Breaking News

Two Commissioners Retiring from the

Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

The Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (District) has passed two resolutions thanking Commissioner Harry “Bus” Yourell and Commissioner James C. Harris, respectively, for their many years of service to the District and to the people of Cook County. Both Commissioner Yourell and Commissioner Harris will retire at the end of their current terms next month.

Terrence J. O’Brien, President of the Board of Commissioners, said, “It’s been an honor for me personally and for my colleagues on the Board to serve with these fine public servants. We salute their contributions to the District and to the citizens of Cook County during their many years of service. They will be greatly missed.”

Commissioner Yourell enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on Pearl Harbor Day in 1941 and saw action in the World War II battles at Bougainville, Guam and Iwo Jima. He has the distinction of having won 40 elections during the course of his political career. He has served in many offices, including Trustee of the Village of Oak Lawn, State Representative in the Illinois Legislature and Cook County Recorder of Deeds. He has been a commissioner of the District since 1988, serving as the Chairman of the Committee on Budget and Employment and the Committee on State Legislation and Rules.

Commissioner Harris served as Mayor of the Village of Phoenix, Illinois from 1979 to 1989. Before being elected to the Board of Commissioners of the District, he worked in the Secretary of State’s office, the Cook County Retiring Department of Public Health, the Chicago Transit Authority and was a director on the PACE Board. At the District, Commissioner Harris was Chairman of the Committee on Purchasing, the Committee on Flood Control, Drainage and Storm Flow and the Committee on Municipalities.