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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
HONORING THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF TOM ROHNER TO THE FOREST PRESERVES OF COOK COUNTY
WHEREAS, Mr. Tom Rohner served the Forest Preserves of Cook County as the Director of Facilities & Fleet Department since 2019 and served previously as Facilities Manager; and
WHEREAS, Tom oversaw a budget of approximately $7 million and over 50 personnel; and
WHEREAS, Tom managed the critical relationship with Cook County’s Department of Emergency Management and Regional Security and led the charge to incorporate the Forest Preserves into the Cook County Hazard Mitigation Municipal Partnership; and
WHEREAS, as Chief Covid-19 OSHA Officer, Tom jumped in and became the subject matter expert on the evolving guidelines and recommendations for Forest Preserves facilities, vehicles, workspaces, and equipment. He made sure protocols were posted at every facility, workspaces were measured and marked off to ensure social distancing, screens were installed, and hand sanitizer distributed. When the vaccines became available but not easily accessible to everyone, he helped work through all the logistics to establish pop-up vaccine clinics at Forest Preserve sites. He was a beacon of light during some very dark times; and
WHEREAS, as Clean Energy Champion, he pushed the Forest Preserves to embrace solar power, secure renewable energy credits to offset our building related emissions, and moved the organization away from non-renewable sources of energy; and
WHEREAS, as lighting transition champion, Tom managed lighting upgrades at Palos Preserves and worked with Adler Planetarium to ensure compliance with International Dark-Sky Association (IDA) standards. His work was key to success in establishing the Palos Preserves named the largest Urban Night Sky Place in the world by the IDA; and
WHEREAS, Tom helped begin the transition to a green fleet, positioning the Forest Preserves to further reduce its carbon footprint; and
WHEREAS, Tom went above and beyond the call of duty when the Village of Dixmoor lost water service for days and he took extraordinary efforts to make campgrounds showers available for those residents; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that President Toni Preckwinkle along with the Forest Preserves of Cook County Board of Commissioners, General Superintendent Arnold L. Randall, and on behalf of all residents of Cook County, do hereby extend appreciation to Mr. Tom Rohner for his dedication, contribution, leadership, and outstanding service and wish him continued success in all his future endeavors; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a suitable copy of this resolution be tendered to Mr. Tom Rohner in recognition of his significant contributions to the Forest Preserves of Cook County.
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