Two new village board members in Bement | News
BEMENT – The Village of Bement has two new village board members, each of whom will complete terms that expire in the spring of 2023.
Gary Brennan was appointed in January and Logan Weatherford in February. They will take the seats left by the resigning Woodie Dean and Clayton Ahlden, respectively.
Gary Brennan
Brennan is a 1987 Bement High School graduate, but would not have been eligible to serve on the village board until six years ago, having grown up in Ivesdale.
But there’s no mistaking it: Bement was pretty much his home growing up.
“I had never actually lived in Bement until 2016, but spent most of my formative years with my friends in Bement in form or another,” Brennan said.
After high school, Brennan spent four years in the Air Force, earned his associate’s degree at Parkland College, moved to California for a while, then earned his bachelor’s degree in industrial technology from Southern Illinois University and his MBA from the University of Texas.
He eventually moved back to central Illinois, and after serving city administrator for the Village of Minoonk from 2011-13, and now works as a proposal analyst at Applied Research Associates.
One of his main roles there is to fact check documents prior to them being finalized.
He hopes his background in numbers — which includes some accounting — will be of help to the village.
“I have an eye for numbers, and would like to make sure money is spent wisely and accounted for. That’s my strength,” Brennan said.
Besides his work as a city administrator, he has plenty of experience working with government entities, including construction inspection and as a public works manager in Texas.
“I’ve got 30-plus years of working with municipalities,” said the new council member.
Brennan is happy to step in and serve on the board, but at this point sees it as a temporary move.
“I know they needed someone to step in. It’s bad for a city when you have too many vacancies. It makes it hard on everyone. It’s hard to make decisions if you don’t have a quorum,” he said.
“I love Bement, they had a need for someone, and I’m happy to do it,” Brennan said. “But unless drastically changes in my desire to be stress-free and live a nice quiet life, I don’t think I’ll run for election when this term is up.”
Logan Weatherford
Weatherford is adding village board duties to an already-full plate: He works full-time as a neurodiagnostic technologist at the Carle Neuroscience Clinic in Urbana, is a real estate broker for ReMax Realty, and is still an active member of the Army Reserves.
“I prefer to stay busy, that’s for sure,” said the 2016 Monticello High School graduate, who moved to Bement with his wife Lauren about a year ago.
But stepping into the public office for the first time seemed like a good fit, he said.
“I truly love living in Bement, and over the last year learned a lot from the community and met a lot of the people who make Bement great,” Weatherford said.
“I was motivated to step into this role because of that. I think there is a lot I can bring to the table to grow Bement. We can stay on the path of maintaining a good environment for families moving into the community.”
Since moving to Bement, he has been impressed with the people there.
“Everyone seems to be willing to help each other out. It seems to me everyone’s concerned for everyone’s well being, and willing to step in when they need help,” he said.
After graduating from MHS, Weatherford earned his associates degree in neuroscience technology from the College of Staten Island in New York City. At Carle, he performs nerve conduction studies.