MEMORIAL RESOLUTION FOR BOARD MEETING OF FEBRUARY 7, 2019
Title
RESOLUTION sponsored by the Board of Commissioners honoring the memory of Brian Sleet
Body
WHEREAS, Brian Elliott Sleet was born on December 22, 1977 to Marion George and Camille Wheeler Sleet, and grew up in the Chatham neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side; and
WHEREAS, Brian Sleet was baptized at Pilgrim Baptist Church and in recent years attended St. James Community Church, living a life rich in faith and good works; and
WHEREAS, Brian showed scholarly promise and intellectual curiosity from an early age, graduating from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in 1996, then earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Dartmouth College in 2000, and finally earning his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2005; and
WHEREAS, Brian also demonstrated unusual qualities of leadership and empathy early on, gaining him the nickname of “Mayor of Dartmouth” while he was at college; and
WHEREAS, Brian Sleet chose to return to Chicago and to the neighborhood where he grew up, and began to put his talents to use as a teacher of elementary school and as a practicing attorney; and
WHEREAS, Brian soon gained a reputation as a loyal friend, an active community member, a considerate neighbor, and a generous and welcoming host; and
WHEREAS, in 2011 Brian ran for alderman in the City of Chicago, earning the respect and admiration of his competitor and the ultimate victor in the race, Alderman Roderick Sawyer, who hired him as his chief of staff after the election; and
WHEREAS, Brian Sleet was friend and served as indispensable advisor to City of Chicago Treasurer Kurt Summers and Alderman Sophia King, among many others, and managed Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s successful 2016 campaign; and
WHEREAS, Brian Sleet was the recipient of numerous awards recognizing his accomplishments, including WVON’s “40 Under 40 Game Changers” award, and was selected as a 2015 Fellow of the Chicago Urban League’s IMPACT Leadership Development program; and
WHEREAS, in recent years, Brian was senior advisor for the Chicago-based public relations firm Kivvit, where he specialized in stakeholder research, community engagement, land use, and public affairs strategy, and served as the spokesperson for the Obama Presidential Library; and
WHEREAS, Chicago Votes has recently established the Brian Sleet Memorial Fellowship for Leadership and Advocacy in his honor for future generations; and
WHEREAS, Brian Elliott Sleet was devoted to his friends and family, including his parents Marion and Camille, his brother Michael and sister-in-law Debbie; his niece Morgan; his fiancée Nathalie Essex; and his countless friends, all of whom remember him with enormous love and affection; and
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that we, the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, on behalf of ourselves and staff, extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Brian Elliott Sleet on the occasion of his untimely passing on December 26, 2018; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this Resolution be spread upon the permanent Record of Proceedings of the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Dated: February 7, 2019
Approved: KARI K. STEELE, President; BARBARA J. McGOWAN, Vice-President; FRANK AVILA, Chairman, Committee on Finance; CAMERON DAVIS; KIMBERLY DU BUCLET; MARCELINO GARCIA; JOSINA MORITA; DEBRA SHORE; MARIYANA SPYROPOULOS, Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
Approved as to Form and Legality: Susan Morakalis, General Counsel