Sandwich Mayor, City Council honor and thank departing alderman

An alderman on the Sandwich City Council since 2013, Les Redden, attended his last council meeting in his official capacity Monday evening, Aug. 24.

Redden and his wife are moving to Arizona, although he said he could be back for a visit about a year from now since the 1971 Sandwich High School graduate’s 50-year high school reunion is next year.

Sandwich Mayor Rich Robinson thanked Redden and presented him with a plaque for more than seven years of dedication and service.

Redden joked about missing the council and meetings.

“I know a lot of people will say they’re going to miss you, but I’m not necessarily so sure,” Redden said. “Sometimes I’m a mean thorn in your side, but that’s not personal. That’s never been personal. It’s all about business. When you see that side of me arise, it’s about business.”

He later explained that his biggest difficulty in serving as an alderman was coming to grips with the constant flow of responsibilities on a seemingly never-ending list of projects.

“I did learn one big thing about being an alderman and me, coming from a contracting background, you would take a job and you would build that structure and you would be finished with it and have completion,” he said. “That’s not the way it is when you’re working in the city because its seems like you never get done. There’s always another project.”

One such project is the Gleddy Road debris clean-up which Robinson explained is just about done, admiring the fact that in just three days, Midwest Concrete and Construction reported that it hauled away 376 semi loads of construction materials from the dump site.

The deadline established by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency calls for all debris to be cleaned up by the end of August.

“Gleddy Road is almost done, just waiting on some actually written reports,” Robinson said. “Got to spread a little dirt around and grade it so it’s ready for farming in spring time. I already spoke to the farmer about the property and he said however we leave it is fine. He’s just going to chisel and plow it in the fall. He’s ready to go with it.”

Alderman Kevin Kelleher, who was elected three years ago called Redden a mentor.

“When I first got into running, Les you were like a mentor to me,” Kelleher said. “You called me in your office and we had a lot of coffee and talked about a lot of things and told me what to expect once I got elected, and you were right and it’s been a real pleasure.”

Alderman Fred Kreinbrink reminded Redden of what awaits in Arizona where the temperature is generally between 60 and 80 degrees from November through February.

“Les, all the best to you, sir,” Kreinbrink said. “You’re going to have fun. Hit the golf ball as much as you can.”

Redden said if he weren’t leaving, he’d hope to still be serving. Even he was surprised to learn of the interest in the seat he’s departing.

“I have a few people that would like to fill in and possibly run, and I gave those names to Rich (Robinson),” he said. “He kindly responded that he’s had seven or eight people that wanted to take the position on the Council and I didn’t think it would take that many people to replace me.”