Two top Park Forest officials retiring, will be missed

And we will wager that few, if any, parents in the village ever called Deputy Police Chief Mike McNamara to let him know that their teenage driver arrived home safely.

And why should they? Cleaning sewer drains and sweeping streets fall under the purview of Eyer’s public works department. It comes with the territory. Making sure that someone’s child is not driving the family car while intoxicated is part of a police officer’s job.

This past week, Eyer and McNamara retired from village service. And their successors, public works director Roderick Ysaguirre and Deputy Police Chief Chris Mannino, have large shoes to fill.

Public works is a thankless, top-to-bottom operation that deals with everything from streetlights to sewers and a lot in between. It also functions as a kind of community complaint department…Please click here to read Jerry Shnay’s story in the Southtown Star.