CHICAGO – Governor Bruce Rauner announced he has made appointments to the Illinois Bicentennial Commission. On September 20, Governor Rauner signed Executive Order 2016-11 to create the new Illinois Bicentennial Commission and the Governor's Office of the Illinois Bicentennial to lead the planning for the celebration of the state's 200th birthday.
The EO establishes a commission of no more than 51 voting members which will be housed within the new Bicentennial Office under Executive Director Stuart Layne. No more than 40 members may be appointed by the Governor and one member each may be appointed by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, the Senate Minority Leader, the House Minority Leader, the Attorney General, the Lieutenant Governor, the Treasurer, the Comptroller, the Secretary of State, and the Mayors of Chicago and Springfield.
The following individuals have been appointed to the commission:
Ellen S. Alberding, President, The Joyce Foundation
Pam Althoff, State Senator, 32nd District (Appointed by the Senate Minority Leader)
Liandro Arellano Jr., Mayor, City of Dixon
Ed Burke, 14th Ward Alderman, City of Chicago
Gloria Cardenas Cudia, President, Salsa Business Network
Gloria Castillo, President & CEO, Chicago United
Harry L. Crisp II, CEO, Pepsi MidAmerica
John Crowley, Regional Senior Vice President, Comcast
Richard M. Daley, Former Mayor, City of Chicago
Karen Darch, President, Village of Barrington
Randy Dunn, President, Southern Illinois University System
Richard Edelman, President & CEO, Edelman
Fabian Elliott, Founder & CEO, Black Tech Mecca Inc.
llene S. Gordon, President & CEO, Ingredion
David Joens, Director, Illinois State Archives (Appointed by the Secretary of State)
Jim Kinney, Immediate Past President, Illinois Realtors
Jan V. Kostner, Strategic Marking Consultant, JVK
Marilyn Kushak, President, Mid-West Family Broadcasting
James O. Langfelder, Mayor, City of Springfield
Allen James Lynch, Veteran, Medal of Honor Recipient (Appointed by the Lieutenant Governor)
Shirley Madigan, Chairman, Illinois Arts Council Chairman & Trustee, After School Matters
Dan Mahoney Sr., Managing Partner, Fort Knox Studios & 2112 Chicago
Melissa Mahoney, Deputy Chief of Staff, Office of the Attorney General (Appointed by the Attorney General)
Richard Mark, Chairman & President, Ameren Illinois
Fidel Marquez, Senior Vice President of Government and External Affairs, ComEd
Susana Meza, Vice President of Marketing, Wintrust Financial Corporation
Oscar Munoz, CEO, United Airlines
Stephanie Pace Marshall, Ph.D, Chancellor, The Lincoln Academy of Illinois
Donovan Pepper, National Director of Local Government Relations, Walgreens
Rikeesha Phelon, President & CEO, Phelon Public Strategies (Appointed by the Senate President)
John Powers, Owner, Union Street Tin Company
Jerry Reinsdorf, Chairman, Chicago Bulls & Chicago White Sox
Tom Ricketts, Chairman, Chicago Cubs
Todd Schwebel, President, The Schwebel Company
David Scott, Board Member, Illinois State Historical Society
Ruth Slottag, Partner, Slottag Communications (Appointed by the Mayor of Springfield)
Melody Spann-Cooper, Chairman, Midway Broadcasting Corporation
Larry Spivack, President. Illinois Labor History Society (Appointed by the Treasurer)
Joyce St. Clair, Chief Capital Management Officer, Northern Trust
Aaron Tennant, CEO, Simplex Leasing
Rocky Wirtz, Chairman, Chicago Blackhawks
Dick Wolf, Creator & Producer, Wolf Entertainment/NBCUniversal Television
Bernanda Wong, President & CEO, Chinese American Service League (CASL)
The following individuals will serve as non-voting members of the Illinois Bicentennial Commission:
James Cornelius, Collection Curator, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum Lincoln
Brad Cole, Executive Director, Illinois Municipal League
Grant Hammer, Chief of Staff, Illinois Department of Agriculture
Lori Healey, CEO, Metropolitan Pier & Exposition Authority
Cory Jobe, Director, Illinois Office of Tourism
Brent Krebs, Chief of Staff, Illinois Department of Natural Resources
Brittany Ladd, Assistant Director, Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity
Alan C. Lowe, Executive Director, Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum
Heidi Brown-McCreery, Director, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
Kelly Nicholl, Chief Marketing Officer, Intersect Illinois
Beth Purvis, Illinois Secretary of Education
Samuel Wheeler Ph.D., State Historian, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
I hope to Hell some of those appointed actually know something of Illinois’ history.
I mean history as it really WAS, not “history lite,” as they WISH it was.
The optimist way of looking at the Illinois bicentennial is that during the U.S. bicentennial the country was about as down on its luck as you could get, yet the longest period of peacetime economic growth in its history was only barely more than half a decade away; conservative Republican control of most of the branches of government was only half a decade away. On the other hand, that’s probably a pipe dream.