Rintz hears praise, expresses gratitude in final meeting as Winnetka president

Twenty-two years ago, Chris Rintz walked into Winnetka Village Hall for the first time and into the council chambers, after he was recommended to serve on the village’s Design Review Board.

The moment changed his life.

“It’s the first time I encountered this room, and it just blew me away,” Rintz said Tuesday, May 6. “This is such a special place in here. And really, over the next 22 years, this has become my second family room.”

In that time, according to a resolution commending his service, Rintz also served on the Plan Commission, Building Review Commission, multiple ad-hoc committees, as a village trustee, and, for the past eight years, as president of the Village Council — reportedly the longest-tenured village president since 1929.

And during Rintz’s final meeting as village president on May 6, trustees, staff and residents honored him for his more than two decades of service to Winnetka.

Speaking to the council and the community after the newly elected board was sworn in, Rintz thanked everyone for the recognition and called serving the village “an amazing experience.”

“The only word that kept resonating with me was ‘gratitude,’“ he said. “When I arrived at that thought, everything else went away. It was comfortable and calm.”

During his remarks, he expressed gratitude for his council colleagues, village staff and the community.

He said that, when he was serving as village president, his goal was to make the council chambers “a place where people felt welcome … and just have people talk first. It made sense to me.”

Rintz admitted that he doesn’t go to many social gatherings, and the council became his place to interact with people.

“This is my place, and I had the privilege of socializing with some of the most intelligent, caring people in the community for the last 22 years in this room,” he said, adding, “It doesn’t mean we didn’t have our times. We’ve all bumped heads from time to time. That’s part of the process, but we never let it put us in a situation where we couldn’t talk and couldn’t move forward and get it behind us.”

He also said he’s enjoyed working with the public, a positive experience for him, especially after he admitted he didn’t know if he would be criticized or not.

“But when I would walk the streets and encounter people, all I got was encouragement,” he said. “‘Keep going. We like what we see here.’ And that gave me a lot of tenacity to work through hard situations that, as we all know, are very difficult to deal with and keep us up on Tuesday nights after we leave this place.

“Without the community, this is meaningless.”

Rintz also thanked his wife, Kathy, for her support.

“She put up with a lot and gave up a lot for my service, and it wasn’t always easy,” he said. “I know it was hard, but you never said, ‘Don’t do it.’“

Rintz ended his comments by calling for civility and kindness. He held up a button that says, “Be kind,” which he said he kept on the dais to remind him that kindness is the reason they’re all at the meetings.

“Remember, we all live in the same place, and we need to treat people that way,” he said. “It breaks my heart when I see people fight. I think you all know that.”

He also encouraged seeking compromise.

“We don’t become neighbors by beating on each other and calling each other bad names and personally attacking people in public and doing those sorts of unkind things,” he said. “Find the middle ground. We all can live there and we all can be really happy there eventually. We might not get what we want, but I think as a community, if we work really hard, we’ll all find that place where we really get what we need.”

Trustees, public praise Rintz

As each of the trustees expressed their gratitude toward Rintz, a common theme emerged: Most of the trustees said they were there because Rintz encouraged them to run for Village Council.

Trustee Kim Handler praised Rintz’s “humanity and approachability.”

“Your commitment to, and your love for, this community has always been right out there, unwavering and obvious to anybody who talks to you in this room or talks to you in front of Starbucks coffee or catches you walking your dog,” she said.

Trustee Rob Apatoff said that even if trustees disagreed they could have a professional discussion under Rintz’s leadership.

“I say we agree on about 90%, which is pretty good, but we can talk about 100% and have those discussions,” he said. “And we listen, and you listen, and we’ve hashed a lot of things out that way.”

Resident Becky Hurley called Rintz “a remarkable leader.”

“He’s also really committed and truly interested in what people think,” she said. “He’s open minded, he’s collegial, and he’s smart, and I think we couldn’t have had a better leader the past eight years.”

Residents Tom and Barb Tubekis said Rintz has been a personal friend of theirs for years.

“The word ‘gratitude’ rings true when you talk about Chris,” Tom Tubekis said.

“He’s all in and he always was,” Barb Tubekis added.

Newly sworn in Village President Bob Dearborn said Rintz exhibits preparedness and is analytical, thoughtful, collegial and conscientious, all of which are traits that make a good trustee.

“You got a lot done,” he said. “You had objectives, maybe a few more that didn’t quite make it over the goal line. We’re going to work on those and we might call you on those too, so don’t go away too far.”

Dearborn said he hopes to continue Rintz’s work as village president.

“Thank you for all your great service,” he said. “You have a great legacy in this town and we all know that.”

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