From the EDITOR'S DESK . . .

By the time you receive this issue of the "Review" I will have assumed, as of January 1, 1995, the duties as Executive Director of the Illinois Municipal League. While the title is new and the responsibilities greatly increased, the organization, many of its members and its staff are old friends.

I started with the League in 1973 as Director of Membership Services under then Executive Director Steve Sargent and then Assistant Director Tom Fitzsimmons. At that time, that was the total of the professional League staff: Steve, Tom and myself. Support staff numbered 5 for a grand total of 8. Today, the League has 7 professional staff and 6 support staff for a total of 13.

Times are changing . . . and in this Session of the Illinois General Assembly we have some major changes! The active participation of all League members in legislative matters has always been important, but no more so than now! Please review the 1995 IML Legislative Agenda contained in this edition. The 1995 IML Legislative Agenda does not address proposals we know will be forthcoming and which we may also support or be in opposition to (such as tax caps). It only addresses those items the League is seeking to pass. Your active participation is necessary for such passage.

As we start this year of 1995 we should all give thanks that as local officials, and as representatives of local government, we are where the action is: the local level, and that we serve the best people in the world, our friends and neighbors, the citizens of our communities. •

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
KENNETH A. ALDERSON

January 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 3