On behalf of myself, Clerk Patrick Rea and Trustees Dave Seaman, Brian Maher and T.J. Grady, I'd like to welcome newly elected Trustees Brian Younker, Michael Pannitto and Jacob Vandenberg to the Tinley Park Village Board. Together we will continue to serve the residents of Tinley Park and work toward a better tomorrow.

Many of you are already familiar with our new Village Board members. For those who aren't, I'd like to take a few moments to introduce them to you.

Trustee-Elect Vandenberg is a life-long resident of Tinley Park and an executive officer and funeral director at Vandenberg Funeral Home. Jake has served admirably as an Orland Township Trustee since 2009 and is active in many community events and charitable causes. He lives in Tinley Park with his wife, Carrie and his son, Oliver.

Trustee-Elect Younker is also a life-long resident of Tinley Park who spent 20 years as a volunteer commissioner for the Tinley Park Park District and 19 years as a firefighter/EMT with the Country Club Hills Fire Department. Brian has a distinguished record of public service and has served as president of the Tinley Park Park District since 1997. He lives in town with his sons, Brian and Tommy, and his daughter Olivia.

Trustee-Elect Pannitto has lived in Tinley Park for more than 21 years, and for the last 20 of those years has served on the Tinley Park Park District Board of Commissioners. He's an attorney for Cook County and was instrumental in bringing the Bettenhausen Recreation Center and Freedom Park to town, among other accomplishments. Mike lives in the Village with his wife and his two children.

I'd also like to congratulate outgoing Trustees Greg Hannon, Tom Staunton and Patricia Leoni for their years of dedicated and tireless work for our Village. All three have been instrumental in helping shape Tinley Park into one of the Chicago area's premier suburbs, and I wish them well in their future endeavors.

Our new Trustees will be officially inaugurated on May 4, and their first Village Board meeting will be May 5. I'm hopeful for the future and confident that we can all work together to help keep Tinley Park the great community that we all know and love.