April 28, 2005: Headlines: COS - Solomon Islands: City Government: Beacon News: Solomon Islands RPCV Tom Weisner sworn in as mayor - Vows to make inclusiveness hallmark of his administration

Peace Corps Online: State: Illinois: February 8, 2005: Index: PCOL Exclusive: Illinois : April 28, 2005: Headlines: COS - Solomon Islands: City Government: Beacon News: Solomon Islands RPCV Tom Weisner sworn in as mayor - Vows to make inclusiveness hallmark of his administration

By Admin1 (admin) (pool-151-196-181-108.balt.east.verizon.net - 151.196.181.108) on Friday, April 29, 2005 - 1:48 pm: Edit Post

Solomon Islands RPCV Tom Weisner sworn in as mayor - Vows to make inclusiveness hallmark of his administration

Solomon Islands RPCV  Tom Weisner  sworn in as mayor - Vows to make inclusiveness hallmark of his administration

Solomon Islands RPCV Tom Weisner sworn in as mayor - Vows to make inclusiveness hallmark of his administration

Weisner sworn in as mayor
Vows to make inclusiveness hallmark of his administration

By Ed Fanselow
Beacon News
Chicago, Ill.
April 28, 2005

AURORA - Before an enthusiastic crowd of more than 300 supporters, friends, family members and assorted local luminaries, Thomas J. Weisner was sworn as Aurora's fifty-sixth mayor Tuesday evening, vowing to make inclusiveness the hallmark of his administration.

Noting the diverse makeup of the audience before him - men and women, whites, blacks, Hispanics, East Siders and West Siders - Weisner promised them that "everyone in this community will have a seat at the table of government."

"Everyone will have a voice in the future of this city," he said emphatically.

The new mayor was administered the oath of office by Kane County Judge Judith Brawka, surrounded by his wife, Marilyn; his son, Thaddeus; his mother-in-law, Marge Hogan, and his 80-year-old mother, Cassie.

A dozen or so other relatives, who came from as far away as San Diego and Naples, Fla., lined the first few rows of seats.

During a brief speech that preceded a reception later in the evening at the North Island Center, Weisner said he considers himself "an exceedingly lucky man."

"It's not the title," he said. "It's the fact that you've entrusted the next four years of this community to my hands."

He also took time to pay tribute to those who went before him, mentioning by name former mayors Paul Egan, Al McCoy, Jack Hill, David Pierce and David Stover.

"I am just one in a very long line, and I hope I will be a credit to them," he said. "I am honored to follow all of these men."

Although much has been made of a supposed rift between Weisner and Stover - who did not attend the swearing-in ceremony - Weisner called his predecessor "a man from whom I learned a whole lot and who I appreciate very much."

Weisner also harkened back to his days more than 20 years ago as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Solomon Islands, saying that the evening reminded him of the day he left the islands' natives to return home to Aurora.

Just like the people in the rain forests, Weisner said he has "heard people in this community wonder whether or not our future can be a great one.

"I am here to tell you that our future is unlimited and that we can accomplish anything that we want to achieve."

The ceremony also featured the swearing-in of incumbent Aldermen Leroy Keith, Lynda Elmore, Scheketa Hart-Burns and Bob O'Connor in addition to newcomers Rick Lawrence and Juany Garza.

Garza, the city council's first Hispanic woman, promised to be an advocate for "the very young and very old" and said she hopes she can be a role model to the many young Latinas here in Aurora.

She takes her seat, though, under a cloud of uncertainty, with an appeal of her election day victory over incumbent David Marquez still pending in Illinois Appellate Court.

Garza won 220 votes as the 2nd Ward's lone aldermanic candidate after successfully petitioning to have Marquez's name thrown off the April 5 ballot on a technicality.

Marquez, though, garnered write-in votes (387 were cast, presumably for him) but is still awaiting a decision as to whether those ballots will be counted since he filed as a certified write-in candidate one day after the deadline.

In brief remarks, Marquez left the door open for his return should the court rule in his favor but lamented that, up to this point, "the voice and will of the people have been silenced."

The new council is scheduled to meet together for the first time next Tuesday.





When this story was posted in April 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:


The Peace Corps Library Date: March 27 2005 No: 536 The Peace Corps Library
Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today.

Top Stories and Breaking News PCOL Magazine Peace Corps Library RPCV Directory Sign Up

April 24, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Date: April 24 2005 No: 576 April 24, 2005: This Week's Top Stories
PC says program in Uzbekistan is fully operational 23 Apr
Business is booming for bi-lingual RPCV's law practice 22 Apr
Phil Hardberger criticizes twin swap in San Antonio race 21 Apr
Alejandro Toledo has managed to stay in power 21 Apr
Dale A. Olsen wins Guggenheim fellowship for music 21 Apr
Dr. William E. Hurwitz sentenced to 25 years in prison 21 Apr
John and Karen Lewis build eco-tourist hotel in Costa Rica 21 Apr
Federal panel recommends Global Health Corps 20 Apr
Lena Medoyeff is a businessperson who makes clothes 20 Apr
Forty-one in Congress sign PC funding letter 19 Apr
James River Park manager Ralph White back to work 19 Apr
Pat Waak tells Dems to keep eyes on the prize 18 Apr
Al Kamen says First Fan Knows Baseball 18 Apr
Broughton Coburn tells his tales of Nepal 13 Apr
Maria Shriver talks about her father 12 Apr
Bellamy says no big difference with non-RPCV director 11 Apr
Abbey Brown faces women's issues in Bangladesh 10 Apr

April 24, 2005:  Special Events Date: April 24 2005 No: 574 April 24, 2005: Special Events
Jody Olsen speaks at Ivy College on May 6
RPCV Kent Island Family Weekend on May 6 - 8
Nepal RPCV film showing in Massachusetts on April 30
Gaddi Vasquez speaks in Berkeley on April 25
Cameroon RPCVs selling special Pagne
Bush proclaims National Volunteer Week
RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000  strong Date: April 2 2005 No: 543 Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong
170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community.


Read the stories and leave your comments.






Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Beacon News

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Solomon Islands; City Government

PCOL20083
20

.


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: