After eight quiet years, Libertyville Village Trustee Drew Cullum is returning to life as a private resident.
Cullum first joined the board as an appointee in 2007 when then-Trustee David Giza moved to California shortly after the election. Cullum served two years and then ran unopposed in 2009 to fulfill the remaining two years of Giza’s term.
Newcomer Jim Moran took the 2011 election by storm and was the leading vote-getter, but Cullum held onto the third seat with a 3-percent lead over fellow incumbent Nick Proepper.
Now Cullum says it’s time for someone else. In a short comment to the Pioneer Press, Cullum said the community deserves fresh eyes after eight years. He declined to comment further on memorable projects from his tenure, saying, “I don’t do this stuff for praise.”
Mayor Terry Weppler swore in trustees Donna Johnson, Scott Adams and newcomer Peter Garrity on April 28. Johnson won reelection on April 7, while Adams secured the seat he was appointed to last year and Garrity won a tight write-in race.
“You don’t appreciate it until you’re on the inside,” Cullum said after Weppler and others praised him at the meeting. “As a resident, you don’t know how tight things really are here, and we have a lot of people on staff and on this board that find ways to get things done, and keep life normal. Nobody gets accolades for it, so neither should I.”
Weppler said Cullum specializes in mulling over numbers and thinking through potential outcomes. Cullum is vocal behind closed doors, Weppler continued, but in public he’s thoughtful and unwavering.
“Drew has always been a great board member; well prepared for every meeting,” Weppler said in an email. “He has often served as the conscience of the board, making sure we always do the right thing by discussing every side of an issue.”
Cullum, 52, is an insurance and investment planner whose office is in downtown Libertyville. He was involved in MainStreet Libertyville before joining the village board, and later shifted his volunteer time to Habitat for Humanity.
Upon being appointed in 2007, he told Pioneer Press that he wanted to help Libertyville keep its “small-town feel.” He said parking would be a major issue that the village needed to get a head start on addressing.
In 2009, Cullum voted against a $65,000 tax incentive that involved giving vouchers to individual car buyers if they purchased their vehicle in Libertyville. At the time, Cullum acknowledged the bad economy, but said Libertyville’s budget was balanced and he opposed deficit spending. The package passed 4-2.
While seeking reelection in 2011, Cullum said he was opposed to giving tax subsidies to attract new businesses because it would be unfair to existing companies.
Later in 2011, Libertyville was facing major road problems and considering filing a $20 million referendum to cover a five-year complete overhaul.
Before agreeing to support the referendum, Cullum repeatedly asked for scenarios on “pay-as-you-go” road repairs. Fellow trustees and village staff said the backlogged road repairs would never get done with the declining sales tax revenue and limited property taxes.
Voters in March 2012 approved the referendum.
Weppler later appointed Cullum to the streets committee, in addition to his duties as chairman of the parks committee.
“Libertyville is different than many communities,” Weppler said. “We do not have a separate park district. The village runs a parks department. That can be an issue when the economy is down, as it was for a number of years. With limited revenues it’s easy to put all of your revenues in the essential services like police and fire.”
While there were cuts, Weppler said Cullum made sure residents had plenty of leisure opportunities.
“It was important for us to continue providing parks and recreation services to our residents, and Drew made sure we adequately funded the parks department during the lean years,” Weppler said. “Drew has also been very protective of the parks to make sure that our policies make the best use of our park facilities.”
In 2011 Cullum worked with parks employees to find new revenues for the Libertyville Sports Complex. The economy was still rebounding and general membership for the recently created facility was suffering. The group explored various rental options and briefly considered selling part of the land.
Just last year Libertyville agreed to sell the underutilized Bolander Park for $1.8 million. Cullum helped create a new schedule for maintaining and renovating parks using the money.
Twitter: @Rick_Kambic
