Village Manager's Message

Last Friday, March 14 we had the first employee appreciation event ever for the Villa Park employees, or at least in anyone’s memory. We gathered at Windy City Curling for an event that was excellent team building and also supported a unique local business. Every department in the Village was represented and many of them got out on the ice and tried curling for the first time. I gave it a try, and while I never put a rock in the house (if you don’t know what that means you’ll have to google it) I gained a tremendous appreciation for those that can. By the end of the event, there was talk of forming a Villa Park employee curling league. Our employees spend one-third of their lives trying to make Villa Park a better place to live. I have a responsibility, as does all of the leadership, to make this a place that enhances their lives, or we should not expect that they will try to make the Village a better place for our citizens, visitors, and property owners.

The event was the brainchild of the Employee Appreciation Committee (EAC) that has been led by our Assistant Village Manager McVey. Following up on data from the Employee Engagement surveys from the last three years, AVM McVey and the EAC have been developing events that show the appreciation the leadership has for the rank and file of this organization in meaningful ways. As we proceed, we will try and combine the fun events and the culture-building work to focus on our mission and vision, to layer the shared sense of purpose (intrinsic motivation) with the annual picnic and the special events like curling (extrinsic motivation) to build resilience in the organization.

AVM McVey will be leaving us, unfortunately, to accept a position with DuPage County to be the Deputy Director of Human Resources. She will be leaving with the momentum of the extremely popular curling event as well as a legacy of dedicated service to Villa Park. AVM McVey was hired in July of 2021 in time to experience the second wave of COVID-19, the hiring of a new Village Manager, Finance Director, Executive Assistant to the Village Manager, and Communications Specialist, all within the first year of her employment. AVM McVey led the efforts to update the website including organizing the YouTube archive of meetings, implementing the Civic Clerk agenda management system, managing the health insurance day-to-day and annual updates – including expanding options for employees, and led risk management for the Village where she improved the Village’s rating with our “insurance carrier” the Illinois Risk Management Association which had a significant positive impact on the budget. AVM was a vital part of collective bargaining and implementation of the agreements. AVM McVey contributed to the budget process, and the initial VPRC operations plan, filled in as payroll specialist, and filled in wherever else she was needed. Suzanne will be greatly missed.

However, Liz Scott started as Interim Human Re-sources Director last Monday. Liz is a contract employee through MGT (formerly GovTemps) and was recently the Superintendent of HR and Busi-ness Services with the Addison Park District. She will be assuming many of Suzanne’s duties but also help cover some gaps in Finance until we have all those positions filled.

Last week I participated in the following meetings: July Fourth Parade Committee; with Kluber and Fire Chief Stapleton to review fire station plans; with David Lyon about the Union Apartments Project; in the weekly meeting with President Cuzzone; a one-on-one meeting with Trustee Kumar. I also met with department heads in the regular Tuesday meeting, and individually.

View the full report here. View the February monthly report here. All weekly reports can be found in our Document Center under Village Manager.

Matt Harline

Village Manager