Tinley Welcomes Returning Members, One New Face To Village, Park and Library Boards

The Village of Tinley Park held its inauguration ceremony for recently elected trustees to the village board. Keeping with the ideal discussed throughout the night that Tinley is a community that works together, they also inaugurated trustees of the library and park district board.

The ceremony opened with the presenting of the colors by theAir Force Junior ROTC Color Guard and 's symphonic band played the national anthem and Taps.

The Honorable Judge Thomas E. Flanagan of the Circuit Court of Cook County swore in long-time clerk Pat Rea, followed by members of the village board, then park commissioners and the library board.

After the completion of the oaths, trustees and clerk Rea were invited back up to the podium to address the packed council chambers.

“This is the best community in the state and arguably the nation,” said Rea, who has served the village for 40 years.

Rea also recognized Mayor Ed Zabocki for his 30 years of service and said that, “through out my last 40 years, I can tell you the time he has been mayor I have been able to witness a wonderful, wonderful citizen leader – who by the way is not comparable to any others because he is just the best.”

He said, however, it was Zabrocki allowing all the ideas – even ones he was apposed to – to come forward that has brought the village so much success.

Greg Hannon spoke next and thanked his family, including of course his wife, Cathy Hannon who was not only there in support of her husband, but was also sworn back into her role as a library trustee.

“I did have a long speech prepared,” said Greg Hannon, who has served on the board for 24 years. “But I'm not going to get into that and just say thank you to the mayor for seeing the light 24 years ago, and I thank you for the opportunity. We've had our up and downs but survived it and made Tinley Park a better place. And I want to thank everyone here tonight, and the people in Tinley for entrusting in me another four years in the village.”

A born-and-raised North Sider, Trustee Tom Staunton said his mother questioned him when he moved to the South Side 10 years ago but said it is decision he has never regretted.

“No one here is out for themselves,” he said after the ceremony. “It's rewarding to serve such a great community where all the elected officials work together for the common good.”

Trustee T.J. Grady was taking his first oath of office after was appointed in December to left by Trustee Mike Bettenhausen in December. Bettenhausen retired to expand his car dealership and did not want there to be a conflict of interest.

“I want to start by thanking everyone on the board who has helped me through these first five months and also my family,” said Grady. “I had an opportunity to work with a great bunch of people on this end and I can't say enough about the staff. I look forward to the next few years of serving the people of Tinley Park.”

Although new to the village board, to Tinley Park or service to his community, as a 30-year member of the Tinley Police Department, retiring as a sergeant.

Of the groups sworn in last night, the only contested race was that for the library, and Kathy Parker not only garnered the most votes but was also the only new face at the inauguration.

Joining her on the board is BarbaraRose Whalen, who will begin her fourth term with the library district and has been active in the village for over 30 years.

“I love (my position), I love the library, the staff, the administration and everyone who comes in to the library,” said Whalen.

She said among her hopes for the next term is to make a more Carnegie-style library, turning it into a community center with many different programs and resources.

“I want to make sure we reach everyone from the little ones up to the seniors,” she said.

Re-elected park district commissioners Brian Younker and Michael Pannitto both said that serving on the commission is a great way of giving back and fosters a sense of pride.

“It's a wonderful thing to do,” said Pannitto. “I want to help make this a happy healthy place to live – that part of it isn't rocket science.”

As for future plans, Pannitto said he would still like to see the the village parks connected by bike paths.

Younker also said that a sense of community involvement is a driving factor for him.

“A lot of development has occurred here and it's a great sense of accomplishment," he said. “(Government) here gets community input and does things right the first time. We also work very well with the village, hand-in-hand, and tonight is a great example of that. They didn't have to invite us to this event but they did – there are common goals in the village.”