President Paul Munk welcomed Club members and led the Club in the Pledge of Allegiance.and the Four Way Test.

Happy dollars were given by: Rick Nelson wishing everyone a happy and healthy new year; Suzy Holzer and Len Tenner to say Happy New Year!; Jon Levey to say Happy New Year as well, and that Larry Block is on the cover of the new edition of Neighbors magazine! Mike Lubelfeld returned his winnings because the construction at Northwood is on time and under budget! Dan Pierce to thank the Club for choosing to honor him and Rhoda at this year's gala; Karen Dennis to welcome everyone to MYA.

 

Our speaker was our very own Ghida Neukirch, HP City Manager. Ghida has had an extensive career in local governance for over 27 years. 

 

She provided us with a 'State of the City' presentation beginning with the City's mission statement: The mission of the city of Highland Park municipal government is to provide fiscally responsible, high quality services through effective, transparent and collaborative governance. This is to be accomplished by focusing on fiscal stability, public safety, infrastructure investment, and community vibrancy,

 

For 2020, the anticipated revenue is $82 million while the expenditures will be $90 million. Capital improvements in 2020 will be $15 million dollars. This figure has doubled from eight years ago and shows how the city has really invested in capital improvements. Of that $15 million, infrastructure is getting $10 million and facilities and equipment is allotted the remaining $5 million.

 

Noteworthy projects for the year are:

Thanks to Paul Munk, Ghida Neukirch and Mike Babian for their notes!

One of my responsibilities is bringing you the bulletin every week. I try to come to meetings when I know a lot of note taking is required such as TABU, scholarships and grants. Since I can't be at all the meetings (as much as I would love to) I need some of you to be my eyes and ears and take notes for me.

 

In the past I've assigned a month to a member keeping in mind if they are out of town for the winter, have arthritis, and other roadblocks. 

 

I'm hoping this year I can rely on a group of volunteers who will take notes so I can keep other club members informed. The group members would rotate the responsibility and work with one another if a problem arises and they cannot attend as planned. I'm hoping with enough volunteers, the responsibility will only be a few times a year. Please contact me at 847-432-1500 or email me at hphwrotary@gmail.com.

 

Thank you,

Mary Beth

Everyday is a great day to get something special for yourself or someone you love and also give our club a boost by reminding you to shop at smile.amazon.com, and Amazon will donate to Rotary Club of Highland Park- Highwood when you shop!