Village Manager's Message

When I came to Villa Park just under three years ago, one of the things that I wanted to do was to start to create a better work culture. Something that would outlast me and would be built by the entire organization, not imposed from above. Part of that was coaching the future leaders of Villa Park to be able to promote from within, and for those future leaders to be working from the same philosophy. A year ago, we signed a contract with Strategic Government Resources to conduct a Local Government Leadership Academy, and next week we will have the final session in year one. In addition to developing a group of young leaders speaking a common language, future leaders from Elmhurst, Bartlett, Bloomingdale, Carol Stream, Hanover Park, and Western Springs joined the class. This creates an instant network of colleagues trying to implement these concepts throughout DuPage County.

Last week, Chief Rivas, Deputy Chiefs McCann and Kubish, and Interim HR Director Scott and I reached a tentative agreement with the FOP-Sergeants collective bargaining unit (CBU). With a ratified agreement already completed with the FOP-Patrol CBU, this completes one cycle of all four CBUs during my tenure. It is the hope of all of us in Village leadership that this shows tangible proof that the Board of Trustees and department heads are committed to making Villa Park an employer of choice in DuPage County. As a Village, we had fallen behind other communities, and so we will need to be especially thrifty with expenditures in the 2026 Budget. However, our wages are competitive enough, I believe, that if we create an excellent work environment, we can attract and retain a workforce committed to service with integrity, and adaptability while being good stewards of the Village treasury.

While we are on the topic of creating a superior workplace culture, the final step of the employee survey process was completed last week. The early data from the survey was completed in January, but I wanted to follow up on some subjects where it seemed that the staff were not seeing any significant improvement in support from the leadership. Cory Plasch of CP2 Consulting conducted one-on-one interviews with a representative sample of employees. Once we have that data back, a report will be distributed to the Board and employees.

Last week, I met with D45 as a preliminary step to renewing the Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for sports facilities. I also took part in the July 4th Parade Committee and attended the meeting of the Illinois Local Government Management Association (ILCMA) Communications Committee. Additionally, I participated in a meeting regarding the status of the 2024 audit and the publication of the 2025 budget. I was involved in an internal meeting about the Garden State bonds, and I conducted interviews with three candidates for the Finance Director position. The decision will be coming next week for the Finance Director position. We had excellent candidates. I also met with department heads in the regular Tuesday meeting and individually.

View the full weekly report here, and view the monthly report for March here. All weekly and monthly reports can be found in our Document Center under Village Manager.

Matt Harline

Village Manager