“Bob at all times needed to speak about points and, frankly, he took an curiosity within the native political scene, too,” stated his longtime pal Taylor Pensoneau, a retired Statehouse reporter and lobbyist. “He at all times needed to debate people, political actions and people who he thought-about to be on the proper aspect of issues, after which there have been those that he did not perceive why they did sure issues. However he at all times needed to have that dialog.”
Bob was president and co-founder of Residents Membership of Springfield, a discussion board devoted to civic engagement and group enchancment. He had an extended profession in Illinois state politics and authorities from which he retired in 2002.
“He was Republican however he was, for my part, average – fairly average – undoubtedly not far proper,” Pensoneau stated.
Bob earned bachelor and grasp’s levels from Southern Illinois College. Throughout his early profession he taught at Proviso West Excessive Faculty in Hillside, Ohio State College, and served as a college administrator at Dundee District 300. In 1967, he moved to Springfield together with his spouse, Judy. They have been married 55 years earlier than her dying in 2019.
Kent Grey, Bob’s solely youngster, stated his father acquired his first style of statewide politics when James R. Thompson requested him to be part of his marketing campaign workers throughout his first run for governor in 1976.
“My dad had turn into president of the Springfield Jaycees after which ended up being president of the Illinois Jaycees. And again in these days, that meant that you just mainly traveled the state of Illinois and gave speeches to different organizations and group teams,” Kent Grey stated. “Quite a lot of instances, these speeches have been on the identical circuit as a comparatively younger U.S. Legal professional named Jim Thompson. And he and Thompson acquired to be actually good pals out on the highway. When Thompson determined to run for governor in ’75 for the ’76 season, he employed my dad.”
Following Thompson’s election, Bob served in numerous state businesses, typically because the governor’s “eyes and ears” monitoring simply what was occurring throughout the forms.
“Dad acquired able, like lots of people do, the place the cash was fairly good working in state authorities. He was actually politically energetic, and doubtless not able the place anyone was going to do something too troublesome to him,” Kent Grey stated. “And so he made fairly good cash and helped out (and) donated, did subject work, labored his precinct and he raised me to do the identical factor. As quickly as I used to be sufficiently old to journey a motorcycle, he had me ship all of the brochures to all people’s paper field. Mainly, he had a extremely good life in Springfield, Illinois, and he stayed in state authorities lots longer than most individuals do.”
Kent Redfield, a retired political science professor at College of Illinois Springfield, stated Bob’s resolution to assist discovered the Residents Membership is one among his crowning achievements.
“It is modeled after the Metropolis Membership in Chicago,” he stated. “The concept is to have a discussion board that will get individuals collectively to speak about civic points.” Redfield just lately moderated a discussion board on the Residents Membership the place three space journalists analyzed the outcomes of the November election.
Bob was president of the membership for its first 16 years and stepped down in 2022. Shortly after his retirement, he instructed Illinois Occasions, “I believe we have achieved an excellent job at getting an excellent mixture of concepts and civil conversations on main points.”
Audio system introduced in by the Residents Membership have included native and statewide politicians together with space consultants who’ve mentioned points comparable to race relations, well being care, fracking, authorities effectivity and the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sangamon County Board Chair Andy Van Meter stated one other spotlight of Bob’s profession is how he strove to make native authorities extra environment friendly.
“He was actually one of many instigators of the effectivity fee,” stated Van Meter. “He was very a lot of the college that when authorities duplicated providers it wasted cash, as a result of we have been working with legacy establishments from a horse-and-buggy period that wanted to maneuver into the digital age.”
The merger of the Sangamon County and Springfield Well being Departments is one instance of an effectivity that had its genesis within the fee that Bob helped begin, Van Meter stated.
One other brainchild of Bob’s that continues is the Regional Management Council, which is a bunch of space mayors and the Sangamon County administrator that meets month-to-month.
“I bear in mind one of many issues they completed early on was consolidating the creation of highway indicators, which saved the municipalities some huge cash,” Van Meter stated. “And now they use both the county or the town (of Springfield’s) capabilities to make highway indicators. … It was a relentless theme of his to search for methods to cooperate and consolidate.”
Scott Reeder is a workers author for Illinois Occasions who knew of Bob Grey by his group involvement over time.
