New chief legal officer, sustainability director for city approved by Aurora City Council

Chicago Tribune

2 days ago

Two new hires for the city of Aurora were approved by the Aurora City Council on Tuesday, including a new chief legal officer and the city's first-ever director of sustainability.
Since Mayor John Laesch took office in May, the city has hired a number of new employees in upper management to replace those who resigned or retired when former Mayor Richard Irvin left office.
Following Tuesday's City Council meeting, the latest hires are Yordana Wysocki, the city's next corporation counsel, and Alison Lindburg, who will be taking on a newly-created position as the city's director of sustainability.
The two appointments were on the City Council's Committee of the Whole meeting agenda last week, but aldermen did not discuss the matter publicly at that time, according to past reporting. Both hires were approved unanimously by the council on Tuesday evening.
Per her resume, Wysocki currently works at Hervas, Condon & Bersani, P.C., an Itasca-based law firm that specializes in local government law and litigation. A partner since 2016, she represents local governments as general counsel, conducts employee misconduct investigations and gives recommendations to local governments on employee discipline and employment policy changes, among other things.
She's also the incoming chair of the Illinois State Bar Association's Local Government Section Council and has been involved with local bar associations and The Legacy Project, which promotes women leadership in local government, her resume says.
As the new corporation counsel, Wysocki will lead the city's law department, according to past reporting. Per the job description from the city, she'll provide legal advice and counsel to elected officials and upper city management, review contracts and agreements, draft and negotiate agreements for the city and represent the city for legal actions, among other responsibilities.
At Tuesday's meeting, Laesch noted that outgoing corporation counsel Richard Veenstra will help with the transition.
As for the newly-created director of sustainability job, Alison Lindburg comes from the Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance, where she's currently the director of building codes and policy, according to her resume. In that role, she helps several states and their municipalities implement energy efficiency policies like energy codes, leads research on decarbonization and energy efficiency in buildings, among other duties.
According to her resume, she also currently serves on the Illinois Energy Code Advisory Council, Illinois Building Energy Hub Advisory Board, Chicago Sustainable Development Policy Committee and the International Code Council Sustainability Membership Council, of which she is the chair.
Per the job description from the city, her responsibilities are set to include, among a number of other things, developing and managing a city sustainability plan, creating a 'public bank or green investment mechanism' for sustainability projects and assisting in updating Aurora's vehicle fleet to 'a carbon-free standard.'