40-Year Hinsdale Employee Honored

HINSDALE, IL — When Jim Piontkowski started with the Hinsdale village government, Jimmy Carter was president and American hostages were still being kept in Iran. This was long before the era of smartphones and social media.

On Jan. 21, 1980, Piontkowski was hired as a service crew worker. Four years later, he was promoted to building maintenance supervisor, a position he has held ever since.

"He has a wealth of knowledge about the village that no one else has," Village President Tom Cauley said at Tuesday's Village Board meeting.

Cauley and the board honored Piontkowski with a certificate of appreciation and gift card for his years of service to the village.

The village government has changed much in the last four decades. The current library was constructed in 1988, and the village offices moved into their current quarters, which was previously the library, according to a village information sheet. In 1993, the pool facility was demolished and a new pool and locker rooms were built.

In 2000, Veeck Park was established and, in 2006 and 2007, the board meeting room and village hall offices were completely redecorated.

"Jim said there have been endless projects since he started work here that have been completed in order to keep our village buildings up and running," the village said in a statement.

After Piontkowski received the certificate, the meeting room erupted in applause. Piontkowski's salary was $106,700 in 2018, according to OpenTheBooks.com.