LIAISON TO LOCAL GOVERNMENT By GEORGE H. RYAN, Secretary of State

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Giuseppe "Joe" Serangeli, who will be serving as the liaison from the Office of the Secretary of State to local governments. He will be providing a much-needed avenue of communication and information-exchange between my office and the local government units of Illinois.

Certainly his history suggests that he will do so very effectively. In addition to a very extensive military career, Joe has himself served in local government. Specifically, after he retired from the U.S. Air Force, Joe was appointed by the mayor of Eureka to fill the unexpired term of an alderman who had resigned. He was then selected by the members of the Eureka City Council to serve as acting mayor due to the resignation of the incumbent until a city election could be held. He was elected mayor in a special election in 1978 and is currently serving his fourth four-year term. He also has served in recent years as the Director of my office's Department of Human Services, overseeing efforts that the Office of the Secretary of State provides for veterans, persons with disabilities, and the elderly.

I am certain that the local officials all across our Prairie State will agree that Joe Serangeli's activities have long emphasized excellence and accomplishment — and that he will continue to do so in this new area of responsibility.

I'm pleased that the Office of the Secretary of State has various programs to serve in an outreach capacity to local entities. At least one of these is within the purview of the Illinois State Archives (which is part of my office). An active role is played by Archives with governmental agency records at both the state and local levels: during 1991-92, this agency oversaw the destruction of more than 485,000 cubic feet of worthless record materials, and it composed retention and disposal schedules for another 416,000 cubic feet of agency records statewide.

Incidentally, many people have a great deal of interest in history, and have found our seven regional archives depositories (at seven universities across the state) to be of great help. To better highlight the research materials that the Archives has available through this system, a 250-page listing was compiled. It is called "A Summary Guide to Local Governmental Records in the Illinois Regional Archives."

Yet another outreach effort from this office that Joe Serangeli is likely to be active in to the extent that it involves local officials — as well as business leaders and schools — is a program called "Safe Celebration." Its goal is to provide alcohol-free activities for youths and to increase their awareness of the abuse of alcohol and other drugs. A great deal of emphasis goes into making this a grass-roots approach.

When the program first got underway, it used funding from Coca-Cola Bottling of Chicago and Central States Coca-Cola, with 15 regional meetings being held on the new effort. Subsequently, we've helped communities set up alcohol-free youth activities and overall, provide technical assistance, ideas and educational materials. Young people deserve the opportunity to reach adulthood — and programs like Safe Celebration ensure that they will.

Of course, responsible driving is an important message for adults as well — one that's conveyed through our DZGN8D DRIVR program. This office has teamed up with Coca-Cola and arranged for more than 500 bars and restaurants in the state to provide complimentary soft drinks to people who are serving as designated drivers.

October 1993 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 19

Those readers involved with local and county activities may find of interest this office's DUI Fact Book. Part of this document provides a county-by-county profile of various aspects of DUI offenses. For instance, it is possible to see how many Woodford County offenders arrested for DUI lost their driving privileges as of last December 31 (the data is further broken out for first time offenders and multiple offenders). The 1992 DUI Fact Book is available through this office.

Traffic safety is the theme in another area that Joe Serangeli can assist communities with. Specifically, we have sponsored a number of regional traffic safety seminars in communities around the state. These programs highlight such aspects as railroad grade crossing safety, responsible driving, and bicycle safety.

Rural areas have benefitted by the farm safety initiative that we launched with the Illinois Farm Bureau and Country Companies. This is geared toward alerting motorists and farmers about farm safety, especially during harvest season when more slow-moving vehicles travel Illinois roads.

There are also significant local community implications — and hence a role for Joe — in the innovative Live & Learn program. Enacted just earlier this summer, this provides a new source of funding for Illinois libraries and family literacy, raising $18.9 million annually. Specifically, Live & Learn will 1) provide a 32 percent increase in public library per-capita grants, going from 95 cents to $1.25; 2) triple the per-capita rate for school libraries, from 21 cents to 75 cents; 3) set aside about $5 million a year for public library construction projects and 4) provide library systems with $8 million in new funding.

We also have begun Library Partners, which unites libraries and chambers of commerce. It is designed to educate businesses on library services that can improve their productivity and profitability, while increasing support for libraries.

It is a further point of pride for this office that we have increased funding for workplace literacy projects two years in a row by 100 percent. The program leveraged nearly $2.3 million in private money and provided help with job-related basic skills to nearly 6,400 Illinois workers.

I would be remiss not to mention a very critical second component to the Live & Learn program outlined above: promoting organ and tissue donation. Education and public awareness efforts will receive a big boost, and clearly one that is needed: More than 1,400 Illinoisans are awaiting transplants to save or enhance the quality of their lives. Live & Learn will help ease what is literally a life-or-death situation.

As I have indicated, it is a privilege to have on my staff a person of Joe's caliber. Certainly he is well versed in state and local government issues — and specifically, how the Office of the Secretary of State can best provide assistance.

I would also like to acknowledge the commitment and service he has given our nation through his military career. Joe's involvement with the military has been lifelong, finally concluding in retirement in 1977 from the Pentagon. He is the recipient of numerous military decorations, including the Distinguished Flying Cross with one oak leaf cluster, the Meritorious Service Medal and the European Campaign Ribbon with five battle stars.

I hope you will not hesitate to let Director Serangeli know of the ways in which we at the Office of the Secretary of State might help you locally. We are eager to form a strong partnership with all who serve at the municipal, county and township levels ... for that is when the needs of all citizens are best met. •

Page 20 / Illinois Municipal Review / October 1993