It was a swell send-off for Village Attorney Ray Heise last Wednesday. And after 36 years of service to Oak Park, it was deserved.
The Nineteenth Century Club was filled with village hall staffers and elected officials from across the decades. And what struck us, and it was finally articulated by one of the speakers, was the strong sense of honor and purpose evident among those assembled. This is a moment in time when public service employees are hectored and pillaged. Some criticism is deserved. Much is just noise. But to have served in Oak Park’s village hall over the past 40 years was to have been part of a startling reimagining of this town’s values and governance. Hard work. Creative work. Honorable work.
