As REALTOR® Vicki Cook starts her seventh year as a trustee for the village of Mahomet, she is grateful for the opportunity she’s had to serve the community through public office.
Any misgivings she may have had when she was first appointed by the mayor to fill a vacant position in 2010 disappeared in time for her to run for election in 2011. She was also reelected in 2013.
“Learning about the workings of government was so much more than I anticipated,” says the broker sales associate for Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell in Mahomet. “I am glad to have been given an education, and to be reminded how our local decisions can affect our day-to-day lives. Americans can get so wrapped up in world affairs that they can overlook what is happening in their own back yards.”
Despite the fact that she’s not always been able to make all her constituents happy with her decisions, Cook has been proud of her time on the village board. Although her business may have suffered because of her work as a trustee, she’s enjoyed knowing what’s going on in the community as well.
Cook, who is up for reelection in 2017, says she’s always been interested in helping the village. She began her real estate career when she earned her license in 1995, and combined with her husband’s career as a general contractor, “building a better community was always important to us.”
She worked hard at helping home owners and home buyers find the right homes for their families, but she also became involved in the local and state associations. “I served on the governmental affairs committee, the multiple listing service committee and the new member committee for the Champaign County Board of REALTORS®. She also kept up with her continuing education requirements and became a pre-license instructor in 2014.
When Cook isn’t working on real estate business or working as a trustee, she volunteers in her church, at the local American Legion Women’s Auxiliary and with the Upper Sangamon River Conservancy.
“I hope I can someday be replaced with someone with as much passion as I have to make our town a better place to live, and to be financially responsible,” she says.
Read the Illinois REALTORS® blog for periodic stories about association members who serve their communities through elected office. Recent stories have included Max McComb, Chris Seniker, Mike Onorato, Angie Brix, Greg Stock and Deborah Frank Feinen. It’s another way the association is celebrating its 100th anniversary year. If you’d like to suggest a fellow REALTOR® for a story like this, please drop a note to [email protected].