Highland Park Mayor Nancy Rotering Delivers New Year's Message

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — In a New Year's message, Mayor Nancy Rotering called on the community to continue to come together to work to recover with "kindness, mindfulness, determination, and support for each other."

It is always valuable, the mayor said in a message released Tuesday, to look back at lessons learned as a year comes to a close.

"Our reflections of this past year will be different," Rotering said.

"We accomplished so much together, but in the wake of the pandemic, which was an already life-changing experience, we were shaken to our core by the Highland Park shooting. While it has been almost six months, it feels like forever," she said.

Rotering, who is running unopposed for a fourth term as mayor, noted that the city's temporary memorial to the seven paradegoers slain on July 4 is always open next to City Hall at 1707 St. Johns Ave.

"Pain and grief change with each new season. Every milestone holds added layers of loss and we are each affected in different way," Rotering said. "We know from experience that there is no timetable for how we feel. It isn’t about moving on; it is about adapting. "

Related: Rose Garden Memorial To Highland Park Mass Shooting Victims Opens

Planning for a permanent memorial is set to begin next month, with feedback from victims' families, survivors and members of the public, the mayor said.

Rotering said everyone can choose how to respond to change and hardship.

"The shooting did not define us," she said. "As a community, we continue to rise to meet its challenges in remarkable ways. If we have learned anything about ourselves, it is that we can adapt, we care for each other, and we stand together to support our shared values."

Read more: New Year's Message from Mayor Nancy Rotering