Julie Rinozzi has always valued community involvement and loves living in Orland Park. She’s lived there the last 35 years and has nothing but great things to say about the village.
A strong sense of civic duty nudged her and 30 other village residents to enroll in the village’s inaugural Citizens Academy, a free seven-week program sponsored by the village.
She said the program’s focus was to give residents more of an insight into how the village works with an emphasis on the various departments.
“My biggest takeaway from the course was how truly fortunate I am to live in this village,” Rinozzi said, after she and the other members of the academy received certificates of completion from Mayor Jim Dodge during the village board meeting Monday night.
“We live in such a safe and wonderful community with so many amenities,” Rinozzi said. “All the village employees we met were so dedicated and knowledgeable. This class was a great way to really see firsthand how local governments work.”
Dodge said he’d like to see the program expanded to allow even more residents to see firsthand how local government runs.
“People were really appreciative of being part of this,” the mayor said. “We’re excited about doing this again.”
Residents who completed the Academy included: Steve Anton, Rosemary Backes, Joseph Backes, George Canellis, Mary Chamberlain, Alexander Cole, John Conrad, Barbara DeGeorge, Steven Gray, Bernard Greenawalt, Charlie Hale, Deborah Hale and Lucas Hawley.
Other residents who completed the course included: Basim Ismail, Don Kress, Karen Kress, Ahmad Laban, Mel LaHucik, Bridget Lindbloom, Mike Martinez, Dan McMillan, Vince Oluwaleke, Ronny Philip, Russell Renaldy, Ehab Salem, Paula Scheiwe, Tracy Sullivan, Pat Swiontek, Timothy Swiontek and Rob Wehmeier.