The Illinois Municipal League was saddened to learn of the recent death of Wilbur H. "Willie" Hodgett, Village President of Annawan. Mr. Hodgett had served as village president since 1977 and as village trustee from 1965-1977.

Jeanne E. Holt, Village Clerk of East Alton, recently received the "Certified Municipal Clerk" designation from the International Institute of Municipal Clerks for achieving high educational, experience and service requirements.

According to a recent study of local governments, the City of Quincy was judged "high performance" and ranked in the top ten percent in the nation.

The study, performed by Municipal Analysis Services of Austin, Texas, examined 8,700 city and county governments in the areas of revenue diversification, employee productivity, use of outside aid, expense and debt control. Quincy was determined a "high performance government" based on comparisons with other cities of similar population.

The consulting firm who performed the study analyzed information provided by local governments to state treasurer and state comptroller offices as required by law. The firm then compared cities and counties on 650 separate criteria.

The Rock Island City Council is singing a new tune. After numerous requests from residents over the past 12 years, the Council, in April, adopted an official song.

Long-term council member Bob Maurus added some lyrics to the Rock Island High School Alma Mater song written by Jack Rasley in 1930.

The song was officially ushered in with an acappella performance by the Quad-City Light Opera Troupe, a Rock Island based choir, directed by Maurus.

The ILLINOIS MUNICIPAL REVIEW continues to be an open forum of expression for municipalities. Articles appearing in the Review do not necessarily express the views of the League or its staff but those of the various authors.

July 1995 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 3