After a nearly four-month vacancy, Brookfield has hired a new director of public works.
Lauren Moore is set to begin March 24 in the role, Village Manager Tim Wiberg announced March 10.
“I’m really excited, and I look forward to learning about [Brookfield’s] operation and how they do things, apply improvements where needed but leave the good stuff alone and capitalize on the good things that they have, which I’m sure they have plenty of,” she told the Landmark Thursday.
Moore has worked in public works for the village of Bloomingdale since 2001. She started as a seasonal laborer before being hired full-time in 2005 as a utilities distribution maintenance worker. In 2014, she was promoted to operations and logistics coordinator for public works and utilities, a role she’s held since.
Bloomingdale is located in central DuPage County, about 20 miles northwest of Brookfield. According to the United States Census, Bloomingdale had a population of about 22,300 in 2023.
According to a press release, Moore earned a bachelor’s degree in business management and human resources management from the University of Phoenix and graduate certificates in human resources and public administration from Southern New Hampshire University.
Moore, whose starting salary will be $124,228, said she first applied for the position in 2023 to replace former Public Works Director Carl Muell, but she wasn’t chosen then. Instead, Brookfield hired Vincent Smith, whom Moore is now replacing.
Wiberg said Smith’s last day with the village was Nov. 29 and that he left for a job in Bensenville, where he had worked before joining his hometown of Brookfield. In the meantime, Superintendent of Public Works Rocco Barbanente has been running the department.
“Apparently, there were a couple of things I said that stuck with them, so they reached out to me, and I said I would absolutely be open to a conversation. [Assistant Village Manager] Stevie [Ferrari] and Tim were very pleasant to speak with — their whole team was — so I said yeah,” Moore said.
Her duties will include strategic planning, identifying capital improvements, securing grant funding, researching for collective bargaining, hiring employees including seasonal staff and budgeting, according to the village.
Wiberg said the village spoke with five candidates in the first round, which involved one interview with Brookfield’s department heads and another with Wiberg, before narrowing the pool to three for a second round of interviews with him and Ferrari.
He said Moore’s wealth of experience at Bloomingdale made her the top candidate.
“She’s been involved in overseeing all facets of the typical public works operation, all the same kinds of divisions we have. Their department is bigger than ours, so she’s had ample experience in dealing with oversight of all of the types of issues and things that we’ll get involved with here,” he said. “I think she’ll make a commitment to be here, we’re hoping, for a very long and successful tenure, and she just comes across as a very likeable and relatable person.”
Moore said she sought to leave Bloomingdale with encouragement from the village’s own director of public works, Jim Monkemeyer, and the village administrator, Pietro Scalera.
“Scalera has probably been the most influential mentor in my life, and he greatly encouraged me to just get out there, talk to people and see what’s going on,” she said. “I love the Village of Bloomingdale. I grew up here. My heart is in Bloomingdale, for sure; at least, a piece of it always will be. … I was a 17-year-old kid when I started there, and I’m working with a lot of the same people. It just felt like it was time for me to get out, look at some different challenges and meet some new people.”
She said she takes pride in the services that public works departments provide.
“What we do is critical to the everyday life of people, period. You can’t get through life without running water. You can’t get to where you need to go without safe, clean roads. Legitimately, what we do is essential to every quality-of-life thing for residents. Community is extremely important to me,” she said. “I take a lot of pride in service, and to me, it’s very fulfilling. When you’re fulfilled with your job, you’re going to do well at it.”
Moore added that her on-the-ground experience has prepared her for the challenges she expects to face leading Brookfield’s public works department.
“When you do the worst of the worst and the dirtiest of the dirtiest, you get a really good overall picture of how your guys feel, how your crews are feeling after four long days of three water main breaks in a snowstorm. You have an intimate knowledge and understanding of how they feel. You have an intimate knowledge of their needs, everything from safety to morale and all that stuff, and I think that has helped me,” she said. “When you’ve really been in it, you get it.”
