Mayor Shapiro Inaugurated as 2022-2023 NWMC President

Deerfield Mayor Daniel C. Shapiro was inaugurated as the 2022-2023 Northwest Municipal Conference (NWMC) President on Wednesday, May 18.

Shapiro is the organization's 64th President and second from the Village of Deerfield. Schaumburg Village President Tom Dailly was installed as Vice-President, with Hanover Park Mayor Rod Craig and Lincolnwood Village Manager Anne Marie Gaura installed as Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. Their terms run through June, 2023.

The inauguration took place at the NWMC's Annual Gala at Ravinia Festival in Highland Park. One hundred and fifty-eight members and guests celebrated the accomplishments of outgoing NWMC President and Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering as well as the inauguration of President Shapiro. Attendees were entertained by the Ravinia Jazz Scholar Alumni and viewed a videohighlighting efforts of NWMC members in helping residents, businesses and the region manage and recover from the pandemic.

President Rotering thanked the membership and staff for their collective achievements over the past year. She noted the efforts of local governments to rise to the challenges created by the pandemic with the goal of emerging stronger through extraordinary partnership and collaboration. She reported that the Conference was successful in legislative efforts to increase the Local Government Distributive Fund, which returned over $2 million to NWMC members. She highlighted additional accomplishments including legislative successes, training of new members via the NWMC Elected Official Institute, quadrupling of the products available through the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative and strengthened partnerships and initiatives with the region's councils of government and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus. Finally, she noted the continued financial strength of the organization, which approved the FY22-23 NWMC Budget without a dues increase for the ninth consecutive year.

In his inaugural remarks to the membership, President Shapiro identified a number of initiatives for the year, including further restoration of the Local Government Distributive Fund, supporting NWMC members seeking additional infrastructure funding through the Rebuild Illinois capital program and federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, expanding the programs and services through the Suburban Purchasing Cooperative, and, fortifying the financial and programmatic future of the organization through an ad hoc facilities committee and development of a long range financial plan.

Regarding the ongoing pandemic, President Shapiro noted hope that it would transition to an endemic and said that, "it will be important to take the lessons we have learned over these last two plus years and analyze their application to other issues impacting local government. We will work with our members and government partners to aggressively address any lingering pandemic issues with the same vision and collaboration that is the hallmark of this organization."

Finally, he thanked and called on all members to become actively involved in the Conference's committees and activities, noting that "the strength of this organization lies in the commitment of time and resources of the membership and staff to get the job done. Thank you for the trust and confidence you have in me to lead the Northwest Municipal Conference and I look forward to working with all of you to achieve our mutual goals."

The Northwest Municipal Conference is a membership-supported association of 42 municipalities and 1 township representing a population of over 1.2 million Illinois residents. Established in 1958, the Conference serves to strengthen local government and enhance intergovernmental cooperation in the north and northwest suburbs of Chicago.