High Quality Leadership!

One of the challenges of public service is balancing what you want for your small area, your block or your neighborhood versus the needs of the greater community. It is sometimes very hard to understand the needs of someone who lives miles away from you and exists in a different part of the community then you are involved in. We have about 20 homes that actually either touches the actual Round Lake and or the Channel that leads to it., Round Lake Beach has 100'’s and Round Lake Park has at least as many homes.

So a few years the mayors of the three Round Lakes that touch the lake and founded the Round Lake Management Commission I struggled to find people to serve as our representatives on the board. Each community has 3 seats on the 9 person board I initially wanted to appoint people who lived on the lake and was able to attract a dedicated committed resident Doug Vehlow. But I struggled to pull interested people from that small subset of 20 homes over the years.

So I thought outside the box and started to identify people who demonstrated to me that they were willing to get involved in things outside their neighborhoods and I started to approach them. A couple I approached was not able to get involved based on work commitments, or child care responsibilities and for that I am actually grateful they were candid and honest about it with me. I approached a gentleman who was active in his Home Owners Association and active in local politics last year to serve on the RL management committee named John Gutknecht who lives in Valley Lakes, and he has been exceptional.

My plea a month ago or so brought me Niel Flam also of Valley Lakes who has already impressed me with his enthusiasm. So coupled with Doug Vehlow we finally have an excellent trio of representatives on this board. They/we are working towards restocking the lake this fall, doing the annual clean-up next spring, plus hopefully we will also patrol the lake for safety checks as well.

The moral of this story is "“its good to think outside the box sometimes"” also I am glad I was able to identify people who were willing to get involved in something that did not affect there small area of interest.