Lt. Governor Sheila Simon chairs the thirteen member Illinois River Coordinating Council.  The Council is comprised of seven citizen members that are appointed by Governor Pat Quinn and the remaining five members are designees from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunities, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Illinois Department of Agriculture.  Additionally, several institutions and federal agencies serve on the Council as ex-officio members.  

If you are interested in applying for an appointment on the Illinois River Coordinating Council, please nominate yourself at www.appointments.illinois.gov.

Meet the Illinois River Coordinating Council

Lee Bunting, Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts

Mr. Bunting has served on the IRCC since 1998.  He is a self-employed farmer and his interest in natural resource conservation has lead to his service on the Illinois Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts for 30 years. 

Doug Blodgett, The Nature Conservancy

Mr. Blodgett grew up along the Illinois River and has been professionally involved with the river for over 27 years.  After earning BS and MS degrees in biology from Western Illinois University, he worked as a scientist for the Illinois Natural History Survey, serving as Team Leader and Director of their Long Term Resource Monitoring Program Field Station on the Illinois River at Havana.  He assisted The Nature Conservancy with development of a 25−year conservation plan for the Illinois River, joining them as Great Rivers Area Director in 1998; among his responsibilities was implementation of that conservation plan. Currently, he is Director of River Conservation for the Illinois Chapter of the Conservancy.

Margaret Frisbie, Friends of the Chicago River

Ms. Frisbie has served on the IRCC since 2000.  She has served as the Executive Director of Friends of the Chicago River since 2005, and has been employed by the non-profit since 2000.  Passionate about protecting and restoring wild and urban landscapes, Frisbie serves as secretary on the board of directors of Friends of the Forest Preserves, as a member of Mayor Daley’s Chicago Riverwalk Development Committee, and Chicago’s 2016 Environmental Task Force.  Frisbie has served on task forces for Chicago Wilderness and the City of Chicago Dept. of Planning and Development, and taught board governance seminars for C3EO and the North Park University Axelson Center for Nonprofit Management.

Reggie Greenwood, South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association

Mr. Greenwood has been working to review the development opportunities in the Chicago Southland and particularly the Calumet River Corridor.   He works closely with regional organizations such as Metropolitan Planning Agency, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, Center for Neighborhood Technology, Friends of the Chicago River, Openlands, Environmental Law and Policy Center among others to promote environmentally sound economic development in the region.  Before working in the public sector, he was a partner and general manager of a small manufacturing company with sales of 12,000,000 before it was sold to a larger 300 million dollar company.  After the sale, he worked as the general manager in a larger corporate environment.  In these roles, he promoted the idea of contributing to the LEED points of our building customers.  He has a BS in Business Administration and a Masters in Regional Planning with an emphasis on environmental management and economic development.  He has also taught several college courses and seminars on these subjects of environmental sound business development.  

Daphne Mitchell, Children’s Memorial Hospital

Ms. Mitchell has been a member of the IRCC since 1998 and is an active member of the It’s Our River Day planning committee.  She is a registered nurse and a public health expert.  She serves as the Executive Director of Perioperative Services at the University of Chicago Hospitals and is involved in working with green health care initiatives in the current hospitals at the U of C and in planning for the new hospital pavilion that will open in 2013.  Ms. Mitchell served as Commissioner for the City of Ottawa from 1999 to 2003, is a member of Residents Against a Polluted Environment, assisted in the production of the film Radium City, helped pass a referendum that established a Public Health Department for La Salle County, and is working with peers in the surgical health field to reduce waste in the operating room. 

Wendell Shauman, Illinois Farm Bureau

Dr. Shauman represents the Illinois Farm Bureau on both the Mississippi River Coordinating Council and the Illinois River Coordinating Council.  He is also on the Illinois Corn Marketing Board and the US Grains Council where he serves as treasurer.  He has participated in many Gulf of Mexico meetings and was chair of the Illinois Farm Bureau Floodplain Task Force.  He has also served on the American Farm Bureau Water Quality Task Force and American Farm Bureau Watershed Heroes Program.  His nomination is supported by the Illinois Farm Bureau.  He farms near Kirkwood.

Richard Worthen

Mr. Worthen has served on the IRCC since 1998.  He has served in elected positions at the county level for 20 years and is an enthusiastic environmental advocate.