The village’s senior director of community services will step down from his position after 16 years with the village, officials announced late Thursday.
Dow Winscott, 49, said that he will leave his $73,000-a-year position Sept. 1 to set up his own counseling practice and that he will seek a management position in the private sector. The long notice will allow him to finish several projects under way for the village and give officials time to find a successor, he said.
“I’m really sorry to see him go,” village manager Kurt Bressner said Thursday. “He’s brought a lot of bright spots to the village. There’s so much we couldn’t have done without him.”
As director of community services, Winscott has been responsible for the Downers Grove 911 emergency system, the municipal garage, the Downers Grove Visitors Bureau, the village’s cable television access channel, village operations and the village’s counseling program.
He also was the force behind the village’s yearlong Total Community Development II project, begun in 1993, which brought hundreds of residents together in 10 committees to focus on development, health and human services in the village and to develop long-term goals for village officials.