Attendance counts: Absence, long known to make the heart grow fonder, also can make the workload grow larger.
A case in point is the recent meeting of the I-80 Corridor Regional Planning Council, at which absent members were voted a flurry of assignments.
New Lenox Mayor John Nowakowski, who was voted into the chairmanship of the council in absentia in January, returned the compliment with a vengeance at the latest meeting of the council, which includes representatives of five towns (Mokena, New Lenox, Orland Park, Tinley Park and Country Club Hills), two counties (Cook and Will) and one representative of area school districts.
Nowakowski’s nomination of absent Will County Board member Dick Brandolino for the job of setting meeting agendas provoked a laugh from the rest of the group. “Mr. Brandolino nominated Mr. Nowakowski (for the chairmanship),” explained Stacy Holland, administrative assistant at Lincoln-Way High School.
Nowakowski then nominated two absent cohorts: Cook County representative Herb Schumann to contact legislators for support of a roadway sign initiative and Country Club Hills Mayor Dwight Welch to host the next council meeting, in May.
Unless they’re looking for work, members might be wise to make that one.