President of The Illinois Municipal League

Rolland W. Lewis, a former Chicago born resident, has been unanimously elected President of The Illinois Municipal League at their 77th Annual Meeting at the Chicago Hilton. Mayor Lewis is a well known businessman, political and civic leader in Southern Illinois.

Lewis attended Caldwell Grade School and graduated from Bowen High School on the South Side; after which, he attended the first two years at the University of Illinois Annex previously at Navy Pier.

The Illinois Municipal League represents 991 of the 1279 Illinois communities from Chicago to Cairo and from Quincy to Danville. The League membership represents 98% of the Illinois municipal population and 84% of the total Illinois population. The League is considered one of the most prestigious and influential municipal leagues in the Nation.

The convention has over 3,500 officials and their families in attendance and has always been considered one of Chicago's great convention facilities user. The convention began on September 14th and ended on September 17th.

Mayor Lewis has served on the Governor's Advisory Board under the Ogilvie Administration and the Illinois Law Enforcement Administration as an appointee of Governor Thompson.

Presently, Mayor Lewis is a statutory appointee of the Governor to the Illinois Economic Board, serves on the Illinois Commission on Future of Public Service and is the only Illinois member to the E.F.A.B. (Environmental Financial Advisory Board) for the Federal EPA in Washington, D.C.

Lewis began the Southern Illinois Mayors Association (SIMA) during the early 70s, which represents over 90 Southern Illinois cities, and served three times as its President.

Lewis has been Mayor of Mt. Vernon, Illinois from 1969 to 1977 and from 1985 to the present.

Mayor Lewis is married to Sally Louise (Watts) formerly of Louisville, Kentucky and Mt. Vernon. Sally is a graduate of the Episcopal High School Margaret Hall in Versailles, Kentucky and a Political Science graduate of Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania.

The Lewis' have four sons; John, an Illinois State Trooper stationed in District 13 and residing in Mt. Vernon; Jeffrey, a professional U.S. Marine stationed at, the Marine Air Station in Cherry Point, N.C.; James Brian, an Illinois State Trooper in District 18 living in Jerseyville, Illinois; and Robert, who is an Office Manager for a Dutch conglomerate in Tampa, Florida. •

Page 6 / Illinois Municipal Review / October 1990