Al Rigoni Reflects On 26 Years As Skokie City Manager

Interview by Pam DeFiglio 

Skokie Village Manager Al Rigoni has been running the work's of Skokie's government for more than two and a half decades, an enviable record by anyone's calculations.

After the recent announcement that Rigoni will retire at year's end, Patch.com sat down with him to talk about the past and future.

Did you come to work at Skokie right out of college?

I started here as an intern right out of grad school in 1976. I did my undergrad at Northwestern (University, in political science) and masters in public administration at Roosevelt (University).

How did you get to Skokie?

The then-city manager of Skokie was an adjunct professor at Roosevelt--John Maitzer Jr . I just loved the guy. He eventually left Skokie for Beverly Hills. I respected and admired him so, and begged him for an internship, almost literally (and got it). Then they hired me. I became an administrative assistant.

And then?

In 1978, the then-assistant manager (took another job). Even though I had marginal experience, two years, I applied for the job, and Mr. Maitzer gave it to me, so at 28-29, I was an assistant city manager.

I did that until 1987, when Bob Epply,, who succeeded Mr. Maitzer, retired.

Al Smith--the famous mayor who fought the Nazis--Al Smith basically said, Bob is retiring, apply for the job.

So on Jan. 1, 1987, that’s when I became village manager. I’ve stayed here ever since.

How many mayors have you worked under?

Three. Jackie Gorell-- she still lives in Skokie, and her husband passed about two years ago--she was on the board who promoted me, as was George Van Dusen.  She succeeded Mayor Smith, and she was mayor for about 10 years. I’ve worked for three mayors, all terrific people. She was the first female mayor of the village. The only one, actually. A terrific person.

What was Skokie like when you started? 

We did the budget on adding machines. The secretaries—we had secretaries-- went gaga for IBM selectrics, because they had the little ball to correct typos.

We had Montgomery Wards where Nordstrom is now.

The community was not as diverse as today. It was religiously diverse, but not as ethnically diverse.

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We had three strong Catholic churches; with strong educational programs. And the Lutheran church had a school (in addition to many Jewish congregations).

I say the reason Skokie adapted so well to ethnic diversity is because we adapted so well to religious diversity.

How does a village manager run government but stay out of politics? Do you think you’ve succeeded at doing so?

The mayor and board are like the chairman of the board and board of directors, and they hire a CEO, that’s what a city manager is. Skokie adopted the council manager form of government in 1954; it cannot be changed by ordinance.

It was brought in by referendum, so there’s a strong tradition of council manager government. So it’s not that difficult here. Elected officials create the policy, I administer the policy, I hire all the other staff, including department directors.

We have a very formal system. Here, the members of staff do not go to political events, we don’t ask them to.

Our job is to administer government established by the seven elected officials.

Because I hire the staff, there’s no patronage here; That word gets out, whether it’s police, fire, public works, they’re brought in for expertise; there won’t be undue political influence. 

What are some things you are proudest of during your tenure?

I’ve been here so long, I can enumerate many projects.  When I was a young person, I was the lead on this addition to village hall that you’re sitting in.

The renovation of Old Orchard did not just happen. It was an elaborate agreement to bring in Nordstrom. The Performing Arts Center was not there.  The sculpture park was nothing but a weed patch.

More recently-- the state of the art police station, a terrific building dedicated two years ago. 

And I’m very proud of staff here and the esprit de corps, and the AAA bond rating, which is still pretty rare among municipalities. 

What experiences have been humbling for you?

Flooding is still humbling and very topical,  And back in the 1980s…Skokie was notorious. Older realtors will tell you it was uncommon for a Skokie basement not to flood.

Staff said we need to address this issue. It really was an awe-inspiring issue and it took 80 million,  in dollars of that time., not today’s dollars.

We did substantially ameliorate that problem. It’s so dramatically improved from the 60s and 70s.  Not to say that nothing happens when we have a heavy storm.

Every time we do a major roadway project we look at a means of detention (where water is held back in order to prevent flooding).

It’s a daunting problem. Look at what Des Plaines was facing (in the April 18 flood this year); Skokie used to have problems of that magnitude--folks with six feet of water in their basements.

We built a fire station, Station17, on the east side of town. As the community aged, we added paramedic calls. That’s another change.

We lost a little population and then gained it back; we went through an empty nester decade--the days when District 219 closed Niles East.

Now we have upwards of 5,000 kids in Niles North and Niles West, and we’re blessed to have Oakton Community College.

What do you expect to do in the remaining six months before you retire?

The Floral Street development; we’ve been working on that for about a year. I’m looking forward to seeing that get up and running.

Economic development--the Super Walmart is under construction on Touhy,  Mariano’s is working its way through plan commission; actually done, approved on a unanimous vote; it will come to the village board in July

Those economic development matters don’t just happen, they take shepherding to bring them to fruition.

Also the construction in downtown, that’s a $9 million improvement to downtown. The target for finishing it is in November.

So there’s lots of stuff going on. It’s always busy.

What will you do after you retire?  

Really I don’t have plans, I just want to take some time to reflect, travel; this is a very busy job.  We’re expected to go to a lot of evening events. So a lot of those things make the job all consuming.

Do you have any hobbies?

I do all my own landscaping and gardening; I like to jog and bicycle, hiking, golfing, I’m an avid reader. One of my retirement goals is to reread the classics.

May I ask your age?

I’ll be 62 in December. 

Did you grow up in Chicagoland?

I grew up in the historic Pullman area, near Hotel Florence at 111th and Martin Luther King  Drive.  I went to  Mendel, a  Catholic college prep high school;  the school is no longer there.

So you’re a South Sider.

I’m both a Cubs fan and a Sox fan; I’m not just being  diplomatic; when I went to Northwestern, I started going to Cubs games.  It just happened. 

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