Western Springs Settles On New Manager

WESTERN SPRINGS, IL – The Western Springs Village Board has settled on a replacement for Village Manager Ingrid Velkme, who is retiring.

After a closed session Monday, President Alice Gallagher announced that the board has directed her to enter negotiations with one of two in-house candidates who have applied for the post. She did not name the candidates.

“We decided that there is no justification to spend extra money and time looking for a candidate outside the candidates we have here in Western Springs,” Gallagher said.

The board expects to appoint the new manager at its Sept. 27 meeting, she said.

This process resembles the closed one that the village followed in 2017 when it hired Velkme. Then-Manager Patrick Higgins privately informed the board of his pending retirement, and the board interviewed Velkme before announcing Higgins’ decision.

At Monday’s meeting, the board voted unanimously for Deputy Village Manager Casey Biernacki as interim manager, starting at 5 p.m. Friday, which is when Velkme’s retirement begins. Gallagher did not say whether Biernacki was one of the in-house candidates.

Biernacki was named deputy village manager in April, after serving eight years as the assistant director of municipal services.

Earlier Monday, the village announced Velkme’s retirement in a news release. Patch reported on the development Friday, shortly after the village released its meeting agenda, which included an item on Velkme’s departure.

In a speech at the meeting, Velkme called Western Springs “one of the most revered suburbs in America,” thanking the work of employees and board members.

“After 33 years of public service, I have decided it’s time for me to begin a new chapter in my life,” she said.

Gallager said it was a “bittersweet moment” and that Velkme had led the village well over the last four years. She credited Velkme for instituting long-term planning in the village government.

“This planning gave the board the opportunity to look ahead to the future beyond just that budget year,” Gallagher said. “It currently acts as the background to the board’s ambitious, comprehensive infrastructure planning."

Velkme started with the village government in 1987, left in 1991 and returned in 2000.