Remarks by Wally Van Buren,  NIPC Vice President for Water Resources at the Memorial for Sam Santell

May 20, 2006

In November 2004, Sam Santell became director of planning for the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission, better known as NIPC.  On behalf of every commissioner and the staff of NIPC, I want to say how much we appreciated Sam and how much we miss him.  With his many years of planning experience in Kane County, in St. Charles, and in other communities, Sam contributed something very special to our organization.  He understood what it means to work at the local level, bringing developers, elected officials, planners and everyday residents together to achieve results.  Without that local touch, regional planning can't have the impact it is meant to have.  In his relatively short time at NIPC, Sam had a big impact because he never stopped thinking about the practical implications of his work.

He had a knack for meeting people on their own terms, for seeing multiple points of view.  That doesn't mean he wasn't strong-willed, because he certainly was.  "Tenacious" is one of the best words to describe him.  Shortly after joining NIPC, he shared with colleagues a big album of photos that showed the farmhouse that he and his family had constructed in rural Wisconsin.  Sam had gathered very old timber retrieved from log cabins, then meticulously constructed the house from scratch.  Many of us wouldn't consider that a relaxing way to spend our weekends, to say the least, but it says so much about Sam's work ethic.  And he was extremely proud of the marvelous, handmade home and made clear that it was a total family effort by him, Beth, Megan and Stephen.  Sam used to joke about bartering with his Amish neighbors in Wisconsin, who were used to receiving payment for services rendered in the form of livestock rather than cash.  Again, he was able to meet people on their own terms.  He was generous that way.

Another good word is "Integrity."  You could rely on anything Sam told you.  When he arrived, NIPC was at the end of a successful public participation process called Common Ground, which gathered residents' input from across the region to shape the 2040 vision and goals for land use.  Common Ground was ably directed by Hubert Morgan, whose staff did a wonderful job of engaging the public and defining a framework of Centers, Corridors and Green Areas.  It could have been an awkward situation when NIPC hired Sam from Kane County in November 2004.  But to his credit and to Hubert's, from the beginning there was no friction between them, no turf struggles.  They shared a vision of how to complete the 2040 Regional Framework Plan, and they worked together seamlessly to make that happen. 

By the time Sam arrived, we were on an extremely tight schedule to generate a 300-page draft of the plan for review by the commission and by the region at large.  Those important milestones were met in Spring 2005.  At the same time, we briefed newspaper editorial boards across northeastern Illinois to reinforce the plan's importance, and to highlight the role that local communities must play in implementing it.  On June 29, 2005, the NIPC commissioners voted unanimously to approve the plan and scheduled a September 28 gala event to launch its implementation phase. 

During the summer months, Sam worked very closely with NIPC colleagues and consulting partners at the firm of HNTB, including Phil Hanegraaf.  The 2040 publications were ambitious:  In addition to the 300-page, fully illustrated main plan, NIPC produced a shorter popular summary and a multimedia CD with animations, video, and data describing the 2040 framework.  All in three months.

Each of these products was finished on-time and under-budget.  With no disrespect to anyone at NIPC or HNTB, the plan simply could not have been finished so well and so promptly without Sam's leadership.  To say he was the right man at the right time is an understatement.  That he met those deadlines with such relentless good cheer and optimism is what made Sam truly one of a kind. 

He always talked about the "Tuesday Night Planning Meetings" where each community makes its real-world decisions about land use.  The 2040 Plan is meant to be a set of tools that can help those local planners make wise choices about sensible development, preservation of open space, and other ideals that he held dear.  In implementing the 2040 Plan, we will now sadly have to proceed without Sam.  He wasn't in San Antonio on April 25 to join his colleagues in accepting the American Planning Association's national plan of the year award, but top planners from all across the country recognize his achievement.  The national honor is one that he richly deserved.  But the best tribute we can pay is to keep Sam's ideals alive here in the communities of northeastern Illinois.  His spirit will live on in those Tuesday Night Planning Meetings.