CHARLOTTE LANDSMAN

Charlotte Landsman has the largest family we have ever seen.  Not only does it include her immediate family (husband, children and grandchildren), but it encompasses all the seniors whom she befriended and counseled plus all the students who benefited from her warmth and understanding.

Married with children, Charlotte began working with the City by taking a part-time clerical position in the youth programs.  She completed her undergraduate degree and became a youth worker, helping children of all ages.  Charlotte was promoted to program supervisor, then manager of youth services. Beginning in 1996, the City for the first time combined the jobs of manager of both youth and senior services and asked Charlotte Landsman to fill this position.  Throughout her working life, Charlotte continued her formal education, earning a master’s degree in counseling and human services.

Charlotte’s job was wide ranging, including middle school parent network, Youth Services Advisory, Senior Producer Programs, Parent University, Partners in Prevention and the networking group for organizations called C.A. R. E. S. In addition, Charlotte served as staff to the Character Counts! Committee, the Human Relations Commission, the Healthy Highland Park Task Force and the Senior Advisory Group.

These various positions and program responsibilities represent the mere outline of what Charlotte contributed to individuals and groups in Highland Park. There are other people who could fulfill this job, but not with Charlotte’s positive attitude toward her responsibilities, the people with whom she worked and those she served.  She always treated everyone with genuine concern, kindness, respect and a smile.

 As part of her work, Charlotte taught classes about parenting, teaching how to be a better parent, listener, problem solver, and teaching how and when to let others help themselves.  The fact that 10 to 15 years after taking one of Charlotte’s classes there are still groups of parents who meet on a regular basis, speaks volumes about how Charlotte brings people together and forges lasting bonds between them. Staff working under Charlotte’s guidance in youth and senior services are talented in their own right, and under her guidance have become some of the most efficient and effective members of city staff.  Besides managing a budget, giving classes, preparing agendas, and attending meetings, Charlotte worked with the staff in the City Manager’s office.

However, it is not for all these tasks that we seek to honor Charlotte Landsman; rather it is because of the extraordinary way in which she handled her many responsibilities.  Having worked with her for the past four years as members of the Human Relations Commission, we believe that Charlotte’s unique listening, mediation and problem solving skills and her commitment to the betterment of the City of Highland Park touch the community at large.  In her many interactions with individuals and groups who have a variety of problems that they bring to the City’s attention,  Charlotte’s response is to give everyone a fair chance to express themselves and to actively listen to their concerns.  Using her mediation skills, Charlotte listens and expresses the areas of agreement in order to bring parties to a common understanding, allowing their common purpose to prevail.