The Small Cities Council of the National League of Cities will hold its summer meeting in Springfield on June 14-15. The event is being cohosted by the Illinois Municipal League.

The council is comprised of elected officials from across the country representing cities under 50,000 population. IML First Vice President Frank Clinton, Mayor of Paris, is chairman of the Small Cities Council. The council advances issues of importance to smaller communities and works with the National League of Cities to develop policies and legislation.

Eight Illinois communities have been designated new members of the Main Street program, a revitalization and reinvestment initiative to improve downtown areas of Illinois communities. Alton, Ava, Carbondale, Genoa, Monticello, Morrison, O'Fallon and Quincy join 24 current communities in the program. Current downstate communities participating in the program include: Danville, Flora, Galesburg, Golconda, Lincoln, Macomb, Mattoon, Ottawa, Paxton, Pontiac, Prophetstown, Rushville, Salem, Savanna and Stockton. Suburban communities in the Main Street program are Blue Island, Crystal Lake, Forest Park, Frankfort, Lyons, Plainfield, West Dundee, Westmont and Winfield.

The Illinois Main Street program was created in 1993 to help communities with populations under 50,000 develop comprehensive, long-range economic plans for their downtown districts. The Illinois program follows a four-point approach developed by the National Main Street Center to provide direct technical assistance to communities in the areas of organization, design, promotion and economic restructuring.

The Illinois Municipal League was saddened to learn of the death of Roy R. Smith, former Mayor of O'Fallon. He served as mayor from 1969-1973 and 1977-1981. In 1961 Mr. Smith was elected to the first of three terms as an O'Fallon alderman.

The Municipal League was also saddened to learn of the passing of Lewis Galyen, former Mayor of Georgetown. Mr. Galyen served as mayor from 1993 until January 1996, and served as alderman from 1967- 1971.

Dear Editor:
Carl Neu of Lake-wood, Colorado, writes in the March 1996 issue of the Review (Local Governance: The Next "Change" Frontier) that there are two fundamental changes coming in the next five to ten years, including:

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May 1996 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 3