Continuing to Build a Safe and Sustainable Future
Wilmette Talk #4 | Tuesday, September 20th, 2022 | 6-8PM
A big thank you to all who joined us for our fourth and final Wilmette Talk! Panel #1 focused on Wilmette’s Active Transportation Plan and transportation initiatives moving forward, while the second panel discussed the adopted Sustainability Plan and efforts to increase sustainability and resiliency in the Village.
Thank You to Our Panelists!
Moderator: Michael Blue has a split his 35+ year planning career between consulting and working for municipalities. Currently a Principal at Teska Associates in Evanston, Michael’s work focuses on comprehensive and special area plans, drafting development codes, and organizational development. He previously spent eleven years as Director of Community Development in Highland Park, IL. There he managed a department of 30 and focused on all aspects of planning and building. His Department served nine City Commissions addressing the issues of development, housing, historic preservation, cultural arts, and the natural environment. Previously, he was Deputy Community Development Director in the Village of Mount Prospect, IL for five years and started his career out of college as a consultant. Michael has both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in planning from the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign. He lives in Deerfield, IL with his wife, three sons (who are out of the house now, sort of) and two cats.
Beth Drucker is the President of Go Green Wilmette and founder and co-facilitator of Go Green Illinois, a consortium of north suburban environmental organizations. She served on School District 39 PTO Environmental Awareness Committee and helped to establish Outdoor Classrooms at Highcrest Middle School and Wilmette Junior High School. She is on the Board of North Shore Green Women. She serves on the District 39 Sustainability Working Group, the New Trier High School Sustainability Committee and Bike Walk Wilmette. She is an avid gardener of both native plants and edibles. She is active in Wilmette’s international community and is a volunteer for AFS International Student Exchange Program. She has lived in Wilmette since 1988 with her husband Harry and has three adult children.
Brett H. Emmons is a founding principal of EOR with 34 years of experience in Civil and Water Resources Engineering. Natural resources management, preservation, and planning – with an emphasis on innovative stormwater management techniques – has been his specialty. Brett has been instrumental in developing EOR as a regional leader in low impact design and sustainability planning.
Cindy Fish is President/Principal of Fish Transportation Group, Inc. (FTG), a woman-owned transportation planning consulting firm located in Forest Park, IL. With 30 years of experience, Cindy specializes in creating mobility plans that are forward-thinking and implementable, providing strategies to enhance the safety and accessibility for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, and motor vehicle drivers using a complete streets approach.
Jill Hayes, P.E. is a member of the Wilmette Transportation Commission and a professional engineer with over 15 years experience in transportation improvements across the Chicagoland region. Jill leads the Illinois preliminary engineering practice for Alfred Benesch & Company, a national transportation consulting firm, where she manages numerous transportation projects for municipalities and counties. Her experience includes traffic studies, bridge replacements, multimodal network planning and design, grant applications and coordination with state and federal transportation agencies. Jill previously held positions at the City of Chicago Department of Transportation and Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways.
Dan Manis, P.E. is the Village Engineer for the Village of Wilmette’s Engineering and Public Works Department. He is the staff liaison for the Village’s Transportation Commission and manages the Department’s Engineering Division which is responsible for the planning, design, and construction oversight for many of the Village’s public infrastructure improvement projects. The Engineering Division is also responsible for the review and inspection of Engineering permits for private development and utility work in the Village. Dan has been working in the field of municipal civil engineering for over 18 years in the Chicago area. Dan is a licensed professional engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale.
Tim Perry has been volunteering with the Village for 20+ years, when he became a member of the Wilmette Bike Task Force, a sub-committee of the Wilmette Transportation Committee. Since then, he has worked on various task forces to support biking and walking in Wilmette and its surrounding communities. He is currently part of BikeWalkWilmette, an advocacy group working in Wilmette and nearby communities to improve access to biking and walking for all ages and abilities. The group works with a number of Village departments, and was instrumental in passing (and now implementing) the Master Bike and Active Transportation Plan. The group also worked to have Wilmette named a Bronze level Bicycle Friendly Community by League of American Bicyclists. Tim has lived in the same house in Wilmette since 1991, where he and his wife Nancy raised their two children, Maggie and Henry.
Julie Wolf is chair of Wilmette’s Environmental and Energy Commission. She served as a Trustee for the Village of Wilmette for two terms, and was very involved in development of stormwater management plans including the Stormwater Utility. She is active in various environmental groups including Go Green Wilmette and Go Green Illinois. She is an avid gardener, and has increasingly incorporated native plants into her garden, which is now home to numerous butterflies, bees and other mostly-beneficial wildlife. Julie has a Bachelor’s degree in Landscape Architecture from Iowa State University and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She has lived in Wilmette since 1985 with her husband Martin and has two adult children.
Ready Set Wilmette 