Jim Langfelder’s decisive win for mayor should give him the confidence to breathe energy into city hall. His first order of business is to recruit new leadership for City, Water, Light and Power, where his campaign emphasized not only transparency but a shift toward clean energy and renewable fuels. Next he’ll want to ask some of the Houston administration’s best cabinet members to stay on – but not too many, because voters are eager to see fresh faces and new ideas. While hiring, he’ll remember his pledge to reach out to minorities and women, where he’ll find many eager to serve. The city council, with a half dozen new faces, is eager to hear from him and to be heard by him. Langfelder is untested, but seems just right for the time and the task at hand. We look forward to watching him go to work. –Fletcher Farrar, editor and publisher
Cover photo is by Bill Stokes, publisher of Springfield Scene magazine, and is reprinted by permission. In photo, from left to right, are Ted and Dawn Henry in character as Elizabeth and Ninian Edwards, Pam Brown and Fritz Klein in character as Mary and Abraham Lincoln, Drs. Sandra Yeh and Greg Kane in character as Julia and Senator Lyman Trumbull, Laura and Jonathan Reyman in character as Helen and Benjamin Edwards, and Tim Connors in character as Stephen A. Douglas. The historical characters were among the guests at a February dinner to celebrate the completion of the Edwards Place restoration. See cover story at illinoistimes.com
This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2015.
