Mayor Alongi & finance committee name new Du Quoin finance director
Du Quoin Mayor Guy Alongi --with the advice and consent of the city's five-member budget and finance committee--Monday night appointed 25-year-old Du Quoin resident and SIU business and economic doctoral candidate Andrew Croessman as the city's new finance director.
The appointment came following a final hour-long interview last Wednesday with Mayor Alongi, members of the committee and finance commissioner Dale Spencer.. The vote was unanimous.
Committee members include chairman Dan Eaves and members Brice Harsy, Tyson Tanner, Chuck Smith and Chuck Novak.
In making the appointment Mayor Alongi said:
"Based upon the recommendation of the budget and finance committee, the City of Du Quoin is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Andrew Croessman to the newly created position, Director of Budget and Finance.
"Mr. Croessman is a native of Du Quoin. He currently is a doctoral student at Southern Illinois University, a summer employee of the City of Du Quoin, and a part-time employee at Alongi's restaurant.
"Mr. Croessman is also a Graduate Assistant at SIU and he teaches courses in introductory economics. His field of study is economics, and he will be awarded his Master of Science Degree in Economics this August. In the past he has worked as an intern in the City Clerk's office in the City of Du Quoin, and he has been a city summer employee for nine years working in the Street Department.
"At SIU Mr. Croessman has served as the Vice President of the Southern Illinois Economics Association. He was further recognized as "Outstanding Junior" and "Outstanding Senior" in Economics and is also the recipient of the Glen and Cornelia Miller Award, the Garret and Susan Pierce Scholarship and is the two time recipient of the Thomas and Chany Chung Scholarship.
"Mr. Croessman currently holds an Associate of Arts in Economics from John A. Logan College (2011), a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Southern Illinois University (2013), and he is currently finishing his Master Degree dissertation. In addition he has completed his course work for a doctoral degree in economics and is currently eligible to undertake dissertation studies at SIU."
Of Mr. Croessman, Mayor Alongi said, "Andrew's work ethic is outstanding. But not only does he work hard, he works smart. His background, education and intelligence make him a perfect fit for this new position."
At SIU he is in a group of one.
Croessman is an independent thinker, who calls himself a "numbers guy," but like the late Blaine Bastien is very approachable and down to earth. He is as engaging talking about last night's St. Louis Cardinals game as he is talking about economic value and municipal fundware.
He said he looks forward to working alongside interim budget and finance administrator Chuck Novak, who will continue his work through the end of the year. He has a tremendous respect for the city's staff of employees and said his work will focus on identifying the resources and the savings that will allow them to continue to be effective.
He will be paid $55,000 plus the traditional benefits of municipal service.
The son of John and Barbara Croessman, the soft-spoken Andrew expressed his deep appreciation for the opportunity in a letter to the committee openly to the council Monday night and will go about his work in a very pragmatic and caring way.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Alongi: I Want Du Quoin Out of the Real Estate Business</span>
Much of Monday night's agenda had to deal with festering property issues, which Alongi, the city council and property maintenance supervisor Ron Darnell are dealing with as quickly as possible.
"I want the city out of the real estate business," the mayor told the newspaper in advance of Monday night's meeting.
Here are the actions being taken:
The visionary "homesteading" plan has not worked with respect to a house at 115 North Division Street and the city has now reached agreement with next door Buttons & Bows owner Vicky Holmes to accept the property and demolish it for future use as a playground alongside the child care center.
The city will loan Buttons & Bows the $6,800 to demolish the property with the money being repaid to the loan fund in a timely manner. When the house was gifted to the city by mortgage holder Wells Fargo, the house came with a check for $10,000 to be used either to tear it down or remediate some environmental issues and then try and sell it through a program called "homesteading." That program involved placing the house in a Du Quoin Community Development Corp. not-for-profit trust, selling it for $100, then working with the new owner over a seven-year period to restore the property before deeding it over to the buyer. There have been no viable offers.
The $10,000 was placed in the general fund and was spent in the day-to-day course of business.
The city council approved an ordinance putting a vacant lot at 357 South Jefferson (northeast of the Indian car wash) up for sale by sealed bids.
The council authorized the conveyance of a house at 537 South Jefferson Street to DCDC, which will hold it in trust as part of the homesteading program.
The council approved an ordinance accepting a derelict house at 130 South Division Stret from Jenny Fronek as a matter of hardship. That house will be demolished in the coming days.
Mayor Alongi said a condemned house on South Mulberry Street and two condemned trailers between Hope Street and Keyes Street are being demolished this week by George's Excavating.
<span style="text-decoration: underline;">Other Action</span>
In other action, the council approved a proclamation supporting the NubAbility Athletes Walk Saturday in the City of Du Quoin. Approximately 200 limb-challenged athletes are in Du Quoin this weekend for the third annual summer camp here. It is a remarkable program authored by the Kuhnert family and brings together coaches and athletes from all across the country. Attorney Aaron Atkins read from a very well-written proclamation acknowledging the vision of Nub Ability founder Sam Kuhnert. The camp and proclamation will be the subject of special stories in Thursday's edition.
The council approved ordinances clarifying the supervision of the health officer and code officer. His work will fall within finance commissioner Dale Spencer's department rather than the police department.
The council appointed Derek Hoeinghaus as assistant water superintendent. He had held the position before and left it for personal reasons and is now returning to that job.
The council approved the execution of an amended easement for Marshall Browning Hospital from 2007 during one of its capital development construction projects. The Department of Housing and Urban Development just got around--eight years later--to ask that it be indemnified against any issues because of the easement. There are no issues.
The council validated the ongoing relationship between the city and the Emergency 911 board which through its capital investment program will replace the "antiquated" hone system in the police department to improve service. The city and 911 enjoy an open-ended contract that simply has to be reviewed each year.
The council welcomed guest Jessica Govic of Gallagher & Co., the city's risk management insurer. She has been working with the city to identify all of the city's properties to make sure they are covered. A handful of facilities not on the inventory are being added at no cost to the city. She also addressed the issue of losses in prior years, the largest being a workman's compensation claim after the death of firefighter Corey Shaw. The city's loss record is much improved.
Lastly the council concurred with Doug Clark of Du Quoin ESDA that the agency should transition to the name "Emergency Management Agency."
The meeting concluded with other business, comments from commissioners, public comment and adjournment.