Following Baker’s lead, Holloway steps back from village involvement
By Brandi Makuski
Leaders in Park Ridge say a resident serving as a voluntary engineer has stepped down from public service.
Dan Holloway, who had been volunteering as village engineer, particularly as it relates to street maintenance, announced last week he was stepping back from the role. He also announced he was resigning from his role on the village’s comprehensive planning committee.
Holloway works as a civil engineer for the Wisconsin Dept. of Transportation and is married to former Village President Trish Baker, who resigned April 30.
In a lengthy email to the village board, Holloway referred to his voluntary involvement with village business as “not really appropriate” from a professional perspective, also saying that “from a liability perspective it is somewhat risky”.
Holloway said he’s been volunteering his time for the village because he “recognized the significant need for engineering guidance” in Park Ridge. Holloway also helped survey village roads in 2016.
Holloway also provided some final recommendations in the email, saying the village should continue with its plan to resurface streets and reconstruct drainage swales.
“Adding curb and gutter, storm sewer, or possibly sidewalks would be very expensive, not to mention the significant impact to properties and trees,” he said. “It would also cause the village to lose its attractive park-like feel.”
Holloway’s announcement came the day after his wife, Trish Baker, resigned as village president. Halfway through her first term as village president, Baker declared her intention to resign in a letter on April 30, saying she couldn’t give enough time to the role due to work and other commitments.
“I simply do not have the time to work my full-time job and also perform all that the position of village president requires,” Baker’s resignation letter reads in part. “I also should add that while I had a vision for the future of the village.…there is now a quorum on the board that probably does not share that vision.”
Holloway added he would make himself available should the village seek his advice in the future.
“However, any final engineering judgments related to improvements should be left to the professional and insured engineering firm that the village employs,” his email read.
