Harish Rao
CHICAGO: A fundraiser dinner was held on – Wednesday, October 28, 2020, at the Marriot Northwest, Hoffman Estates, a northside suburb of Chicago for Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod. The fundraiser organized by the Indian Community, local businessmen, well-wishers, and friends of Mayor McLeod.
The fundraiser began with a Social Hour Among the speakers were Sunil Shah – Founder President of the Federation of Indian Associations, Mayor Tom Dailly, Mayor Rodney Craig, Dr. Anuja Gupta – President of Verandah Retirement Community, Neil Khot – CEO Rely Services, Ravi Rat CEO Bombay Bowl group of Restaurants, Syed Husain, Gurmeet Singh Dhalwan, Fred Hoffman, Joane McLeod, AmarBir Singh Ghoman and Harsharan Singh Ghoman Owners of Marriot Northwest, Ninad and Shital Daftari, Jim Early, Vibha Rajput, Khaja Moinuddin, Vikas Kalvani, Chetan Patel, Dilip Patel, Gary Pilafas, Karen Phelan Mills, Karen Arnet, Michael Gaeta, Jim Burke and Vandana Walia.
The evening kicked off with a welcome address by Neil Khot followed by speech by Sunil Shah, who urged people at the gathering to spread the word in support of the Mayor. All the speakers praised the tireless work that Mayor McLeod has put in over the years in Hoffman Estates praising his being approachable and his affable temperament while dealing with not just the constituents but also with people bringing up issues and problems.
Mayor McLeod served as a Village Trustee for more than 20 years – many of these years as Deputy Mayor. His interest in government and politics began as a boy in Chicago. Mayor McLeod is a driving force behind the creation of the STAR LINE, a suburb-to-suburb commuter rail line, serving as Chair of the STAR LINE Steering Committee. Electrical service interruptions have been addressed, and the Village continues to work with ComEd to find and correct the problems resulting from an aging infrastructure.
Mayor McLeod has been a visionary unafraid of the tough problems. He breathed life into the Sears Centre, even before there was an inkling that Sears might consider abandoning its headquarters. He was able to engineer a new incentive package that kept Sears, and its jobs, here.
It was no easy agreement given that there were many stakeholders with varied interests. He has also expanded the village fireworks show at a time many towns were pulling back, sees the potential of the proposed National Veterans Museum and under his watch, Hoffman Estates has emerged from the shadows of its neighbors. He is the current president of the Northwest Municipal Conference and active with the U.S. Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities. Mayor McLeod and his wife Joane live in the Westbury subdivision,
All the speakers were thanked for their kind words followed by dinner
