Village of Summit appoints temporary village president

May 5, 2015 | Filed under: Community,News | Posted by:

Village of Summit Mayor Joseph Strzylczek has taken a temporary leave-of-absence to deal with health issues and the village board Monday night named Trustee Sergio Rodriguez as the temporary President-pro-Tempore of the board to act in the mayor’s place until he returns

By the INN Staff

Summit Trustee Rodriguez named Temporary President Pro-Tempore

Mayor Joseph Strzelczyk will take temporary leave-of-absence

Sergio Rodriguez, Summit Village Trustee

Sergio Rodriguez, Summit Village Trustee

Village of Summit Mayor Joseph Strzelczyk announced he will take a temporary leave-of-absence to deal with health issues.

On Monday, the Village Board voted to name Trustee Sergio Rodriguez as the temporary President Pro-Tempore serving until Strzelczyk’s return.

The board also voted at its regularly scheduled meeting on Monday (May 4) to name Setki A. Dardovski as a new Village Trustee succeeding Steve Memishi, who recently resigned from office. At the meeting, Sergio Garcia was also sworn-in as the new Village Clerk, and newly elected Trustees Aleco Julius and Karen Wasko were sworn in along with re-elected Trustee Tyrone Modiest.

A life-long resident of Summit, Rodriguez has served on the Summit Village Board as a trustee since 2005.

“I am very confident that while I am away addressing health issues, Trustee Rodriguez will work hard to maintain the focus of the village and the board on the best interests of the village residents,” Strzelczyk said in a brief statement Sunday.

The duties and responsibilities as the Mayor Pro-temp will be to carry out the responsibilities of the Mayor, Rodriguez explained. The Village Board will continue to oversee the management of the Village. 

Board Trustees include Dr. Marvel Parker, Trustee Tyrone Modiest and two newly elected Trustee’s Aleco Julius and Karen Wasko.

“The Village Board will continue to ensure that the services and needs of the residents are fully met,” Rodriguez said. “I have lived in Summit all of my life and will work closely with the board to ensure consistency and the continued delivery of important services.”

If residents have questions, they can contact the Village of Summit at 708-563-4800.

Summit Village Clerk Sergio Garcia

Summit Village Clerk Sergio Garcia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bio of Mayor Joseph Strzylczek:

Military veteran Joseph W. Strzelczyk is best known as a “team player” who has spent much of his life working with young people as a baseball coach. That passion to help others moved him to seek public office in 1990 when he was elected to a position of Trustee in the Village of Summit, serving two terms.

In 1997, Strzelczyk has elected as Summit’s Mayor and is currently seeking re-election to his 4th term in office.

Strzelczyk’s public service began in 1978 working as a Special Recreation Instructor for the Chicago Park District.

“I enjoy public service and I enjoy working with people, especially young people and senior citizens,” Strzelczyk explains.

“My background gives me a wide range of experience that helps me as the Mayor of Summit to maintain the village as one of the best in the Chicagoland suburbs.”

But before that, Strzelczyk launched his own business as a young man working as a self-employed “trader” at the Chicago Board of Options Exchange in 1976 where he also owned a prestigious Trading Seat.

Strzelczyk is an experienced writer, working for the Daily Southtown beginning in 1985 writing columns on softball and sports, and later writing articles for the popular Chicago Softball Magazine beginning in 1987.

He hosted the popular “Let’s Talk Softball” on Cable TV for Jones and Multimedia and Metrovision cable systems, and was a sports commentator for 1570 AM sports radio’s “Miller Sports Report” in the 1980s. He also coached for the North American Pro Softball league in 1980.

Strzelczyk continued his writing avocation, completing background reports that were used in court judicial proceedings for Cook County. He also worked as a county probation officer.

Strzelczyk served honorably in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, 1962-1963, and served five years in the US Army Reserves until 1968.

As Mayor of Summit, Strzelczyk said he is committed to the goals of the Democratic Party.

“I am a proud Democrat. And I have always strived to carry the ideals of the Democratic Party throughout my career. For me, Democrats were always the people who helped people, the Party that looked out for the Working Man and Woman. Democrats work together to make our communities strong so that we can live the American Dream and our children can have an even brighter future,” Strzelczyk explained.

“I was instrumental in helping the Village of Summit become a Pro-Union and Labor shop. This has helped our people raise families with job security with a fair wage. As a lifelong resident of Summit, I celebrate our working class roots and families working towards the great American Dream. I will continue to do everything in my power to help those families and especially the children of Summit achieve those dreams.”

Strzelczyk says his key achievements include reducing the village debt and making Summit profitable in the last two years, for the first time in more than two decades.

His tough management of finances and public spending is reflected in his frugal office surroundings in his own office.

Strzelczyk said that he is most proud of attracting new businesses to Summit including Advance Auto, Family Dollar, Portillos, Summit Cold Storage and La Finka, a new restaurant. He was able to also bring in Krispy Kreme Donuts, which unfortunately closed several years ago. A key to the community’s success, he said, is “making people believe that they can achieve what they seek and also that we can fight and defeat crime.”

During his term in office, crime has made a steady decline.

Describing himself as a “straight talker,” Strzelczyk is proud of the balance and diversity in the community with strong representation from many of the regions ethnic groups including Albanians, Hispanics, African Americans and Whites.

Over the years, he has secured more than $2.5 million in Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding which he has used to improve streets and strengthen the Village’s infra-structure. In 2001, under his direction, Summit was able to bring in a 78-unit, $14 million Senior Housing Development.

And last year, Summit was included in the revenue sharing agreement with the Rivers Casino in Des Plaines which this year brought in more than $604,000 in added revenue to off-set the burden on taxpayers.

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