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92_HR0159
LRB9208519RHrh
1 HOUSE RESOLUTION
2 WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives
3 are honored to recognized milestone events in the lives of
4 the citizens of Illinois; and
5 WHEREAS, Alderman Dennis Drummer will step down as
6 Evanston, Illinois, Second Ward alderman of 17 years and as
7 the City Council's ranking senior member after the April 3,
8 2001 election; and
9 WHEREAS, Alderman Dennis Drummer has served the city of
10 Evanston, Illinois as a successful businessman, a respected
11 community leader, and as a skilled politician; and
12 WHEREAS, After serving in Vietnam as a sergeant in the
13 United States Army, Dennis Drummer moved to the Evanston area
14 where he opened a drapery business at Lake Street and Ashland
15 Avenue in 1975; behind his business was a corner grocery
16 which became a safe haven for many of the school children; it
17 was there that he began his involvement with the community,
18 primarily a role-model type relationship with the children;
19 these experiences led him to COE-POPS, a youth mentoring
20 organization, and helped him as an alderman when gang and
21 drug activities cropped up in parts of the 2nd ward in the
22 early 1990's; and
23 WHEREAS, In 1984, then-Mayor Jay Lytle appointed Dennis
24 Drummer to fill a mid-term aldermanic vacancy; Alderman
25 Drummer intended only to complete the appointed term and
26 serve one more term, however as problems developed in the 2nd
27 Ward, he felt that he could not move on without tackling them
28 first; and
29 WHEREAS, A small businessman amidst a group of mostly
30 lawyers, Alderman Drummer made his mark in the City Council;
31 he has dealt with many serious issues, one being the crime
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1 problems that have consumed the Evanston community; Alderman
2 Drummer rallied the neighborhood through marches and other
3 gatherings and often interacted with the families of the
4 problem makers in an effort to combat crime in the area; and
5 WHEREAS, Many of Alderman Drummer's colleagues and
6 observers see him as the voice of compromise and reason in a
7 City Council that in recent years has been marked with
8 acrimony; with his independent way of thinking, he quickly
9 became respected on both sides of the aisle; he has been
10 regarded as a "statesman and a public servant of the highest
11 order" due to his ability to leap beyond the specific matter
12 and immediate consequences at hand and concentrate on the
13 long-term best interest for the entire community; and
14 WHEREAS, Alderman Drummer is looking forward to life
15 after retirement; he plans to spend time with his family
16 especially his two grandchildren, Gabrielle and Sinobia,
17 focus on his business, and engage in fishing and a host of
18 projects in Louisiana, where he and his wife, Bernice, plan
19 to retire some day; therefore, be it
20 RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
21 NINETY-SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that
22 we congratulate Alderman Dennis Drummer on his retirement
23 from seventeen years of dedication and service to the
24 citizens of the 2nd Ward in Evanston, and we wish him well in
25 all of his future endeavors; and be it further
26 RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
27 presented to Alderman Dennis Drummer as an expression of our
28 esteem.