Greetings

In December I completed my second year of service on the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD).

It has been quite a year. The unprecedented storm of mid-September 2008 compelled the MWRD to discharge stormwater overflow into Lake Michigan at all three outlets for the first time in years (for a full description of the September storm view or download my 2008 annual report). The District has been preparing a Watershed Management Ordinance for Cook County that will be released for public review and comment in the spring of this year. Rulemaking hearings on new water quality standards for the Chicago Area Waterways proposed by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency have continued at the Illinois Pollution Control Board through the year. In July, I spent three weeks participating in a leadership training program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government for Senior Executives in State and Local Government that was intense, challenging, and totally worthwhile. (View the video about my Harvard experience.)

Over the last year I have given a number of talks to a variety of groups — seniors, clubs, local chambers of commerce. Recently I held my first Town Hall meeting at the Friendship Park Conservatory in Des Plaines on — why not? — World Water Day. Click here to download my World Water Day presentation.

I have prepared a report on my second year in office, describing some of the District’s accomplishments and a number of policy issues facing us in the year ahead. Download the PDF of my second Annual Report.

Periodically, I have been posting short essays on The Huffington Post and sending out occasional electronic newsletters. If you would like to receive these, please contact me at info@debrashore.org.

Debra