THIS WEEKS MEETING - SPECTRUM INVESTMENTS

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“You're only given one little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it.” - Robin Williams, Actor and Comedian

Mequon hires Will Jones as city administrator
By Jeff Rumage

Mequon - Mequon's next city administrator will come to the North Shore of Milwaukee via the North Shore of Chicago.

The Mequon Common Council hired William H. Jones, Jr., the assistant village manager in Glencoe, Ill., last week as their new city administrator. Jones will fill the shoes of longtime administrator Lee Szymborski, who resigned in July. Jesse Thyes, the city's assistant city administrator and human resources director, has acted as interim administrator for the past five months.

Jones, who was among 75 candidates from 25 states to apply for the job, will start work in Mequon on Jan. 12 He will be formally introduced to the Common Council during their meeting on Jan. 13.

"We are thrilled to have a person of Will's education, qualification, experience and expertise join our team of highly professional public servants," Mayor Dan Abendroth said in a news release.

Jones brings with him 20 years of experience in local government management. Since 2011, he has served as assistant village manager in Glencoe, which has a population of 8,723. Prior to working in Glencoe, Jones spent 15 years in Highland Park - a Chicago suburb of nearly 30,000 people - where he served as public information officer, human resources director, deputy finance director, acting finance director and assistant city manager.

Jones earned a bachelor's degree in political science and history from Boston College. He earned a master's degree in public affairs from Indiana University. He is a credentialed municipal manager through the International City/County Management Association. He is currently serving as the vice chair of the Committee on Economic Development and Capital Planning for the Government Finance Officers Association.

Although he lives in Illinois, Jones said his family has Milwaukee roots. His father was raised in Wauwatosa, and his mother was raised in Whitefish Bay. He also has relatives in Fox Point and Grafton.

"I'm very familiar with the Milwaukee area, having spent a good deal of time there as a child visiting family and relatives," he said.

Jones has a wife, Kathy, and four children: Hugh, 15; Gretchen, 13; Mary Bridget, 10; and Doug, 6. Once his children finish the school year, Jones said his family will be looking to relocate to Mequon in mid-2015. In the meantime, he plans to stay in Mequon during the week and return home on weekends.

Jones said he is honored to have been selected as Mequon's new city administrator, and he is eager to get to work.

"Mequon has an exceptional reputation as one of the Milwaukee area's premier communities, and I look forward to becoming part of the Mequon community and honoring the rich history of the city while embracing its bright future," he said.

Moderately Confused by Jeff Stahler

By Bill Wittich, past president of the Rotary Club of Laguna Sunrise, Elk Grove, California, USA

Those who know me call me the Starbucks Guy! That is because I spend way too much time and money in my local Starbucks. But the truth is Starbucks is my best location for attracting new Rotary members.

Let me give you an example of a recent Sunday. My wife, Ann, and I are both Rotarians and we enjoy our tall Skinny Mochas. So sitting there we watched a young woman arrive with her computer and she was dressed for business. Both of us asked the question, “Is she a possibility for Rotary?”

Well, she looked like a Rotarian. You know what that means. She was a young business woman and seemed friendly at that. I asked my wife which of us should talk to her about Rotary and she said that she found the last one, so it was my turn.

I simply approached her and asked “why are you not a Rotarian?” She smiled and said that she had heard of Rotary but really did not know exactly what they did or were. I gave her a copy of our club flyer and invited her to be our guest for breakfast at the country club next week. I asked her for her e-mail address and told her she would be receiving our club newsletter later that day.

Basically, we were starting to build a slow, but friendly, relationship with her and simply invited her to breakfast. The next Wednesday morning, guess who showed up at our Rotary club meeting?

All we did was to be aware of who was enjoying our morning Starbucks with us and we just offered them an opportunity to network with the movers and shakers in our town. At the meeting, she heard about all those service projects that our club is doing, and her eyes lit up. Well the following week, we had a new excited Rotarian who told us that prior to our visit at Starbucks, she had never understood what Rotary was or did.

I guess the key to membership is to ask.