Our zero-based budgeting requires the budget request be justified in complete detail by each department head starting from the zero-base. The zero-base is indifferent to whether the total budget is increasing or decreasing. We also required each department head to not only provide numbers, but a narrative on every major expenditure for the coming year.
The process itself is much more burdensome than incremental budgeting, but the results are well worth the effort. In our process, we took these steps:
� Each department head began by creating a schedule of needs and costs.
� Department heads held several working meetings with our COO and CFO to review their schedules.
� Based on those meetings, each departmental budget was amended and refined.
� Department heads presented those schedules to each respective committee of residents along with a narrative on major expenditures. Each respective committee heard these budget presentations along with staff and our finance committee. Amendments were made based on each committee's recommendations, and each committee recommended the approval of their specific budget to the Board.
� A draft of the entire budget was prepared and presented by staff to the Finance Committee for review. Amendments were made based on those meetings, and the entire budget was recommended to the Board for approval.
The entire budget was then presented to the Board during a Board meeting. By this time, each portion of the budget as well as the entire budget had been touched, heard, and reviewed during the process by each Board member. The Board overwhelmingly approved and recommended for adoption the entire budget in November. After that meeting, staff prepared the entire document on CD's for any resident to be able to review its content. A hard copy was also placed at the Village Hall counter, and the entire document is now available for download on the Village website. It is an excellent document, easy to read and comprehend for anyone who desires to view it in detail.
I want to commend all those involved in the budgeting process, especially our staff. The collaborative process has allowed all to be part of our vision of excellence. By the time the budget was finalized and approved, my estimation is that some 60 people prepared and reviewed the plan. This included our entire staff, our Board, and each respective committee of volunteer residents. It is a perfect example of teamwork and cooperative thinking.
