What is a Trustee?
I often get asked, what is a village trustee?
A village trustee is an elected official. Trustees are elected “at large” which means they don’t represent a certain geographical area of Skokie. There are six trustees and a mayor on the Skokie village board. The Skokie village board votes on public policy for the village, which includes how the village’s money is spent, land use issues, appointments by the mayor and legal contracts. Trustees initiate, consider and vote on issues that affect the everyday life of residents, businesses and property owners. These include economic development, public safety, road improvements and property conditions. The village board also addresses any concerns raised by residents.
The trustees make their decisions by listening to the needs of the residents and the staff recommendations. The village board often has to make difficult and complicated decisions. If these decisions get a majority of the vote by the board, they become ordinances. For example, recently, the board passed an animal ordinance, which standardized the approach to dangerous/vicious animals and strengthened penalties for owners of these animals.
Written by Trustee Edie Sue Sutker
Katie Gudgel
9:42 am on Monday, October 1, 2012
Find out yourself what they do by attending a Village Board meeting. On tonight's agenda (Oct 1) is: landscaping of the Oakton CTA station, various purchase requests, acquisition of small Touhy property, Class M liquor license, traffic light at Central Park and Main St, Speed Limit reduction on Main St, Corporation Counsel compensation, etc.
As a citizen, you can just sit and observe any of the Village Board meetings (there is no requirement to "participate"). I know of several residents who regularly attend - just so that they know what is going on in the Village.
Or you can speak up on any of the issues. Ms. Sutker indicates that she represents the community at large and makes her decisions based on listening to residents. The only way that works is if you as residents voice your opinions.
Katie Gudgel
9:50 am on Monday, October 1, 2012
Several of the issues on tonight's agenda are related to the School Traffic Safety Task Force which was covered on Patch:
http://skokie.patch.com/blog_posts/school-traffic-safety-update
Jac Charlier
6:41 am on Tuesday, October 2, 2012
After many years of following Skokie government and being in Skokie, I continue to be impressed with the civic spirit that the citizens of Skokie possess. You can see how that translates into a general openness and transparency by elected officials. Keep going Skokie!
Katie Gudgel
12:12 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
This article was posted by the Skokie Caucus Party. I would really like it if they (or someone else) could write a similar article on what the Village Clerk does.
Skokie Caucus Party
4:33 pm on Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Keep a look out next week. We will be writing about the other elected positions.