RESOLUTION FOR BOARD MEETING OF APRIL 20, 2017
Title
RESOLUTION sponsored by the Board of Commissioners recognizing Ron Hill’s twenty-seven years of service to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and congratulating him on his well-earned retirement
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WHEREAS, after twenty-seven years of dedicated service to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District, Ron M. Hill has announced his retirement; and
WHEREAS, Ron’s mother went to great lengths to ensure that her youngest son knew the difference between right and wrong, so much so, she sent him to Quigley Preparatory Seminary South, then Loyola University of Chicago, which prepared Ron for his service as the District’s Ethics Advisor and countless day-to-day situations that required his endless supply of common sense, which ensured that District employees would always keep on the straight and narrow path and adhere to the highest ethical standards; and
WHEREAS, Ron received both his bachelor’s degree and his Juris Doctorate from Loyola University of Chicago. He then spent the first eight years of his legal career at a small law firm concentrating in commercial litigation; and
WHEREAS, in 1990, Ron joined the District as a Senior Assistant Attorney, focusing on a wide variety of environmental, employment, litigation and contract issues; and
WHEREAS, Ron was appointed Principal Assistant Attorney in the Environmental Section of the Law Department in 1994; and
WHEREAS, after promotion to Head Assistant Attorney in 2005, Ron supervised first the Employment and then the Environmental Sections of the department; and
WHEREAS, Ron was an exceptional appellate attorney for the District and wrote countless briefs and made multiple oral arguments before the highest courts, such that he overturned harmful decisions that may have occurred in the trial court or ensure that a favorable District decision would be affirmed. He successfully defended the District in the Asian carp litigation before the U.S. Supreme Court and 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and even famously and miraculously upheld the legality of the District’s budget in In Re Application of Rosewell; and
WHEREAS, Ron was appointed General Counsel for the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago in 2011; and
WHEREAS, as General Counsel, Ron has handled a number of cases on behalf of the District that will significantly impact not only the District, but the entire Chicagoland area, such as the Illinois Pollution Control Board rulemaking involving disinfection, Citizen Suit litigation related to alleged violations of the Clean Water Act and litigation involving the District’s implementation of TARP; and
WHEREAS, Ron no doubt is the greatest attorney of all when it comes to any litigation involving acronyms, whether it was his favorable negotiations with the DOJ and USEPA regarding the CWA, consent decrees or NPDES permit appeals, or obtaining a favorable TIF settlement, to which the BOC and ED can only say “WTG Ron!” and “TYVM!” for all your hard work and dedication; and
WHEREAS, Ron was the ethical “Better Call Saul” of the District, due to his vast knowledge and experience in all areas of the law. When complex or potentially sticky legal situations would arise, Ron could always be counted on for sound advice and practical solutions; and
WHEREAS, despite his McKinley Park upbringing, Ron is one of the most passionate Cub fans around and is at his happiest when decked in Cubbie blue on a Saturday afternoon in the bleachers at Wrigley with his wife, Linda and daughters Stephanie, Alison and Colleen, responsibly enjoying one cold beverage over the course of three hours; and
WHEREAS, Ron has never strayed too far from the District’s service area over his lifetime starting with his upbringing on the South Side near Bubbly Creek and raising his beautiful family near the North Shore Channel in Skokie, but now in retirement, Ron and his wife Linda will have the new opportunity to see the world and get a first-hand look at the effluent quality of the Tiber, the Shannon, and the Seine; and
WHEREAS, Ron was always diplomatic, always kept his cool, always advocated for taking the high road, and always played it close to the vest with his clients’ confidences, but he looks forward to opening up in retirement and letting it all out with his upcoming twitter handle @RonLetsItRipHill; 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, do hereby recognize Ron M. Hill’s twenty-seven years of service to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District; 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 and that a copy of same, suitably engrossed, be presented to Ron M. Hill.
Dated: April 20, 2017
Approved: MARIYANA T. SPYROPOULOS, President; BARBARA J. MCGOWAN, Vice President; FRANK AVILA, Chairman, Committee on Finance; TIMOTHY BRADFORD; MARTIN J. DURKAN; JOSINA MORITA; DEBRA SHORE; KARI K. STEELE; DAVID J. WALSH; Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago
Approved as to Form and Legality: Ronald M. Hill, General Counsel